Three in the Heart

Headshot Online, Book 3

By: Matthew Siege

Narrated by: Vikas Adam

If you keep a monster as a pet, don’t lose your grip on the leash...

Captured by Deep Dive and broken by the nefarious Desmond, Ryan has become a weapon. Headshot’s developers use him to destroy their competitors, and along the way the enthusiastic gamer almost loses himself in a web of lies, pain and forcible mental resets.

Almost.

Months have passed. With Sasha off the grid and Ryan a brainwashed recruit, the relaunch of Headshot may finally succeed in its ultimate goal - malicious, unprecedented access to the innermost thoughts of those that play it.

But part of Ryan remains rebellious. Seeking to destroy this last shred of his resistance, Desmond plugs him back into the Headshot, a lone Zombie against a worldwide legion of violent Survivors intent on destroying him.

Don't miss the thrilling conclusion to this post-apocalyptic LitRPG Series. Experience the end today!

Narrated by the award-winning Vikas Adam (Divine Dungeon Series).

©2020 Aethon Books (P)2020 Aethon Audio

Dark chapter at the start, tones down after

This last installment starts out real dark, and has several bad reviews on account of one of the chapters. It's really dark, and I can easily see where some people might not only be bothered by it, but depending on personal history could have a severe reaction to it. I listened to only enough of it to confirm nothing was going to stop what was coming, and then I skipped the rest of the chapter.

After this chapter, the rest of the book is more of what we got in the first book, One in the Gut. Ryan does express remorse and guilt for things he was forced to do at the beginning of Three in the Heart. The conclusion is fine, though I would have liked it to go on in the epilogue just a little more and expand on the aftermath more.

Below is the chapter summary, and after reading this you can skip it altogether and go straight to 5 and still have all the details you need for the rest of the plot.

It would also be understandable if you skipped the book completely.

***Spoiler***

Chapter 4 involves the main character engaging in acts of violence against children. It's their avatars, and he's not in control of his actions due to events of the story, but it does happen. He's inserted into a children's game by Deep Dive, as they intend him to take the game down from the inside. The first 10-ish minutes of the chapter are about him, planning, arranging, and justifying his attack for when they arrive, and the last 15-ish minutes of the chapter are a very grisly description of him carrying out this plan.

It was a very disturbing thing to listen to, and as I said I only listened to enough of the chapter to confirm nothing was going to stop him and then skipped the rest of it. I'm pretty tolerant of dark material, but I'm also a father and even I found this all to be too much. I didn't need the details of him attacking and killing kids.

In chapter 5, any remaining children have fled the game and he engages in a boss fight with a game admin, and some details of what's been going on in the outside world are revealed. There's some mental justification for what he just did that takes place in ch 5 but it's obvious that even at this point he is struggling with what happened in ch 4.

Hopefully my review helps you decide whether 9r not this book is good for you.

Not as gripping as before.

I'm not sure if I will continue with this series. it came to an end probably.

4 1/2 stars of LitRGG & FRP enjoyment.

Three in the Heart (Headshot Online, #3), my third read/listen from author Matthew Siege. An enjoyable read, especially for fans of LitRGG & FRP. Darker in tone than the first 2 books in the series, none-the-less a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. I was given an Audible copy of this book in March of this year and am just now getting around to reading & reviewing it. I especially enjoyed the narrative talents of Vikas Adam. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).

Trilogy Completed

I loved the first book, fun, entertaining, exciting, interesting, fast-paced and completely different. 2nd book, well went a little bit of a twist but I am following.

Book 3, FUCK THIS NOISE! By noise I mean the voicing of the UBG 'Desmond' who is a monstrous human being that the listener is burdened with having to hear his absurd accent vomit out the justification and reasoning behind his inhumane and narcissistic bullshit, btw which you know inevitably is going to be defeated, bc that's just the way these things go.

All in all though it was nice to see a series actually come to a conclusion which is more than I can say for the majority of series that just want to go ON AND ON AND ON AND ON and never reach a fitting end.

Inasmuch as I detested the voicing of Desmond and his seeming control over others who couldn't seem to defeat him, I was gratified that in the end, well... I guess you will have to listen to find out.

Amazing trilogy

This is not your average Litrpg or zombie story. This trilogy was absolutely amazing, the narrator was great. I wish there were more to this series. This is a great young author, do yourself a favor and read or listen to his stuff today.

WOW!! what a series

this book had some real ups and downs like a freaking roller coaster ride. even some disturbing content in the beginning. but it was done in a way that I even let out a short chuckle. this is a way out of the box litrpg. I say that because I've read a lot of litrpg and this is unlike any other. if you're in this far into the series, you know what I mean. the ending was crazy!! never saw that coming but still left me wanting to know more. I don't know if it is completed but I feel like it could go either way. there is definitely a finality to it, but I feel a novella would be nice. awesome job!!

Not what I had hoped.

I read and reviewed the first book and loved it. The same with the second book. However, I was somewhat disappointed with this one, being the third in the series. The first one knocked my socks off. The second held on where the first one left off. This one, however, doesn't hold up to the first two. There is an awkward scene near the beginning that, I assume, is supposed to reveal how the protagonist is losing control and falling under the influence of the antagonist, and I suppose it does do that. I wasn’t happy with the authors choice of victims. I mean, yes, it did give us a definite sense of loss of control, however, I lost some of my compassion for the antagonist at that point. I think a different backdrop, or just a simple disruption of serenity would have been just as effective.

However, I did like the twisted sense of irony in the storyline of being pitted against oneself. That provided a different level of anticipation that was fulfilled by the author. I wish to applaud him for that particular genius. That made this an enjoyable read.

Though, then we come to the end. I was again disappointed. It seemed as though it reached a point where, “Okay, the action is over, the bad guy dealt with, the aftermath is boring, let’s just wrap it up here.” I felt the end was a bit lacking. Not to mention, that I felt, the antagonist’s performance at the end was out of character. I just would not have expected a man with the even-tempered bravado he displayed throughout the rest of the storyline to react the way he did in the end. It just felt off.

Over-all I am pleased with the tale, I would have preferred more in the final installment, but I am pleased to have read the trilogy. Definitely entertaining, and definitely not a waste of time.

disappointed

the first 2 books were good, this...well the whole thing of killing kids, even though they are in monkey AVs doesn't matter. it's senseless and unnecessary. this will be the first time I ask for my credit back

Unable to finish

I expected some dark elements and of course violence and gore due to the nature of the story being about zombies, but I feel like it was taken too far.

The chapter early in the book involving the MC describing in detail how he was going to trap and violently kill children’s (monkey) avatars in a VR world obviously meant for very young kids, and later in the chapter doing just that, while going on about how he was going to show them the realities of the world was too much for me. Instead of showing a lack of control on part of the MC or the perversion of the Antagonist for putting him in the situation, it came across as some kind of innocence robbing fantasy by making snide remarks about the psychological damages and the overall enjoyment from the MC. I get going for the shock factor or showing that the character has lost control, but there’s a line before it all becomes gratuitous, and that was crossed.

I guess if you have more of a tolerance to disturbing content, then you might be able to get through the book. This is coming from someone who is a parent who also has had to deal with perpetrators of violence against children due to my career, so I may be prejudiced against that kind of content. No complaints about the narrator and I’ve enjoyed his performances in other works.

not able to continue

Vikas Adam is amazing. I just can't seem to continue with this story. Book one was great, two jumped the shark, and three was a dumpster fire.