Official Review: Reap the Whirlwind by Robert Sells

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claire mckay
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Official Review: Reap the Whirlwind by Robert Sells

Post by claire mckay »

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Reap the Whirlwind" by Robert Sells.]
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Reap the Whirlwind by Robert Sells is a fast paced, exciting and thought provoking thriller which kept me up reading late last night which is always a great endorsement! The story is initially centred on Whit Emerson who is an editor at a newspaper with a promising career and a beautiful but rather icy girlfriend. However, he's shocked to find that somehow a significant amount of money has gone from his account to buy internet porn. Determined to sort out this error he is even more alarmed to find that the electronic trail confirms that he did buy it and it is actually installed on his computer. Events continue to conspire to destroy his life as he gets fired from his job, his friend from the IT department disappears and it seems like even the security cameras are following his every move. Whit feels increasingly paranoid and tries to investigate what is going on but then he is suddenly arrested for child pornography which is of course found at his house ensuring his girlfriend deserts him. Luckily for Whit his lawyer has a little more faith in him and is bewildered by the unusual treatment Whit is being singled out for. He bails him out and Whit heads to an old college friend, Steve and his sister who hopes will help him figure out this mess.

The plot is a very interesting and well thought out one which I don't want to spoil too much as I was certainly puzzled for a good portion of the book and then pleased when it had a conclusion worthy of all the suspense the first part of the book creates. Often so much mysterious behaviour can have a rather disappointing and unbelievable explanation but this was certainly a thought provoking and very relevant story. As we grow increasingly reliant on computers the potential repercussions of this are ever more alarming and terrifying. In particular, the incident with Whit's mentor Saul was very chilling and seemed like something we would actually read about in the papers which is very unnerving!

The story evolved at a good fast pace that really drew me in and kept me reading right up to the epic conclusion and very interesting final chapter. The ending of the book is extremely strong and worth waiting for. The author also made me feel that anything could happen to the characters which made it much more exciting and full of tension. Once I hit the final few chapters I couldn't put it down and it was full of action.

I liked the characters in the book and Whit is a strong and believable leading character. His old college friend Steve is a computer geek but is a little unexciting but I liked his sister Mary and her story arc. My favourite character is the detective Jimmy Northup who is one of the many detectives assigned to hunting down Whit and he would be worthy of his own series of books. I did find it rather unbelievable that he would get away doing the things he's done and still be in the police force never mind be assigned to such a high profile case but I liked his style so much I just didn't care! He has a strong back story that really makes you empathise and connect with him and is just a great character.

I recommend this book and give it 4 out of 4 stars. It is great fun, full of suspense with a explosive ending that kept me highly entertained. The style of the book is such that it could easily be made into a big blockbuster film if they can find someone cool enough to play Jimmy Northup!

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sahmoun2778
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Post by sahmoun2778 »

Great review! You definitely have sparked my interest in reading this book.
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claire mckay
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Post by claire mckay »

Thanks it was a great read and well worth getting!
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ALRyder
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Post by ALRyder »

Don't you love it when you get a book on here that is absolutely addictive? I've come across three books from the site that I've been nearly unable to put down. It's great to see when that love for the book comes through in the review.
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claire mckay
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Post by claire mckay »

Thanks and always so much nicer to write a review when you feel enthusiastic about a book!
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Post by LivreAmour217 »

Great review! This book sounds good, but maybe a little scary too! The things that can be done with our modern technology are truly frightening!
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