"Flight of Shadows" is the sequel to Brouwer's previous "Broken Angel."
Set in a "not to distant future" America, this book portrays a society overseen by a "big-brother" style government, trapped in a caste system by which the rich run the country.
I had not read "Broken Angel" prior to receiving this book, so at times the plot and characters were hard to follow early on. FoS is still a very good read for all of not having the previous book to fall back on.
Somewhat formulaic in the plot, there is still enough meat to separate FoS from other "Fugitive" style books.
While the heroine, Caitlyn Brown, is interesting enough, I found myself much more interested the other characters populating the book:
Razor - the all purpose "McGyver"
Pierce - the conflicted agent chasing Caitlyn
Mason - the psychotic murderer on a mission of vengeance
Theo and Billy - the friends searching for Caitlyn
Caitlyn's journey of escape and her coming to peace with abnormality thrust on her by tampering with her genes while an embryo is just the outer shell of the story, Caitlyn's acceptance and reunion with her father is the more powerful and pervasive storyline.
There are passages which my be somewhat intense for younger readers. Fortunately, or unfortunately (depending on how you look at it) the intense sections of the book are nowhere near as graphic as what might be seen on cable, the news, or motion pictures.
The dilemma of genetic science and a country divided by class struggle is not far-fetched, nor unrealistic. One just has to read a newspaper or watch any type of newscast to know that our country is very divided along class lines, exacerbated by a government that is well on its way to becoming "big brother."
Author Sigmund Brouwer has fashioned a very good book, which will no doubt cause me to read "Broken Angel" to see what I have missed.
I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. You can too, go to www.BloggingforBooks.org
