Immune (2009) (edit title/settings)

• Rated 4 stars

“A nice pace and great follow up to the first book in the series. The storyline is developing well and does not seem rushed.”

• Rated 5 stars

“Just gets better and better. I wish I could find a spaceship like this one. Could use a little brain boost from some of those magical headsets. This is another page turner that will cause you to loose sleep because you don't want to put it down. ”

• Rated 5 stars

“"Immune (The Roh Agenda: Book II)" by Richard Phillips sizzles with tension and breathtaking confrontations. I believed this to be a YA sci/fi adventure but the storyline has morphed into an adult sci/fi action thriller that is riveting, intense, and dark. Filled with assassins, espionage, betrayal, political intrigue, torture, cruelty, and black ops battles coupled with the savant abilities passed on from alien computers to our 3 main teen protagonists and you have the catalyst for a true edge-of-your-seat thriller that will leave you breathless and wanting more...5+stars!!!”

• Rated 4 stars

“fun book. fast-paced with several different angles to the same story. i was pulling for the main characters. classic good vs. evil with a sci-fi twist.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Good page turner with lots of action. Read this on a plane flight and it made the time zoom by quickly.”

• Rated 5 stars

“What a cracker! Better than book 1. The tight interplay between Donaldson, 3 friends and Jack made it a very involving read. I could not put it down. Took me 2 sittings.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Another excellent book in this series, and many of my points from the first apply. This book definitely stepped up the level of adult content - not a lot of time is spent in the high school the main characters go to, and experiences from the first book have matured them quickly. This book also introduces some new characters with their own mysteries, who are more violent than in the previous. This is both good and bad - I found less levity in the story than the first, but the quality of the writing remained constant and I enjoyed it.

Where this book paled in comparison with the first is the number of times the book jumps between characters, and every switch is accompanied by a cliff-hanger like ending. This works well to keep you coming back to every part of the story, but is extremely annoying when some chapters are no more than a single page long. Certain parts of the book are filled with short chapters next to each other, which was incredibly annoying to read - no sooner had you started envisioning the next scene in your head when it was over, and on a cliffhanger at that.

Overall I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to book #3. I'd rate this book slightly lower than #1, but not enough to warrant 3 stars instead of 4.

Please read my first review for a better sense of what I think of the writing and the storyline, as well as my warning to readers.”

• Rated 5 stars

“After having some trouble getting comfortable with Phillip's writing style in Book 1, I settled down with an extremely engrossing story. Book 2: Immune, is a page turner that I couldn't put down. This is one of the most finely detailed sci-fi conceptions I have read in quite a while. In fact, I haven't read science oriented Sci-fi this good since Arthur C. Clarke's Rama series.

The main characters begin as sheltered teenagers, conspicuously well socialized by their Los Alamos Lab parents but gain dimension and complexity at a fairly rapid and entertaining pace as the youth change from merely exceptional to otherworldly.

The science is imaginative and delivered masterfully. It starts with plausible, next gen stuff and extrapolates that into nearly magical technology that turns well intentioned scientists mad with power and somehow unhinges them from the ordinary tenants of morality most of us might take for granted - and some already unhinged into pretty frightening monsters. The deft presentation of several of the most repulsive characters imaginable is extremely effective, and all too believable. Fortunately, there are the angels, for lack of a better word, that contest these amoral forces with their own extraordinary talents. In that way, this work echoes Dean Koontz. ”

• Rated 4 stars

“Very good, can't wait for the next one.”

• Rated 5 stars

“This second book of the Rho Agenda certainly kept my attention going at high speed. I suppose it could be read as a stand-alone, but because the story continues with no break and.to get a real feel of understanding where the story has been and how it got to where it is, I do recommend that the first book in the series be read before tackling this one. You will be very glad you did because it sets up and prepares you for everything that is about to come.

Picking up immediately from where "The Second Ship: Book One of the Rho Agenda" left off, "Immune: Book Two of the Rho Agenda" is much more active and serious. A roller-coaster ride of a lifetime with no tracks! What is your talent or special ability? Imagine if it was increased a thousandfold? This is one of the many facets of the book. What if you find out your enemy has also increased specialties a thousandfold? Although "Immune" is a much darker story than "The Second Ship", that darkness was carefully set up in the first book and follows through, building to threshold on threshold. There seems to be no stopping it. Hang on to your hats, everyone, it's going to be a bumpy ride!

Our three teen protagonists, Heather, Jen and Mark, have become even more in control of and more adept at their exceptional talents. Their focus and brilliance is amazing, but still they maintain the usual ups and downs of normal teens. I found myself wishing I had the same power of speed reading as Mark, one of his newly learned abilities. The speed reading would have made it possible for me to read this book without stopping to eat or sleep. In fact, I did forget to eat, but sleep overtook me. Richard Phillips has an incredible way of bringing his readers right into the story, one can't help but be involved. What an encompassing book, what a fantastic series! Tender moments between heart-stopping terror; horror and conspiracy, but at the same time a bonding between friends; death and new life; all there and more. There are constantly new things discovered on the Rho Ship, but Jen has shut down the Second Ship to save it. Everything from drug lords to heroes to good and evil in high places, even good and evil between the two ships, and our young heroes are on the run.

New characters are introduced, some old and new characters disappear, "poof"! Emotional ups and downs are enough to keep any reader on his/her toes. This is one very gripping tale. The story is hungry, it wants all your attention and devours you. This book crosses so many genres, or what we may think of as genres, I believe Richard Phillips could write about anything and fascinate the reader! This series is an absolute winner! We're now left hanging, breathless, wondering what will come with the next book! One thing we know, it will pack a wallop.

My review on "The Second Ship: Book One of the Rho Agenda"
http://nightreader-blog.blogspot.com/2010/07/second-ship-book-one-of-rho-agenda-by.html”