Alice's Review: State of Mind

Summary: Your thoughts are not your own...
In the not too distant future, freedom is a just a word that you willingly trade for a dozen donuts, based on the dubious promise that you can eat what you want and never gain weight. You can also take drugs will no ill effects or call a friend while surfing the web without a phone or computer. All this and more will be yours following the simple installation of a P-Chip in your brain. After botching the arrest of the governor's son in Los Angeles, Commander Jake Travissi is banned from law enforcement. the workaholic homicide cop spirals into depression... until he is given a rare second chance. The price? Volunteer for chip implantation and join Homeland Security's experimental Enhanced Unit.
The grisly assassination of a prominent Nobel Laureate brings the newly formed Unit on the scene to investigate. But as the body count rises, Jake begins to realize that his actions, and even his thoughts, are not his own. Fighting to regain control of his own State of Mind, Jake finds himself embroiled in a global conspiracy to enslave the human race!~amazon.com

Review: Right off the bat I’m telling you that this novel is not my usual cup of tea. Yeah, I’ll watch the occasional futuristic cop action/drama movie, but read a novel about the same thing? Nah, I don’t think so. Yet here I am reviewing one.

The idea of the installation of a Personal Chip directly attached to the human brain was fascinating to me. Imagine the possibilities of having the world and all its knowledge within seconds of thinking it. Imagine how amazing life could be. The P-Chip could control my emotions, adjust my metabolism so I could eat what I want and never gain a pound. It could make me sleep less, do more. Then imagine having someone hack into my brain to make me do things like murder or arm wrestle giants without my knowledge. It gave me the creeps and totally made me want to read State of Mind.

There are some crazy twists and turns in this novel and the ending? One word…WOW. I totally blew me away. There are plenty of shocking, hanging on the edge of my seat moments. My favorite part of the novel came close to the end with the mother of all twists. I’m pretty sure I knew exactly how Jake felt, heck I didn’t see it coming either.

I really enjoyed the cast of characters. Most notable for me are Jake, the Jackhammer, our hero and overall bad ass; Parks, he idolizes Jake and whose humor is his greatest asset; Marta Padilla, the ice queen with a secret sweet spot for Jake; and Lakshmi, Jake’s faithful dog.

Overall, I really enjoyed State of Mind. Mr. Davison took the care to describe the future in a way that was very easy to visualize. I loved how some things never go out of style like a Camaro. I loved that you can’t really break the human spirit no matter how many God Heads you have controlling you. Jake was a fighter through and through. There is a lot more in store for him and frankly, I can’t wait to read it.

As someone who doesn’t normally read (or even like) this genre, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I liked the fast-paced action, the undertones of good vs. evil. I liked the conspiracy of it all, how the US is not the powerhouse of old. This is definitely the kind of story that made me think and keep thinking long after I put the book down.

Final Take: 4/5