Ex Machina

Adept #2

by Robert Finn

If you've read "Adept", then you know just how strange the world really is and what happened when Susan Milton and David Braun got mixed up in the theft of the Marker. Well, one year on and the Marker is still missing. Susan, David and the Professor have a plan to get it back, but before they can put it into effect, they make the mistake of recruiting Jo Hallett to help them. As well as a ferocious intellect, she's self-absorbed, unreliable and a disruption to any team she joins - not to mention a gift to its enemies. But she also holds the key to a mystery that's defeated a hundred generations of what power lies behind the Marker and the remarkable talents of those who covet it? If she can avoid betraying her friends and being caught or killed by their enemies the answer can be hers - in exchange for her life. In "Ex Machina", Jo tells her story.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller

360 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2006

About the author

Robert Finn was born and raised in London and now lives in the Cotswolds.

See also:
Robert P. Finn, Translator
Robert Finn, author of Organ Transplants
Robert K. Finn, author of Biotechnology Focus
Robert Finn, author of Symphonic Journey, Con Amore
Robert Finn, Computer Scientist

Reviews

[Vivienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is the sequel to Adept and continues the story a year after the events of that book.

However, unlike the former which is told in third person, Finn switches to first person in the form of the brilliant but deeply troubled Jo Hallett. Jo is a member of the academic project that David and Susan are now part of but excluded from their elite inner group. This change of perspective works well as it is not necessary to have read Adept to enjoy Ex Machina because as Jo begins to investigate the inner group she learns of the former events. It is these investigations that leads her down a dangerous path where again lives are under threat from quite unreasonable people.

Again an engaging thriller without being brilliant.

Finn develops more of his ideas about magic in this second book and given the number of questions left open at the end, he may well be writing another volume in the series in the future.

[Vdubber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Been a while since I read adept so took a little while to pick up on the previous events as they only unfold gradually as ex machina progresses. I enjoyed the shift in perspective and the change in main character, a little unusual for a sequel, especially as the established characters do not really come to the fore. An enjoyable read but for me not as good as adept.

[R.B. Harkess · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have to dmit this book didn't even make it thru the 30 page test, which means its probably unwise to read anything into this comment other than to say I didn't like it. What drove me away from it so immediately was the voice of the narrating character, which seemed to be trying to be ditzy post college nerd, but which for me didn't quite make it.

[Andrew Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as Adept but still pretty good.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started off a bit slow but turned into a great read