Revenge of the Cyber Dragons
Cyber Dragons, Book 2
By: C.T. Phipps, Michael Suttkus
Narrated by: Catherine Ho
Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
Publisher: Podium Audio
Release date: 03-07-23
BOOK BLURB
Ex-Rider Keiko “Kei” Springs was living with her adopted daughter Becky away from her previous life of crime.
Unfortunately, the past is not easy to escape and her sadistic former sensei, Snake, gives her an ultimatum: perform eight tasks for him or die. The final mission before her freedom is nearly impossible, though. Snake wants her to take down a luxury resort where the super-rich are implanted with their heart’s desires, only to be brainwashed into serial killers for blackmail potential.
Teaming up with the eccentric techjack Paradise, her on-again off-again lover Case, and a Judicial Magistrate named Parvati Rao—Kei thinks she can pull it off.
Unfortunately, that’s before she discovers the luxury resort is owned and operated by a nearly omnipotent AI that has it out for her.
MY REVIEW
Revenge of the Cyber Dragons is a decent follow up to Book 1, Daughter of the Cyber Dragons, tho I liked Book 1 a bit more. Kei has tried to go legit but her nemesis, Snake, sauntered back into her life and made demands and threats. Since she has taken a teen ward under her guardianship, she’s vulnerable to these pressure points and takes up the tasks Snake has set before her.
As much as I like Kei’s dark humor and mood, I did miss her banter with the bubbly and dangerous Paradise. But don’t worry! Paradise eventually joins the fray! The pace of the book picks up once she shows up. There’s also Case (who you’ll recognize from the Agent G books). He’s kind of the deadly yet patient quiet cheerleader for some of the characters. A good word to describe him in these books is ‘nurturing’. Which gives me a little giggle because he’s an assassin.
Anyway lots of snark, banter, action, & pop culture references ensue. There’s conflicting motivations and desires among our band of friends. Not everyone will be happy with the outcome. Kei has to wrestle with thoughts of a long lost relative and a bit more than just thoughts. The story did surprise me with the loss of some side or minor characters. One of our heroes was strongly affected by this loss. But serious moments like that act as counterweight to all the banter.
Even as the main story wraps up, there is a lengthy epilogue told through the eyes of another character. This bit answered some leftover questions and perhaps even set us up for a third story in this series (fingers crossed!). All together, it was a good distraction from my humdrum life. 4.5/5 stars.
The Narration: Catherine Ho is a really good match for Kei, who has a darker mood all the time. But I also like how effortlessly she can switch from Kei to bubbly Paradise. Her pacing was really good and I love how she delivered the humor as timing can really add to the banter. Then we get to the epilogue, which is told from a different character’s point of view, complete with accent. Ho does a good job with that voice but I noticed her transitions between characters in the epilogue wasn’t as smooth and sometimes was indistinct. So I had to pay more attention to figure out who was talking. 4.5/5 stars.
