Guest Review: Thomas reviews Atomic Circus (Caecilius Rex, #1) by K.C. Finn

(Blurb): A story is never a good story unless it starts with a murder. The more unusual the murder, the better the story, generally speaking. Meet Caecilius (KAI-KILL-EE-USS) Rex, a young detective in the not-too-distant future, a smog-filled post apocalyptic world riddled with crime and conspiracy. When a new case quite literally falls at Rex's feet, he teams up with his neighbour and associate Kendra Nai, an ex-army sergeant recently dismissed, to investigate. Little do they know that the events of The Atomic Circus will be the first step to solving the case of a lifetime.

Book Information:

Published: March 9th, 2013

Age Group: Adult

Genre: Science Fiction, Mystery

Length: 170 pg

Version: eBook & Bound

Review: By Thomas of Hungry Monster

Caecilius Rex is a detective in a post apocalyptic future where the drug of choice for criminals is a chemical mix that gives them super powers. It’s sold at a secret venue called the Atomic Circus where you have to be invited to get in. It’s a place where you can buy body parts, weapons, and drugs; it’s a veritable criminal’s bazaar where you could buy all manner of illicit goods. There’s a new drug available at the circus that’s gaining popularity. It’s a chemical mixture that gives you super powers; it can make you stronger, faster, or even fly, but it’s killing people, and one of those people lands at Rex’s feet. To solve the murder, Rex needs to be one of those special people that get invited to the Atomic Circus so he can find out where these drugs are coming from. While his expert detective skills get him in, he’ll be threatened at gunpoint every time he’s in there. To survive the circus, Rex teams up with his ex-military neighbor Kendra. Together they unravel a plot to kill Rex and find out that powerful people need him out of the way so that bigger plans can be set in motion. 

Atomic Circus is a detective story at its core and succeeds at telling a straightforward story that inspires the imagination with little effort on the reader’s part. I found the writing to be simple and straightforward in the best possible way allowing me to just sit back and enjoy the story instead of dissecting the language or adjusting to the writing style. As for world building, I understood the places the characters were in; the police station, the circus, Rex’s house, but they all felt disjointed, connected only by the characters and not by a larger world. The only piece of the story that hints at building a larger world is the toxic smog that fills the world; which requires everyone to wear a gas mask whenever they go outside. The idea of the chemicals giving the characters super powers is an intriguing idea. I was afraid at first that this would quickly turn into an X-Men knockoff and everyone was going to be throwing each other through building, but I was happy to find that this was not the case. The effects on the body seem to be duplicitous. Example: while giving you the ability to fly, it doesn’t actually turn you into Superman. You simply float until it wears off and then you come crashing back down to Earth. This gives the chemical mix sort of a nefarious plausibility. Atomic Circus is a quick and fun ride and I look forward to more world building and character development in future novels. 

Rating:

I give the book 3 out of 5,  though I really liked the book.

About the reviewer:

The Hungry Monster Review is a book review blog. Book reviews consist mostly of science fiction, fantasy and horror, but other genres accidentally get gobbled up sometimes when the Monster gets worked into a feeding frenzy: hungrymonsterreview.wordpress.com.