Title: Prototype
Author: M. D. Waters
ISBN: 9780525954248
No. of Pages: 384
Genre: Science Fiction
Origins: Dutton Adult
Release Date: 24 July 2014
Bottom Line: Love, love, love
Synopsis:
“Emma looks forward to the day when she can let go of her past—both of them. After more than a year on the run, with clues to her parents’ whereabouts within her grasp, she may finally find a place to settle down. Start a new life. Maybe even create new memories with a new family.
But the past rises to haunt her and to make sure there’s nowhere on the planet she can hide. Declan Burke wants his wife back, and with a little manipulation and a lot of reward money, he’s got the entire world on his side. Except for the one man she dreads confronting the most: Noah Tucker.
Emma returns to face what she’s done but finds that the past isn’t the problem. It’s the present—and the future it represents. Noah has moved on and another woman is raising their daughter.
In the shocking conclusion to M.D. Waters’s spectacular debut, Emma battles for her life and her freedom, tearing down walls and ripping off masks to reveal the truth. She’s decided to play their game and prove she isn’t the woman they thought she was. Even if it means she winds up dead. Or worse, reborn.”
Thoughts: If Archetype was intense, Ms. Water’s ups the ante with the sequel. For, Emma now knows her past and must take great pains to avoid ending up where she started. This includes confronting the very same person she fled at the end of the first novel. It is as exciting, if not more so, given that Emma, and the reader, now learn the entire truth about Declan Burke and his aims. The stakes are as high as they can go, and readers can do nothing but sit back and enjoy the ride.
Much of Emma’s story revolves around identity. What makes Emma Burke unique to the Emma Wade she once used to be is a major theme in Prototype. There are also the legal and political ramifications of certain medical processes, but those issues are somehow less important than the question of Emma’s present and future identity. She posits some intriguing questions and faces scenarios that make a reader pause for reflection. It makes the story more personal and Emma highly empathetic.
It must be stated that it is not a perfect story. Noah’s securities company allows him convenient access into many places, but key information the Resistance needs tends to be difficult to access. There are also some issues with some of the characters and their lack of development. These characters play essential roles in certain elements of the story but never move beyond the fringes of identification. Still, the story is so fun/exciting/sexy, it is easy to ignore these minor deficiencies and enjoy Emma’s transformation.
Prototype more than lives up to the high expectations fans of the first novel will have. Emma is a fabulous main character in that she is strong, compassionate, has lost everything but will never give up to regain what she lost. Her relationship with her daughter is poignant, while sparks continue to fly between Noah and her. It is a true joy to watch Emma come into her own, and the ending will leave readers completely satisfied at a story well-told.
