A woman must discover the meaning behind a new virus affecting men before there are too many infected for them to be stopped.When Samantha Davis and her boyfriend are involved in an accident, on the same day a new virus is identified, his recovery appears to be a miracle. Until he turns on her.Determined to understand the changes in him, Sam joins with others to uncover more about the virus. But … about the virus. But the knowledge they gather poses a threat. The infected men want to stop them. And soon.
Resolving to meet the threat head-on, Sam prepares for the toughest fight of her life but finds herself caught between two worlds; still caring for the man she once loved, as her affections grow for another, while fearing for her life and the lives of all women. As the net closes in on her, she must decide whose life is more important.
“Gripping, creepy and disturbingly sexy . . . shades of The Handmaid’s Tale in a page-turning romantic sci-fi” – Lucy Unwin, Stolen Moments Books
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Samantha Davis has had enough of her cheating boyfriend, Edward. They have been together for two years, but recently the relationship has slowly been declining. The last straw was catching him with another woman at a wedding they were both attending. On the drive home from said wedding, a heavy pink fog made driving difficult and eventually caused Samantha and Edward to be involved in an accident. While Samantha had nothing more than some bruises and a broken leg, Edward’s life hung in the balance. Rushed into emergency surgery, doctors were convinced he would not make it out alive. Imagine everyone’s shock when Edward pulls through and miraculously recovers.
Samantha feels guilty about the accident and ever since his surgery, Edward has been acting like a changed man doting over Samantha. Their passion is reignited, but little by little Samantha notices signs that Edward is not acting right. He is increasingly moody and has a violent streak which scares her. One such violent episode causes Samantha to flee Edward and land into the arms of Dr Elliott Harvey.
Together, Samantha and Elliott race against time to figure out why a virus in the pink fog is integrating itself into the male DNA. They are not alone though, there are others who will do everything in their power to silence both Samantha and Elliot or anyone else who gets in their way.
Still Life by Isobel Hart really surprised me. I wasn’t sure how the story was going to unfold and what direction the author would take with the story. The first few chapters really set the stage and introduced us to a virus, that according to health officials, was not dangerous. We all know how that goes, right? So, now my mind is swirling with all of these possibilities, scenarios, and reasonings behind the virus and what it was capable of. Is it Invasion of the Body Snatchers? The Walking Dead? Aliens? A cult? What is going on!? There were just too many to choose from that I was starting to sound like a conspiracy theorist. Which kind of made me giggle a bit. I am happy to say that Isobel Hart took elements of different possibilities and wrapped them all up into one neat little package. Phew! I was going crazy there for a while trying to figure it all out. I do have to say though, Isobel Hart really shows how quickly a virus can spread to the population which lent an air of realism to it even though the story is purely Science Fiction.
Samantha is a character I had a love/hate relationship with especially when it came to her cheating boyfriend, Edward. I know she felt guilty about the accident, but come on he still cheated! Girl, move on! She just came out as so wishy washy to me in the beginning. Yeah, yeah love is blind and all that, but cheating is a swift kick out the door for me. I also think Samantha and Elliot would have made better friends then trying to get involved romantically or maybe it was just the fact that I don’t think it was explored deeply enough for me/felt kind of rushed. I did really like Elliott though. He was a stand up guy and really cared for Samantha. Also, Samantha does really redeem herself as the story progresses.
The plot has a really slow build up which kept me flipping through the pages while trying to figure everything out that was going on. There was so many elements to the story that I felt gave it some originality and kept me totally engrossed. The romance aspect between Samantha and Elliot sort of lagged for me a bit, but then it picked right back up even stronger around two-thirds into the story. There are just so many things that worked for me in this story and I found myself really enjoying it. I was trying to figure out how the title would be used in the body of the story and when I noticed it, it totally made sense and really had me thinking.
Still Life is purely Science Fiction that is cleverly crafted with elements of the “what if…..” The author really hits a lot of points with a slightly dystopian feel that makes you ponder the possibilities of a changed society. Although the story does hang on a bit of a cliffhanger, you will be happy to know that the story will continue in the next book, Still Born, and I can’t wait to get my greedy little hands on it!
Isobel Hart’s Still Life delivers a thrilling new type of sci-fi romance that offers an exciting story with twists and turns at every turn. Can death change a person?
Samantha thought she knew what the rest of her life looked like. She even believed that she could be happy with Edward, someone who didn’t entirely give her everything she wanted and didn’t treat her exactly the way she ought to be treated but was willing to make it work. That was until Sam found out that he had been sleeping with someone else behind her back. Sam was prepared to end it with him, but as she was breaking up with him, their car crashed due to a mysterious fog that had taken over the city.
Waking up in the hospital, Sam learns that she got out of the crash relatively unscathed but Edward had surgery and while healing died and miraculous came back to life. Not wanting to make the situation worse Sam must pretend that she hadn’t just broken up with him as he’s making his recovery. Amidst all this confusion there is one saving grace for Sam; a doctor named Elliot who is working on Edward’s case. He provides Sam a sense of comfort and a shoulder to lean on.
Sam begins her life again with Edward and comes to find that he’s acting completely different than he used to. At first, the transformation is welcoming and a bit exciting, but as time goes on Sam becomes scared of Edward and how he’s acting, starting not even to be able to recognize him. She and Elliot begin to investigate what could’ve spurred this attitude change. A connection is drawn between the fog and people coming back to life. With other people exhibiting similar symptoms to Edward, the race to figure out this scientific anomaly is on.
The characters are dynamic and provided dimension to what could be typical stock characters. This book promises to keep you guessing on the edge of your seat with every chapter.
4.5 stars
**Review by Sasha, Late Night Reviewer for Up All Night w/ Books**
I will admit after reading the synopsis I was intrigued.
It took me a bit to actually get into the book. It was slow at times. Once it started to fall into place, is when I couldn’t put the book down.
Samantha and her boyfriend Edward were returning from a friends wedding. The air had some fog to it. Edward and Sam had gotten into an argument because it seemed Edward couldn’t keep his man parts in his pants. One thing led to another and there was an accident.
After awhile both Edward and Sam went home, but things seemed different. Edward wasn’t the Edward, Sam once knew. He was different, more caring, but he did fly off the handle at times.
Sam had met Elliot who was Edwards doctor in the ER. They became friends and even Elliot noticed that Edward was different.
The fog seemed to have changed men and those men had to have died. Then you find out that these men, they aren’t the men you loved once, or you married. Nope, they are actually an alien and they want you to have their babies. Get the heck out of here!! Samantha who couldn’t believe what she was listening to and finding out about Edward, was indeed pregnant.
Lots of twits and turns, and woman who actually loved having men fawn over them. That is the thing though, these woman were just a piece of meat really, being used.
Once Samantha and her girlfriends realized somethings they had to get away. Only thing is they were held as prisoners. Like I said so many twits and is that really happening moments.