Favorite Lines: “But after a few moments the men in white coats easily managed to restrain me, and dragged me kicking and screaming from the room.” (p. 127 ARC)
Kira Jordan wakes up in a dark room handcuffed to the wall. She’s not alone. Rogan Ellis, convicted rapist and killer, is handcuffed to the opposite side of the room. She has no idea how she got there and wonders if she was caught shoplifting.
Rogan Ellis has heard of people winning their freedom by playing a dangerous, underground game, The Countdown.
While in prison he is approached and given a choice, serve his 500-year sentence or play. He agrees and soon awakes wounded, handcuffed and surprised. Surprised to find a beautiful stranger is playing the game with him.
Then a key is produced and dropped off. It’s game time.
The players are given X amount of time to complete different missions. If they succeed, they live to pursue the next mission. If they fail…they die!
Countdown is exciting, suspenseful and everything I was looking for in a book when I read it. It started with a bang and kept running. The book used chapters, but was also divided by level. I was never lost because Ms. Maddox always told me what level I’d just completed.
Countdown is science fiction meets romance while being stalked by psychos. it’s a book that is told in first person (Kira’s POV). It is cleanly written at a fast pace. The characters are interesting and engaging. The villain is obviously bad, but when Maddox adds the paranormal touch of ‘feelings’ that Kira is capable of, the plot becomes even thicker.
At one point in the book, I screamed at Kira to use her brain because The Countdown is televised online. Of course she didn’t hear me *grin*, but that didn’t stop me.
My only disappointment with the book came at the end. The pacing is so quick that as the book comes to a conclusion it feels like slow motion. That is a small price to pay in an otherwise exciting reality game show book gone wrong in all the right ways.
Countdown goes on sale July 29, 2008. Read other reviews at Tez Says and Ramblings on Romance.
Scooper Speaks 
Thanks for linking to my review, and have a lovely day! 🙂
Tez – No problemo. You too!
Where do you find so many cool sounding books? I love this idea of a game to the death. It sounds very fun and suspenseful!
Carolyn- I’m a very lucky girl! No, when I get irritated at home I browse books on Amazon. It was both fun and suspenseful.