CRACKED OPEN (Mindjack #5) by Susan Kaye Quinn-a review

Cracked Open

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 15, 2017

Zeph always knew he was a weapon. He didn’t count on being a spy.
But he made a dangerous bargain with the Director of the Jacker Technologies Division of DARPA—he’d let Wright test his mutant mindjack ability if she’d release his parents. Simple. Occasionally painful. And the screams of his victims fill his nightmares. But it will be worth it as long as she can’t crack open his head and find out his sister, with her super-surge jack-ability, is still alive. And if his parents are finally set free.

Once that happens, he’s gone. Even if it means giving up everything he’s just now getting back. A home. Friends. A girl who believes in peace and love even when the world is falling apart.

But as the shock of assassinations and bombings and hate killings continue to pull at the threads that hold society together, Wright hands him a mission he can’t possibly complete. If he does, it will tear everything apart. If he doesn’t, he’ll lose everyone he loves.

Sometimes being a powerful weapon is the most dangerous thing of all.

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REVIEW: CRACKED OPEN is the fifth full-length installment in Susan Kaye Quinn’s young adult (YA) MINDJACK urban fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian series. CRACKED OPEN is the continuing story focusing on mindjacker Zeph MacCay- a young man with the ability to lock down, unlock or scramble the human mind.

SOME BACKGROUND: In a world where mindreading is the norm (due to decades of contaminated or purposely poisoned water) there are those with more powerful abilities than most. These are their stories of discrimination, betrayal, retribution and control. Throughout the years the human population has developed various forms of mind-reading, mind altering and mind controlling abilities due to environmental toxins. And to complicate matters those without the ability to mindjack are purposely setting out to bring war between the have and the have-nots fearing for their own peace of mind.

Told from first person point of view (Zeph) CRACKED OPEN furthers the struggle of Zeph MacCay and his underground group of people hoping to take down the Director of the Jacker Technologies, as well as the man who has developed anti-jacker technology that renders the victim all but paralyzed or dead. CRACKED OPEN follows Zeph MacCay as he struggles to free his family, imprisoned by the Director of the Jacker Technologies, and his fraudulent assignment as boyfriend and bodyguard to the daughter of an evil technology giant. With help from a couple of rogue agents and soldiers, as well as his intrepid gang of underground jackers Zeph MacCay puts into a motion a series of events that place him on the anti-jacker radar, once and for all. Success is measured by the tiniest of wins and in the end their struggle is only going to get worse.

CRACKED OPEN is a comprehensive, intricate and action packed story line of discrimination, fear, power and control. Susan Kaye Quinn’s young adult MINDJACK series looks at the breakdown of humanity, the power of politics and control of the mind, and the people on the fringe trying to survive, one day at a time. Lives will be lost; minds will be broken; friendships and families will crumble and die. CRACKED OPEN is a powerful look at a possible future if and when chaos and oligarchy preside. Susan Kaye Quinn is a master storyteller

Reading Order and previous reviews
Mind Games (Mindjack Origins 1)
Open Minds
Closed Hearts
Free Souls
The Locksmith
The Handler/ The Scribe (Mindjack Origins 2 & 3)
Keeper (Mindjack Origins 4)
Locked Tight
Cracked Open
Broken Wide