The Price of Trilogy 1-3 by Michael C. Bland-review

THE PRICE OF SAFETY
The Price of Trilogy #1
by Michael C Bland
Genre: adult, Sci-Fi
Release Date: April 6, 2020

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Google Play / Chapters Indigo /

ABOUT THE BOOK:

BY 2047, NO CRIME IN AMERICA GOES UNSOLVED. NO WRONGDOING GOES UNSEEN.

Dray Quintero helped build a perfect society: he designed the government’s advanced surveillance technology, ensuring everyone is kept safe and obeys the law. But when his nineteen-year-old daughter Raven commits a capital crime, Dray risks everything to cover up her actions and save her life.

To survive, Dray must outwit the surveillance system he created and avoid the ever-watchful scrutiny of citizens with microcomputers implanted in their brains and eyes. This places him in the crosshairs of Kieran, a ruthless federal Agent.

To protect his family, Dray turns to a group of rebels who discovered the government’s darkest secret: the Agency has been using his technology to manipulate and control everyone.

Despite the rebels’ help, his adversaries are closing in. Their control is absolute. No one escapes.

Hunted and betray

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REVIEW: THE PRICE OF SAFETY is the first instalment in Michael C Bland’s adult, near-future THE PRICE OF sci-fi, suspense trilogy focusing on the Founder and Head of Engineering and Design at Gen Omega Dray Quintero and his family.

Told from first person perspective (Dray) THE PRICE OF SAFETY is set in the year 2047. All of the people in America are required by law to be outfitted with government sanctioned ocular and neural implants but the reality is much more dangerous. Dray Quintero is a design engineer whose latest creation-cold fusion- has caught the interest of not only the Agency but the Government as well. When a group of Rebels known as the Freedom Fighters sets its sights on Dray Quintero, Dray will discover the secrets his company has been hiding behind his back, secrets exposing corruption, betrayal and a fight for control. The murder of the son of a prominent businessman pulls Dray and his family into a targeted conspiracy theory based in truth, in which the Quintero family finds themselves on the run, aided by the Freedom Fighters, and a fight for survival against the odds.

We are introduced to a large ensemble cast of questionable and determined secondary and supporting characters including Dr. Anya Nystrom, Hale Whittock, leader of the Freedom Fighters known as the Founding Fathers, Mayor of Free Isle Sie Ehkhert, rebels Jex, Cole, Garly, and Dray’s former friend and partner, Gen Omega CEO Nikolai, and Agent Kieran.

THE PRICE OF SAFETY is an action packed, detailed, futuristic story of machinery , AI, robots and power. From ocular implants, ocular cameras: fake news, altered sight and videos, neural implants, robots, cyborgs, nuclear fusion, hoverbikes and a floating island known as Free Isle (rebel head quarters), THE PRICE OF SAFETY is set in a post apocalyptic-type future on the California coast line. The Government and The Agency have eyes everywhere, and the source of the information, are the people themselves.

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THE PRICE OF REBELLION
The Price of Trilogy #2
by Michael C Bland
Genre: adult, Sci-Fi
Release Date:May 16, 2023

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Google Play / Chapters Indigo /

ABOUT THE BOOK:

IT’S 2047. SECRETS HAVE BEEN REVEALED. AND WASHINGTON WANTS REVENGE.

Dray Quintero uncovered an ugly truth: the leaders in D.C. are fake. They’ve stolen the identities of those elected to Congress and are determined to stay in power, using his own technology to dupe the population.

After revealing this truth to his fellow citizens, Dray joins the rebellion—but his joining is as much to free the U.S. as it is to avenge his loss. Before he can strike, the government’s Agency attacks with devastating consequences. Dray and the other survivors are forced to run as Agents hunt them.

Then he makes a discovery that could alter the country’s future. He’s forced to choose between the rebellion and a desperate hope. Between family and country.

What he does will change everything.

••••••••

REVIEW:THE PRICE OF REBELLION is the second instalment in Michael C Bland’s adult, near-future THE PRICE OF sci-fi, suspense trilogy focusing on the Founder and Head of Engineering and Design at Gen Omega Dray Quintero and his family.THE PRICE OF REBELLION should not be read as a stand alone as it picks up approximately six weeks after the events of book one THE PRICE OF SAFETY.

SOME BACKGROUND: Set in the year 2047, all of the people in America are required by law to be outfitted with government sanctioned ocular and neural implants but the reality is much darker and dangerous. Dray Quintero is a design engineer whose latest creation-cold fusion- has caught the interest of not only the Agency but the Government as well. When a group of Rebels known as the Freedom Fighters sets its sights on Dray Quintero, Dray will discover the secrets his company has been hiding behind his back, secrets exposing corruption, betrayal and a fight for control. The ‘Gang of Five’ at Gen Omega-Nikolai, Brocco, Zion, Tevin and Dray have now ventured forward pathways that are about to converge and cross.

Told from first person perspective (Dray) THE PRICE OF REBELLION continues to follow Dray Quintero and his daughter Raven as they are now part of the multi-state Freedom Fighters but as the group struggles to survive, their numbers are decimated as The Agency takes aim at those they consider enemies of the Government. With the ability to track, and see through the eyes of the American people, The Agency is determined to take down Dray Quintero and the Freedom Fighters but Dray refuses to give up when a newscast reveals the possibility some of his people survived.

The world building continues to focus on a near-future world controlled by the people in charge. From ocular implants, ocular cameras, to fake news, altered sight and videos, neural implants, robots and drones, nanobots and cyborgs, nuclear fusion, hoverbikes, and genetically altered super soldiers, all of which is government sanctioned and ordered, America has become a self-fulfilling prophecy of minions controlled by the people in charge, people Dray once considered partners and friends.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and energetic secondary and supporting characters including the return of Dr. Anya Nystrom ; rebel leaders Saline Cardoza, Thys Gunnar and Isiah Lafontaine, and Freedom Fighters Jex, Cole, Garly, Monroe and Valor; as well as Agents Sari Britt and Kieran, and Dray’s former partner Zion.

THE PRICE OF REBELLION is another action packed, adventurous, thought provoking and cautionary tale of power and control, betrayal and vengeance, man vs machine. The character driven premise is edgy, haunting, twisted and detailed; the characters are numerous, desperate and determined. THE PRICE OF REBELLION ends on a cliff hanger-you have been warned.

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THE PRICE OF FREEDOM
The Price of Trilogy #3
by Michael C Bland
Genre: adult, Sci-Fi
Release Date: April 8, 2025

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Google Play / Chapters Indigo /

ABOUT THE BOOK:

It’s 2047. The rebellion has been crushed. The Agency is reestablishing control.

Rebel leader Dray Quintero languishes in his cell, struggling against his captors’ manipulations. His daughter Raven’s cries torment him at night. He has doomed them both.

When given an unexpected chance to escape prison, they break out–but they’re not safe. No one is. The Agency is still in power. And they’re tightening their grip. As dangers mount, Dray is haunted by an impossible dilemma: flee and survive, or gamble his last chance for freedom by taking a stand against impossible odds.

He tried running. He tried fighting. This time, he must try something radically different. Something no one will see coming.

••••••

REVIEW:THE PRICE OF FREEDOM is the third and final instalment in Michael C Bland’s adult, sci-fi, post apocalyptic thriller trilogy focusing on Dray Quintero and his family. THE PRICE OF FREEDOM should not be read as a stand alone as is picks up after the cliff hanger of book two THE PRICE OF REBELLION.

SOME BACKGROUND: Set in the year 2047, all of the people in America are required by law to be outfitted with government sanctioned ocular and neural implants but the reality is much darker and dangerous. Dray Quintero is a design engineer whose latest creation-cold fusion- has caught the interest of not only the Agency but the Government as well. When a group of Rebels known as the Freedom Fighters sets its sights on Dray Quintero, Dray will discover the secrets his company has been hiding behind his back, secrets exposing corruption, betrayal and a fight for control. The ‘Gang of Five’ at Gen Omega-Nikolai, Brocco, Zion, Tevin and Dray have now ventured forward pathways that are about to converge and cross.

Told from first person perspective (Dray) THE PRICE OF FREEDOM follows Dray Quintero, his family and what’s left of the Freedom Fighters as they embark on a war with The Agency and The Government. As their numbers continue to decline, the reality of the Freedom Fighters’ situation is devastating, to the point of resignation but to ensure their fight was never in vain, Dray and his team, with the help of a former friend, amass an army of robots, with the hope of destroying the people in charge but years of betrayal have cost the American people millions of lives and trust, and The Agency is determined to ensure total control. Friends fighting friends, mother vs child, a world controlled by manipulation and power .

For readers and followers of sci-fi books written by authors such as William Gibson, Isaac Asimov, and Phillip K Dick, as well as many of the sci-fi and futuristic movies and series that have come to life on the big and little screens, there will no doubt be some familiar scenarios but familiar to the point of ‘what if’. As the people in charge gain more power, everyone else will lose, blinded by lies, false hope and fraudulent claims by the oligarchy who have taken control .

Most of the previous story line characters return as Dray struggles to forge ahead in the face of waning support and the loss of lives.

THE PRICE OF FREEDOM is another fast paced, action packed , complex and thought provoking story of secrets and lies, betrayal and vengeance, power and control. The premise is dramatic, riveting and gritty; the characters are animate and desperate.

Copies supplied for review

Reviews by Sandy