Welcome to Hyde Station, a mining platform floating in the backwaters of SOL’s trade route, where the industry of extracting precious metals from asteroids is big business.
Down on his luck and desperate to make quota, Jacoby happens upon a “cherry rock”. The kind that wouldn’t just meet his quota but put him into a sizable financial bonus. But there’s a problem. A scan shows a sizable hollow cavity inside, and company procedures are clear: voids must be drilled and tested for potentially explosive gases. That would mean handing it over to a specialty drilling team, and thus, kissing his payday goodbye. Refusing to hand his financial future away, Jacoby ignores his terminal’s warning and stakes his claim. Except, his saw cuts into more than just rock.
Something was inside…something alive. Jacoby quickly learns that some rocks are hiding more than just precious minerals and trace metals. And when some things are set loose, there is no putting them back.
Mankind will never be the same.
Title: Unleashed: A Science Fiction Horror Adventure | Series: NecroVerse | Author: Aaron Bunce | Publisher: Autumn Arch Publishing | Pub. Date: 22nd August 22 2019 | Pages: 434 | ASIN: B07VRDYD1Y| Genre: Sci-Fi Horror | Language: English | Source: Self-purchased | Unstarred Review
Unleashed Review
I’ve read comic books, sci-fi and horror for 40 years, so I was excited to read Unleashed. It wasn’t clear to me in advance that it is a superhero story in addition to sci-fi and horror, but it is. Let me explain with some spoilers. However, if you would ultimately like reading Unleashed, I don’t think my spoilers will actually spoil the experience.
A group of people are harvesting raw materials off earth in the solar system on a space station with, apparently, several hundred or thousand people on board. Not clear how many, not important. The protagonist cuts into a chunk of rock that he knows he’s not supposed to and gets exposed to something. What? Don’t know, doesn’t matter, maybe that question comes back in the second book.
He gets sick, while others on the station are also getting sick. Blue stuff shows up, as in he looks in the mirror and a blue version of himself winks at him. He breaks his own arm and it heals overnight. Cool! Super power. He runs into a sexy security guard and wants to do the sex with her and she can’t resist him (even though she’s with another sexy male guard), they are in public, and she doesn’t know him from Adam’s off Ox. They barely avoid having the sex. He heads back to his room, runs into his super sexy athletic neighbor who helps him into his apartment (because he’s obviously sick) and then the two of them cannot resist each other. Now he has the sex! Nope, he fights off the lady and his own urges by locking himself in the bathroom. This guy has a blue face and blue balls and is not in a sexual relationship but he just will not give in. OK …
Then his long time friend, and attractive woman who he loves but is not *in* love with, comes back. They’ve never had sex. But the passion is too much to fight so finally the guy has sex! Yeah.
OK, so his super powers are: (1) he heals very fast, (2) he is god-like horney, and (3) he has pheromones that no lady can resist. He goes on to have sex others. Zombies show up. He is also incredibly strong and fast. Because he did what he was not supposed to do this guy basically became Starfox from Earth 616. That is maybe a boy’s dream but ultimately not a good look.
From here the story turns into a chase against the zombie apocalypse on the space station. Hints of the evil corporation. The ladies get infected from the sex or close contact with him and start to get super powers. That process involves puking blue crud into trash cans with one bloody bubble appearing in each can. Yes, always exactly one bloody bubble in the blue. Why? I don’t know. I don’t even know what the blue stuff means at all.
Most of the Amazon reviewers compare the story to a video game called Dead Space, presumably because of all the running around down hallways and barely avoiding getting eaten by zombies. I don’t know the game but apparently it got a great reception. The setup does not work nearly as well as a novel.
If the basic premise sounds appealing to you let me recommend the Ex-Heroes series by Peter Clines (includes zombies) or the Milkweed Triptych Series by Ian Tregillis (no zombies), both of which I really enjoyed. Or go grab a copy of the video game. But I can’t recommend reading Unleashed.
You can find this book at many retailers via clicking on the appropriate link on Goodreads; however, in the spirit of supporting literacy programs, we would like to point out that you may be able to purchase this book through BetterWorldBooks.
Bill Mangione-Smith is one of the newest members of the Kali Krew. He’s read comics, scifi and horror for more than 40 years, and spends most of his time working on computer technology and patents.
