Review by Sanyesto -- Chrome Mountain by Ben Schneider

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Sanyesto
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Review by Sanyesto -- Chrome Mountain by Ben Schneider

Post by Sanyesto »

[Following is a volunteer review of "Chrome Mountain" by Ben Schneider.]
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3 out of 4 stars
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Chrome Mountain is an intriguing action-packed thriller and an absolute page-turner that will keep you glued to your seats once you start reading it. It is carefully and wonderfully developed by Ben Schneider. The story mainly revolves around two main characters namely, Sonya McCall and Trey Radisson. The author tends to narrate to us the backgrounds of each of them separately. Sonya is brought up by her grandmother after her father dies on a road accident due to reckless driving while drunk. Subsequently, her mother left them to start a life elsewhere with another man but, unfortunately, she died of cancer. The poor household conditions led Sonya into joining a dangerous terrorist group. Her grandmother tried to warn her of this move but she kept ignoring her.

On the other hand, Trey Radisson is a scientist who came up with a powerful innovation that he fears it can be used to carry out harmful activities if it lands on the hands of terrorists. Sonya and Trey do end up together under unexpected circumstances. While Sonya is being hunted by her former gang members, Trey is being followed up by with a terrorist organization known as the Chrome Falcons. Even the police have lost trust in them and are also in their pursuit.

If you are looking for a story that is intense and full of action from the word go, then I would highly recommend this book to you. There are several themes perfectly aligned in this narrative. These include but not limited to technological advancements, family conflicts, and terrorism which is highly evident throughout the story. One thing that cannot go unnoticed is the involvement of Christian faith theme in this genre. While this may be captivating to lovers of a faith-based piece of work, the other group may feel distracted by this. Furthermore, it seems that this particular theme wasn’t adequately developed as it appears to me that it was rushed up. Faith is a gradual process that requires time to develop in the respective believers but this was not the case in this story.

The characters in the story were properly developed as each of them contributed to the buildup of the story. Both the two protagonists, Sonya and Trey, and the side characters were presented to us vividly enabling us to relate with them adequately. It was great to note how the author was able to come up with conflicts then going all the way to solve them. I was particularly eager to get to know what next will happen to Sonya and Trey. This was a good way of creating suspense in the story.

The flaws that I came across include the poor dialogue creation by the author as most of them were too detailed to be a normal conversation. The same case goes to the internal monologues in the story. Another shortcoming of the book that I came across was the unnecessary comments about the overweight people with an intent to make a joke. I viewed this as being trivial and something that may irk the easily offended readers.

This book is also filled with too much violence and there is also use of some offensive words especially when referring to women. I, therefore, give this book a rating of 3 out of 4 stars as it was well edited with few grammatical errors. Adults who like technological thrillers with a little bit of Christian fiction will comfortably fall in love with this novel.

******
Chrome Mountain
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melissy370
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Post by melissy370 »

There's a lot that sounds good in this book. I am not sure about the offensive language, but I willing to check it out. Thanks for your review.
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stacie k
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Post by stacie k »

I’m drawn to the Christian fiction element but put off by the violence and terrorism. I’m on the fence about reading this one. Thanks for your introduction to this book!
“The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable.” Proverbs 15:2a
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Debjani Ghosh
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Post by Debjani Ghosh »

The flaws that I came across include the poor dialogue creation by the author as most of them were too detailed to be a normal conversation.
This book has a solid plot but lengthy dialogues are unnatural and will detract from the reading experience. Hence, I am going to skip this one. Thanks for the review!
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Post by Espie »

I often get curious to know the rationale behind any author's propensity or decision for writing a piece as it had been. Like you, I'd find it as worthwhile as understanding and respecting each other's unique set of background and experiences that affect our corresponding perspectives, choices, and actions. We err, but I believe we deserve to know and have the chance to be and do better. Thank you for your thoughtful review.
"Life has many different chapters for us. One bad chapter doesn't mean it's the end of the book."-Unknown
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Post by Connie Otwani »

Sounds like an exciting read. It's intriguing how the two unlikely main characters link up. Great review!
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LV2R
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Post by LV2R »

The book sounds like a good one to read since it is an action-packed thriller with gang members, police, and terrorists all after Sonya and Trey. However, I am not sure about the reading of much violence and offensive language that you mentioned.
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Sahani Nimandra
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Post by Sahani Nimandra »

"her mother left them to start a life elsewhere with another man but, unfortunately, she died of cancer." I'm sorry, I don't feel sorry for her. I really don't! How selfish of her? To go away with another man and not look after her daughter. I want to kick her on her butt! Sounds like a cat and a mouse hunt. Thank you for your review!
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Ronel_Steyn
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Post by Ronel_Steyn »

Great review!! Thank you. I am slightly put off by the too detailed dialogues and monologues. They just can't be followed properly. Even so, I might just give it a try.
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fernsmom
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Post by fernsmom »

Great review! :tiphat:
I like books that start out great from the first paragraph, just like your review did! ("Chrome Mountain is an intriguing action-packed thriller and an absolute page-turner that will keep you glued to your seats once you start reading it."). Sounds like other than the dialog (mainly) it would have got the top rating.
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María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda
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Post by María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda »

The flaws that I came across include the poor dialogue creation by the author as most of them were too detailed to be a normal conversation. The same case goes to the internal monologues in the story. Another shortcoming of the book that I came across was the unnecessary comments about the overweight people with an intent to make a joke. I viewed this as being trivial and something that may irk the easily offended readers.

This book is also filled with too much violence and there is also use of some offensive words especially when referring to women. I, therefore, give this book a rating of 3 out of 4 stars as it was well edited with few grammatical errors. Adults who like technological thrillers with a little bit of Christian fiction will comfortably fall in love with this novel.
I'm afraid I find the offensive remarks towards women and the "fat jokes" too off-putting to enjoy this book. I appreciate you taking the time to comment on this issue that can be troublesome for some of us. But it seems like a great action-packed adventure if you aren't sensitive to these topics.
Thank you!
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Post by Kyle Sutheran »

Thank you for your review. The positive and negative aspects you describe are unique and interesting. The lives of both protagonists play a part in transporting us to a world of compelling drama and I cannot wait to finish this story.
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Anaïs Quesson
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Post by Anaïs Quesson »

I just picked this book for review. I was not aware of the importance of Christianity to the story. Although I'm not religious, I'm open to learning and I'm eager to see how it will make me reflect on faith.
Thanks to your detailed review, I now know what to expect, especially regarding the off-putting jokes and misogynist remarks. This will undoubtedly make my reading experience better.
Thank you for your thorough review, keep up the great work!
Anaïs - she/her

"No nightingales. You idiot. We could have been... us."
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