Cinco de Mayo by Michael J. Martineck

Cinco de Mayo by Michael J. Martineck
ARC Review copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

Available September 15, 2010

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PJVs QUICKIE POV: Don't judge this book by it's cover. I know sci-fi covers tend to lean to the cheesy side, so look past the dude getting struck in the head by Zeus and get this book, because it was good! It was overwhelming at some points with everything that was going on and the POV switches, but overall good and had me wondering if this could actually happen.

REVIEW: A world shaking event. Simultaneously across the globe excruciating pain that lasts a matter of seconds and then instant relief, almost bliss, as if your mind has completely reset. Then the memories slowly flood in, but these memories don't belong to you. A man in Chicago suddenly has recollections of murder and life within the Aryan Brotherhood. A third grader can speak fluent Korean, an ad exec in New York experiences life as a blind railroad worker in China, a rich playboy in Abu Dhabi learns what it is like to be a Indian slave...

Phones begin to ring as people's Others begin calling, because they know everything about them. They know phone numbers, bank accounts, personal details...everything. There is nothing hidden, nothing left behind. And no one has an answer as to why this happened.

The idea behind this science fiction number was very interesting. How weird would it be to trade memories with someone? Learn every single possible memory in someone's head. On top of the interesting idea behind the story, the character development was very well laid out. There were a lot of them though, which overwhelmed me a bit, especially at the end when even more were introduced. I think the amount of characters could have been nipped down a bit, while the story could have been expanded. Each one of these characters could have been their own book, expanded, examined and scrutinized. I felt at times the book was overly condensed and skimmed over at time. I wanted so much more!

Worth the read though and I can't wait to read more from this author.

RECOMMENDATIONS: Scifi fans should enjoy, but the scifi element was not overwhelming. More on the lines of a Michael Crichton novel. Nothing lewd or overly violent to scare away younger readers.