Children of Paranoia

By: Trevor Shane

Narrated by: Steven Boyer, Emma Galvin

Unabridged, 14 hours

Read by Steven Boyer and Emma Galvin

In a world where anyone you meet may be your mortal enemy, the first to kill is the last to survive.

©2011 Trevor Shane (P)2011 Penguin

Critic reviews

"A claustrophobic, relentless, fascinating ride that will have you eyeballing everyone you pass in the street." (Marcus Sakey, author of The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes)

"Like The Bourne Identity turned inside-out, [Trevor Shane's] protagonist navigates a world where banal choices like going to the ATM have life-and-death consequences. Filled with sharp plotting and vivid action, this book will stay with you long after you've raced to the end." (Chris Farnsworth, author of Blood Oath)

Stop What you are doing and Buy this Book!

What made the experience of listening to Children of Paranoia the most enjoyable?

Children of Paranoia is a thriller that can appeal to readers of all types. It’s full of everything a reader could want in a tale, adventure, romance, and a lot of great action. Its style translate smoothly to audio and narrator Steven Boyer captures the main character perfectly.

LOVED IT

Any additional comments?

This was an excellent book! I loved it! It kept me wanting more. I am hoping there might be more to this story!

Full of action, but why?

Children of Paranoia a chilling tale that could be taking place right here and now. The book is non-stop action in a world a little too similar to our own that explores themes of duty, love, fanaticism, and revenge.

The story follows Joseph as he goes about his job as an assassin and keeps a record in his journal. He's good at his work but gets no enjoyment from killing. I enjoyed the meticulous planing and carrying out of his assignments, but the journal framework took away a lot of the suspense since Joseph had to survive in order to write his story.

Joseph isn't the smartest or most fearless of his colleagues, and his boredom and depression really come through. He's in his 20's, and the juxtaposition between his job as a ruthless killer and his complete lack of social skills in normal life led to some funny situations. There are obvious parallels between the war Joseph is fighting and religious wars past and present, but Joseph's cult provides none of the community, philosophy, or history supplied by actual religious organizations to inspire such fervent devotion. Instead, Joseph is paranoid with no delusions he can ever be safe.

Reading: Steven Boyer reads the majority of the book with Emma Galvin covering the prologue and epilogue. This is the first time I've listened to Steven Boyer, and I liked his reading. His voice sounds young and is well suited to express both Joseph's deliberation and his depression. Emma Galvin's direct reading style really moved along her short sections.

Final thoughts: Full of violence and action, this dystopian portrait-of-a-life didn't provide enough information on the whys of the world to keep me engaged.

Grade: 2.5 out of 5

Frightening, and not in a good way.

This book read like the self referential internal fantasy world of a twenty something young man experiencing a schizophrenic break. The breathy, teen angst feeling narration doesn't help.

No exposition of the bad guys or the good guys ever took place. He can trust no one but himself, he kills people because he decides based on feeling and an internal and untestable logic that they're the bad guys.

What makes the book a little frightening, is that while the plot and story are externally unbelievable to the point of silliness, the internal logic could very easily be the sort that drives a delusional young person who needs medical help and doesn't get it to go on a killing spree.

If the author had spent a lot more time exposing the good/bad guys, and built the story toward some kind of conclusion where the ostensible hero confronts and overcomes that mysterious organization than maybe it could have been a fun bit of escapism. As it stands, it was a depressing tour of the mind of a dangerous crazy person.