Someone wants the SurroSisters dead.Keke is a smart, sexy biker; a smart-tech renegade journalist with a searing ambition and a hunger for justice.She’s always searching for the next explosive story, so when she gets a tip-off that a state surrogate has been attacked, she rushes to investigate.As Keke races to solve the mystery—dodging religious terrorists and doomsday cults—she stumbles upon a … mystery—dodging religious terrorists and doomsday cults—she stumbles upon a conspiracy that threatens the very future of the country and everyone she loves.
The Sigma Surrogate is the prequel to the When Tomorrow Calls trilogy: a futuristic conspiracy thriller with a high-tech twist you won’t see coming. If you like Christina Dalcher (Vox), Josh Malerman (Bird Box) and Justin Cronin (The Passage), you’ll love a series that brings together all their best features in an electrifying thriller by Amazon best-selling author JT Lawrence.
★★★★★ “Mr. Robot meets The Handmaid’s Tale.”
★★★★★ “I challenge anyone to read this book and not immediately want to read the whole series.”
★★★★★ “High energy, steamy, believable and in a rich world that I can’t get enough of.”
★★★★★ “I’m kind of envious of anyone that hasn’t read this series.”
★★★★★ “Fast paced and action packed … a superb introduction to the series.”
Buy this riveting page-turner today!
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This is a prequel to Lawrence’s When Tomorrow Calls series
My Review
I’m a great fan of the near-future South African world JT Lawrence created in the When Tomorrow Calls series and rejoiced when she revealed that a prequel was in the works. It is now available and I couldn’t be happier with the result. This is a world with nifty “I wish I had” technological advances but are not so far into the realm of science fiction as to be unrelatable. It is also a world in serious trouble, a nanny state rapidly descending into a full-on dystopia: fertility crises, crumbling infrastructure, shortage of potable water, religious terrorists, and a doomsday cult are some of the problems plaguing South Africa.
The Sigma Surrogate focuses on Keke, an investigative journalist and major supporting character in the trilogy. Here she is following a lead that promises an explosive story that will shock the country if it pans out. It involves the SurroSisters, a tight, militaristic, female, tribe-like organization. Their mission is to combat the ongoing fertility crises by recruiting women capable of conceiving into the order of the Surrogate Sisters. The Sisters are above reproach and anything that affects them will shake an already tottering society. Keke ropes her best friend Kirsten (main protagonist of the trilogy) into the investigation and enlists the help of a dark web hacker with unexpected talents.
I’ve read all of Lawrence’s fiction and she has real talent for realistic world-building and smoothly combining plot, characters, dramatic tension, and action into fast paced narratives that are hard to put down once you start reading. She is firmly on my “will always read” list.
Since The Sigma Surrogate is set immediately before the beginning of Why You Were Taken, the first book in the trilogy, should it be read first? Honestly, it works either way. If you haven’t read the trilogy then start here and immediately purchase Why You Were Taken, How We Found You, and What Have We Done: you’ll want to see how the story plays out. And you’ll have a “I know something this character doesn’t” experience. If you have read the trilogy then you will have the fun of discovering the back story of several characters and enjoy the subversive twists that will upset what you thought you knew.
I devoured this book in one sitting. Not only does it suck you in almost immediately but it grips on and hold tightly until the very end! The lead in book to the fabulous trilogy which consists of Why You Were Taken, How We Found You, and What Have We Done, this book has everything a reader would hope for: thrills, deceit, mystery, drama, and heat/tension perfectly placed within the story while giving you the back story of the characters in the stories. Keke, a journalist, the main character, instantly makes you love her. Although there is no need to read this book prior to the other books expertly written by JT Lawrence, if you haven’t read the others, get them all and start here! This book moves you into the When Tomorrow Calls trilogy, with seamless effort. What are you waiting for? Go get this and the others NOW. Nothing this author pens is disappointing!
It’s hard for books to capture my attention enough for me to want to keep reading them sometimes. I didn’t have an issue with this book. It was an easy read, yet long enough to be entertaining. JT Lawrence is a very talented author who has the perfect blend of storytelling, and showing. Great book!
Set in a future South Africa, Keke is a rogue journalist. I fell in love with her character early on and was rooting for her the entire story. She’s digging into the ConXeption Clinic, looking for that big story that will get her name out there. However, while pursuing this, she comes to realize that it’s bigger than a mere sensational headline. Surrogate Joni (aka Sigma) has been sent to the SurroCloister. Apparently, fertility among humans has dropped radically and those women who can conceive and carry to term are rare. Joni is one of these women.
As the story develops, Keke pulls in more allies. Kirsten helps her pull info together. Marko is her tech guy, breaking into secret databases and stuff. As much as I liked Marko, I did find that he made it a little too easy for Keke to break sophisticated codes, etc. That was the one weakness of this story.
Twists and turns as Keke explores one lead after another. Perhaps someone at the SurroCloister is playing her. Perhaps this mysterious group Alba is setting her up. It’s a delicious nest of suspects. Keke certainly is having fun with the chase, at least until the bodies start hitting the floor.
There’s also a wonderful sexy side to Keke that I appreciated. Little sensuous scenes are spaced throughout the story. The pacing is great – I never got bored with the characters or the plot. Looking forward to the next in the series. 4.75.5 stars.
The Narration: Jean Ann Douglass did a good job. All of her character voices were distinct and her male voices were believable. I loved her mischievous voice for Keke, and also her flirty voice for Keke during the sexy bits. There were no technical issues with the recording. 5/5 stars.
I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by JT Lawrence. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.
Great characters! Well developed characters in an interesting world performed beautifully. I was not aware this was a prequel to a series when I listened to it and have not read the series (Yet). I can see this being a fabulous “origins” story for well loved characters after a series that explains several things that are alluded to.
Post-apocalyptic setting. Nihilistic tale. Well written. Good story. Keke and Kirsten are interesting characters.
I received a complimentary copy of this book and voluntarily posted an honest review.
WOW!!! WELCOME TO A NEW WORLD!!!
A wonderfully written, easy to follow, smooth flowing read that captivated me from the start. The characters and scenes are so realistic you can almost feel the heat. My eyes only focus was on the pages and my rear on the edge of my seat. I haven’t read any of JT’s work before, but you can be sure I will be in the future. Her insight and imagination with an eye and mind for detail really brought this read to full blown life. The characters are relatable and scenes incredible. JT really did a remarkable job. Thanks JT.
Keke is a reporter who is looking for that ‘big story’. She thinks she has found it at the ConXeption Cinic. Little does Keke know that her ‘investigating’ is causing more problems than good. A young surrogate is in the hospital. She was handling a choxolate egg and it blows up. This is where Keke is trying to find her story. Keke was warned by Mother Blake not to print her story or there will be more problems. Keke’s friend Kristen, her parents were killed by the Resurrectors. Now they are after Keke. Some people are not what they seem to be in this story. It was very interesting as to what could be our future.