Juggernaut by Amelia Gormley

Juggernaut_500x750Title: Juggernaut
Series: Strain, #0.5
Author: Amelia Gormley
Genre: Dystopian/ Sci-Fi
Length: Novel (378 pages)
Publisher: Riptide Publishing (August 10th 2015)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4 Hearts
Blurb: They helped destroy the world. Now they have to survive the new one.

For rent boy Nico Fernández, it’s a simple job: seduce a presidential advisor to help cement approval to launch Project Juggernaut. He’s done similar work for General Logan McClosky before, and manipulating people for his favorite client beats the hell out of being trafficked for slave wages in some corporate brothel.

Zach Houtman feels called to work with the most vulnerable outcasts of society. But his father, the Reverend Maurice Houtman, insists that Zach work for him instead as he runs for Senate. Zach reluctantly agrees, but is horrified to see his father leave behind Christ’s mandate of love and mercy to preach malicious zealotry and violence instead. Zach even starts to suspect his father is working with fundamentalist terrorists.

When Project Juggernaut accidentally unleashes a deadly plague that claims billions of lives, Nico and Zach are thrown together, each bearing a burden of guilt. With only each other for safety and solace, they must make their way through a new world, one where the handful of people left alive are willing to do anything—and kill anyone—to survive.

ISBN: 9781626492820

Product Link: http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/juggernaut

Reviewer: Tams

Review: Nico Fernandez is the son of the most powerful Sanctioned Madam; he is also her most valued employee. Nico sees how the people who don’t have the opportunities he has suffer and he truly wants to help any way he can. Poverty is prolific and Nico is spared that type of life, until he unwittingly helps a family friend, also a sometimes lover, unleash the virus that now plagues humanity.

Zach Houtman is the son of the most powerful Zealot in this post-apocalyptic world. As a former minister turned politician, his father spouts nothing but hate and venom at anyone that doesn’t conform to his ideals and beliefs, including his own son. Zach turns a blind eye for years, until his father pushes him too far. Zach and Nico become companions due to circumstance. They become lovers by choice. But the society and the unholy virus that is slowly wiping out humanity has other plans for these two, that is, if they survive.

Juggernaut shows us how the plague in the story Strain started. Gormley paints a vivid picture of a society on the verge of breaking down, even before the virus takes hold. War, poverty, lust, greed and a thirst for power pale in comparison to the Juggernaut virus that turns man against each other. Society is already on the verge of breaking down, even before the virus. When you have a base reality of people who are hell-bent on destroying each other, playing God usually backfires, and that’s exactly what happens here.

I thoroughly enjoyed this look back into the history of the Jugs. How they came to be the super soldiers and protectors they are. You’ll not only learn how the Strain started but you get to see a little bit of the reasoning behind certain aspects of Strain that you may have questioned or misunderstood. The relationship between Nico and Zach was a little too simple for my taste, especially if you’ve read Darius and Rhys’s story prior to this one. But I’m very excited to see what Gormley brings to the table with Bane, the next book in this series.

If you like dystopian stories then this is a must read for you. It’s one of my favorite genres, so when new books release in the genre I’m usually standing on top of the buy now button waiting for them. The story itself, the world this is set in is very post-apocalyptic and though it’s not as prevalent in this book, it has a zombie edge to it as well. If you haven’t read Strain yet, you won’t be lost. But if you think that was a cliff hanger, go straight to Strain to answer some of your questions.

* I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *