Brilliance by Marcus Sakey – a Review

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Description:
In Wyoming, a little girl reads people’s darkest secrets by the way they fold their arms. In New York, a man sensing patterns in the stock market racks up $300 billion. In Chicago, a woman can go invisible by being where no one is looking. They’re called ?brilliants,  and since 1980, one percent of people have been born this way. Nick Cooper is among them; a federal agent, Cooper has gifts rendering him exceptional at hunting terrorists. His latest target may be the most dangerous man alive, a brilliant drenched in blood and intent on provoking civil war. But to catch him, Cooper will have to violate everything he believes in and betray his own kind. From Marcus Sakey, a modern master of suspense (Chicago Sun-Times), and one of our best storytellers (Michael Connelly), comes an adventure that’s at once breakneck thriller and shrewd social commentary; a gripping tale of a world fundamentally different and yet horrifyingly similar to our own, where being born gifted can be a terrible curse.

Review:

Brilliance by Marcus Sakey is a futuristic suspense thriller.  When I was asked to read this book, I had never heard of Marcus Sakey.  I thought ok, I will give this a try, even though the book is 452 pages.  From the start, the book started off good, but I thought can it hold my attention. Then as I kept turning the pages, I discovered I had already read over 100 pages, and I was not about to stop.  Brilliance turned out to be a fantastic thriller, and I am so thankful to have been given a chance to discover Marcus Sakey, whose writing grabs hold of you and doesn’t let go. 

Brilliance explains at the beginning that in the 1980’s, approximately 1% of the population were born with special ability gifts; and they were designated as “abnorms”, or brilliants.  They had no super powers, but each would have different types of ability making them smarter then the normals.  Years later, one person abused the gift for their own advantage, by making billions on the stock market, causing the stock market to close in 2011. To prevent abnorms from causing further issues, the children born to abnorms were monitored, and if they were considered first tier, the children were taken away from their family and trained to work for the government, and the families would never see them again.

We meet our hero, Nick Cooper, who works for a secret government agency. Nick is an abnorm, who was born before the testing and training began.  He works for this special division of the government, which concentrates solely on the abnorms.  Nick is the top guy for the leader of this division (DAR-Department of Analysis and Response), and he is very patriotic.  Nick’s ability is to see patterns in front of him that gives him clues to what will happen, giving him the knowledge of knowing their movement or plans and being a step ahead. His job is to help stop & eliminate abnorm terrorists, who are a threat to the country.

One such person is John Smith, an abnorm activist, who is now considered a terrorist.  Smith has killed innocents for his cause, in freeing abnorms to be able to live a normal life.  Hence a civil war has begun, and Nick is charged with finding and killing John Smith. 

When Smith blows up a building, causing many deaths, Nick takes it upon himself to become rogue, and try to get onto Smith’s team.  A big part of Nick’s decision making is his 4 year old daughter is an abnorm, and she will be a 1^st tier.  Nick makes a deal with the DAR leader to go undercover, even if it causes his own life, if they ensure his daughter does not have to do that testing ever.

Without going into too much detail, and no spoilers, Nick’s life is on the run, from fellow agents who think he is rogue, and Smith’s team who do not truly trust him.  Along the way he meets Shannon, an abnorm, who can move with such speed, that he calls her ‘the girl who walks through walls’.  Shannon was a kick ass heroine, and she though at first the enemy, she needs to work with Nick to help each other. 

There was a lot of excitement and suspense throughout the book.  The last ½ of the book was so exciting; I could not put it down.  Sakey has so many twists and surprises; you are thrown for a loop a few times.  Especially, with some cool tech things in this futuristic world.  The key to the final half is that Nick must make decisions, as he discovers that everyone is lying to him, and the truth is not what it seems.  As it heads to its exciting and emotional climax, you are continually on the edge of your seat.

Sakey has not only created a complex world, with a fascinating plot; but he has also created some wonderful and interesting characters.  I am so glad I read this book, as it is most definitely one of the top thrillers this year.  This is the first book in what is expected to be a trilogy.  Brilliance is now also being made into a movie, and after reading this thriller, I can see how it would be a marvelous movie.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher