Participant in the 2019 Chaos Awards 7 organized by CreativeChaos and judged by me under the genre Sci Fic.

Book- The Runners
Genre: Science Fiction/Action
Mature: No
LGBTQ: No

Author: NicoleKingLeBlanc

Book Title

I couldn't find any issues with the title and it seemed perfect to me because it was relevant with the plot.

Book Cover

The cover seemed good to me with one man and a woman facing with their back to the readers. It definitely gave the "running" feeling. I'd just like to add that the sticker that has been put on the man running could be put on another part so that it doesn't cover the man and mask the impression the man creates on the readers.

Book Description

I found the book description okay but I think its presentation could be improved by adding some spacing.

Plot

Initially, the plot seems to be a little cliché with zombies attacking people for their survival in Flag City but that's when the author puts an exciting element in the book and holds the readers. The AVV, which is the government of the Flag City, decide to divide people in four separate sectors: The Group, The Reds, The Runners and The Finders. The Group comprises of ordinary people who are locked in different places in the city. The other teams are held responsible for fighting with the zombies and protecting the Group and whichever teams of the three are successful to do so, receives the Prize. Here's another catch the author designed: The Runners don't do as they are told. More drama lurks in with conflicts growing among The Runners and The Reds.

Spelling, Punctuation, Grammar and Vocabs

The author's reasoning of the book being unedited explains why the book falls at this sector. I'd suggest the author to focus more on this sector and I hope they fix the issues that arise here.

Writing Style, Character Development, Flow and Setting

The writing style seemed a little confusing to me because the tenses shifted a lot. At times, it was hard to carry on with the flow because I found a couple of things which remained unanswered for me. There was a portion in chapter three when Jennifer escapes through a tunnel from The Runners building and ends up in a place where there had been a door and she meets Jake after going through it. Again there was a portion in chapter four where Jennifer had to take her training. It wasn't clear to me how a mountain made of plastic was present in a room, how Jennifer climbed on it and how the references of a man falling 30 meters down the cliff came. I believe the author will take a careful look here and will solve anything that doesn't fit onto piece immediately. While the setting and visualizations are there, I think there needs to be more in terms of character building. The book starts with our main character Jennifer losing her best friend in a gun shooting. There were some hints on Jennifer's character such as she loved her best friend genuinely and was caring towards the residents of Flag City; however, I didn't get much idea of the characters Logan and others who were the members of The Runners.

Creativity and Enjoyment:

I appreciate the creative mind of the author in including the "energy boxes" which seemed just the beginning of exciting things in the book. This definitely created the impression that the book contains more scientifically answered and technologically enjoyable content.

The End