Trevor Shane: Children of Paranoia

In Trevor Shane's debut novel, he takes the reader into a secret War that is occurring throughout the world one side good the other evil. You are either born into the War or not, but if you are born into it you must follow the rules, if you break the rules, you become a target for both sides.

Every War has it rules , break the rules and it doesn't matter which side you are on, you becomes a target for everyone. At the age of 16 Joseph was told about the secret war that his family has been fighting for year and the truth about how his parents died. At 18 Joseph became a solider with a mission to kill as many of the other side as he can. Killing people is the only life he has ever known. He is meticulous as he plans each assassination, but when one goes wrong he is punished and forced to go a killing spree that challenges him both physically and mentally, but all he can think of is completing the one job that he failed, and getting back to Maria, a woman who will change his life and what he believes in.

I can use one word to describe this book, GRIPPING. I cannot say how much I loved this book. It is a fantastic debut, one of the best that I have read this year. It had me on the edge of my seat the whole time, as I was drawn further and further into Joseph's story. The book had me hooked from the very beginning as it starts with Joseph committing an assassination. This book is nonstop suspense and action, with the thrilling tale of a secret war, I cannot think of a better storyline.

Joseph is a great character, he a solider (more like assassin) for one side of the war (you really don't know which side is good and which is evil). He is given a name and information about a person, he then plans and kills the people so that there are no clues and the death will go unsolved. Due to the fact that Joseph has been a part of the war for so long, that he does not question what he is doing. He has a heightened sense of paranoia that has been ingrained (basically brainwashed) into him sense he was 16. He is living in a life or death war, where he could be the other side target at any moment, and his side can push him as much as they want to kill people. However, Joseph has been part of the War for about 10 years and he begins to question everything that he has been taught and his world slowly starts to unravel and become concrete at the same time. It is very interesting to watch the change that Joseph goes through in the book and I think that Shane does a pretty accurate portrayal of how Joseph would change but also stay the same. I really enjoyed Joseph as a character.

This book is written in a journal type format, but for the most part it does not read like a journal, more just the point of view of the main character as he recounts his past, why he entered the "War" and some of the kills that he has done. The story flows extremely well, that you do not even realize that you are reading a journal. So if you are not a fan of the journal format this book will still work for you. It only become more of a regular journal format closer to the end of the book and by then you will find yourself so invested in the book that you will want to continue to read it.

This book is full of action, suspense and an entertaining story. If Jason Bourne was recruited as a teen and then wrote a journal of the missions he was sent on and how his life started to unfold and unravel, I think it would be similar to what Shane has written here. I cannot wait for the next book, I need to know what happens next and how the story develops. If you like action, suspense and a great assassin type story, mark September 8, 2011 on your calender and pick this book up.

Enjoy!!!

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