Review: Everlast by Richard Bard

Fasten your seatbelts, folks. Richard Bard’s newest release, Everlast, is a thrilling, fast-paced adventure that will make your head spin.

Everlast is the first in the Everlast Duology and is the follow-up series to Bard’s wildly successful Brainrush Trilogy.

Jake Bronson is back in another thriller that blends science fiction and cutting-edge technology into a whirlwind of a story that takes place on three continents.

In Amsterdam, a scientist is working on a cybernetic life-extension project that will transfer individual consciousness to a personalized avatar. His grandson, in Hong Kong, is working on using the same technology to infiltrate the world’s most secure networks.

There’s a hitch. The scientist doesn’t have much longer to live. The solution: Jake Bronson. Jake, however, is protecting a secret and doesn’t want to take part.

When Jake’s closest friends and family are kidnapped, he has to act. His abilities are fading, but does he have enough stamina and will power to save everyone?

The twists and turns in the novel come at the reader fast, never allowing the reader to lapse into a false sense of security. Instead, there’s an undeniable need to keep reading to see what’s going to happen next. There are so many crazy scenarios that at first glance they seem highly implausible, and yet the story sweeps the reader up into the action effortlessly and everything that seemed far-fetched makes sense in a fascinating, hard to explain way. This adrenaline-pumping story is like watching a train wreck. No matter how much you want to look away, you just can’t.

At the heart of this story is the importance of friends and family. While the author is throwing everything he can think of at the reader to keep them on edge, it’s still clear that the characters matter. It’s hard not to get invested and to cheer for the good guys. The bad guys are evil, no doubt about it. Yet they aren’t developed entirely. It’s like the author is saying, trust me, they are bad. Near the end of this one, Bard gives a deeper look inside his bad guys, raising the question, what is he keeping from the reader? Considering all the bizarre twists in this one, it’s a promising sign. Will the next book blow the reader’s mind even more?

Everlast is more thrilling than most thrillers on the market. It packs wallop after wallop after wallop, leaving the reader breathless and wanting more. It does end with a cliffhanger and the author is aware that this may upset some. To safeguard himself, he’s already written the sequel, Ephemeral, and it will be released one month after Everlast hits the market.

Richard Bard understands the key to self-publishing success: Write a well-written and captivating novel that wins over the reader right from the start, creating fans for life. Many authors, traditionally published and self-published, could learn much from him.

This cracker of a novel will delight his fans and will more than likely garner many more. Bravo, Richard Bard. Please keep writing.

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