Will doesn’t need the trouble Meara causes, but maybe he does need her.Captain William Talon–aka William 874–is still trying to figure out how he got saved. Now he’s stuck with Meara 491, a female cyborg partner who has no boundaries where he’s concerned.What’s he supposed to do with her and the first hope he’s felt in years?
HIGHLY IMAGINATIVE & COMPLETELY CAPTIVATING!!!
Title: William 874X
Series: Cyborgs: Mankind Redefined
Author: Donna McDonald
Designation: Book 5 of Series, *Can Be Read As A Standalone, Full-Length (250 pages), No Cliffhanger #sciencefiction #actionadventure #romance #geneticengineering #cyborgs
My Rating: FOUR DIVINELY ENTERTAINING STARS*****
*Each of the books in the Mankind Redefined Series features a different couple finding love and can certainly be read as a standalone. However, there is an overarching storyline with an underlying interconnected conflict and recurring characters featured throughout the series. To enrich your reading experience and avoid possible spoilers, this reviewer recommends reading the books sequentially.
Wow! I love, love, love it! William 874X is the fifth release in the riveting Cyborgs: Mankind Redefined Series and McDonald totally rocked my world – again! I discovered Donna McDonald in 2014 and became a diehard fan after reading Peyton 313, the first release in this sexy and highly imaginative series. I adore sexy romance, captivated by clever suspense and intrigue, fascinated by imaginative science fiction, hopelessly addicted to action and adventure, and completely smitten with courageous heroes and heroines, but combine every single one of those elements into one fabulous read, and I’m in heaven! And that’s exactly what Donna McDonald delivered in William 874X! McDonald is not only a skilled storyteller with a boundless imagination but also a wonderfully gifted wordsmith whose talent never ceases to amaze me. William 874X is the fifth release in the series and can be read as a standalone. However, there is an overarching storyline with an underlying interconnected conflict and recurring characters running throughout the entire series. The author does a remarkable job of including ample backstory in each book but to enrich your reading experience and avoid possible spoilers, this reviewer suggests reading the books sequentially or, at the very least, proceed only after reading the first book of the series which establishes the premise and sets the stage for each of the future releases. The first story featured brilliant cyber-scientist and cyborg code co-creator Dr. Kyra Winters along with dashing Marine Captain Peyton Elliot aka Cyborg Peyton 313, who both reappear in each subsequent release. The sexy cyborg heroes and heroines featured in this series are a combination of genetically and bionically engineered super soldiers. After aiding the United Coalition of Nations to end a near-apocalyptic global war, they were cybernetically imprisoned, reprogrammed, enslaved, and sold as ‘Cyber Husbands’ or ‘New World Companions’, and some were even used as deadly assassins. Dr. Winters and her team have been working diligently to rescue, reprogram, and restore the humanity of all the cyborgs whose freedom, memories, and lives were stolen by Norton Industries acting under the purview of the UCN. But their efforts are being sabotaged by a malevolent unknown entity known only as Creator Omega who continues to covertly engineer the failure of Dr Winter’s campaign to free the cyborgs and prevent their reintegration back into society. And unfortunately, the lies, deceit, and heinous machinations are, surprisingly, even more complex than they could ever suspect. Each book in the series deals with a different restored cyborg finding true love while attempting to recover their humanity and regain a semblance of balance in their new life. Each couple do get their happy ending but all of the books follow a unified overarching plot in which an unknown enemy wants their efforts to fail. In this story, we follow fiery, red-haired, former Army Corporal Meara MacDonald aka Meara 494 and somber, former Army Captain William Talon aka William 874X. I fell in love with the feisty Meara and serious William when they were introduced earlier in the series. I was so excited when I learned they would have their own story and over the moon after discovering they would be paired together as a couple. These two characters were complete opposites in every way. Meara was a nosey chatterbox with boundless energy and a glass half full outlook on life. William had lost everything, including his wife and children. He was definitely a glass half empty kind of guy, a man of very few words, and aptly nicknamed Captain Serious by Meara. At first, William appeared almost emotionless, no feeling, no humor, and no humanity left. But Meara had enough emotion, attitude, humor, and heart for them both. These two were absolutely explosive together. It was like fire meet gasoline! William and Meara’s backstories were heartbreaking, their interaction captivating, their banter hilarious, and their sexual chemistry was off the charts hot! Both of these characters quickly worked their way into my heart and became my favorites. Yeah, yeah, I know I say the same thing every time, but it’s true. The relationship and situation with the couple in each book is different, unique, and not cut from the same cookie cutter mold, so it always keeps me on my toes, never knowing what to expect. I love that about this series! I’ve loved all five of these books but this one really tugged on my heartstrings and yanked hard. I laughed, I sobbed, I screamed, I swore, I cried, I shook my fists in anger at the injustice and was completely and totally captivated!
But I digress, let’s talk about this book. I found this story to be well researched and well-crafted. The language, terminology, and science is intelligent and imaginative yet realistic. The characters are well developed, engaging, endearing and surprisingly, at times, laugh out loud funny. They exploded from the pages, captured my imagination, and completely stole my heart. I cried for them, empathized with them, and sometimes laughed with them. I became completely vested in their well-being, their survival, and most of all, their happiness. I especially loved the added elements of romance, mystery, intrigue, suspense, action, and adventured that are brilliantly interwoven into the story. The narrative was beautifully written in third person omniscient. The dialogue was smart, witty, and flows effortlessly. And the premise for this entire series has been absolutely genius. We all know that real-life research and inventions often mimic science fiction, and although the general public may not be aware, bionics and AIs do already exist, so who knows what the future may hold!
Did I like this book? No, I didn’t like it; I loved it! Then why only four stars? There were a lot of typos missed in the final edit/proofread. Nothing really major but far more than I’ve ever seen in one of McDonald’s books. Generally, I try to be fairly lenient, but if they’re bad enough to distract me while I’m reading, then I simply can’t overlook the problem and it affects my rating. This easily could have been a five star rated book, if not for all the pesky mistakes and boo-boos. Will I read this author again? Absolutely! I’ve been following this series for the past 5 years and will continue to read McDonald’s work as long as she publishes. This was the series that made me a fan, but McDonald also writes contemporary and paranormal/fantasy romance. And it’s all really good! Would I recommend this book? You bet, and I am but only for adult readers! If you love cyborg science fiction, romantic suspense, spine-tingling intrigue and thrilling adventure, then I highly recommend trying this series. It’s bloody brilliant! And finally, was I entertained? Completely! Fabulous entertainment and an awesome read!
I didn’t even get to the first page of the book and my heart broke for Will, Captain William Talon aka William 874. In a lot of ways, Will’s story reminds me of our veterans and how sometimes they are forgotten and/or never even acknowledged when they return from war.
In this story, Will was transformed into a killing machine cyborg and he is being re-made/re-transformed into more of what he was – human. He is teamed up with another “recovering” cyborg named Meara MacDonald; well, truth be told, she assigns herself as his partner. Where Will is serious, introverted, clearly struggling to get some of his humanity back, Meara is a chattering, just-as-deadly cyborg who will not take no for any answer. She is just what Will needs.
Meara heads out on a more personal mission and Will shows up to help – please do NOT say rescue – and whoa. The facility they infiltrate exposes the creepiness of humanity but these two make a great team. While they are working together, they discover that they are perfect for one another, if only they don’t strangle the other in the normal course of a day. I loved both their characters and my heart belongs to Will. Great story, action packed, full of cyborg-isms, and crazy-as-loons bad guys. Can’t wait to read what these folks are up to next…
This is as much Meara’s book too…
William was a killing machine, now he is rediscovering his humanity and sensitivity. Meara is just the bada$$ cyborg-ette to keep him on his toes. I love the way these characters are written. William feels guilt and loss and so many new sensations and we feel them with him. Meara is just hilarious with her brogue and her joking, a strong female in body and will but with some idiosyncrasies uncharacteristic of such a rebel. The overarching plot of finding and defeating Creator Omega continues with lots of action and intrigue to keep you riveted. But this is also a fun read, perfect for summer.
William 874X by Donna McDonald
Cyborgs: Mankind Redefined #5
Captain Will Talon, killing machine extraordinaire, is in need of some fiddling on his inner cyber self to prevent him from degrading further. Meara MacDonald is also in need of some cyber-work-updates. So, after they get their fiddling finished with Will gets a visit from his ex-wife asking him to find…her new husband. While searching for potential locations near the last coordinates he was sent to other female cyborgs are spotted and that puts Meara and her buddy Aja in mission mode to go help said cyborgs get free of their captors. One thing leads to another with action-packed suspense, freeing of some and capture of others, finding the newest location of the villain of this series only to see him escape again, another mission to pursue in the next book AND romance for Will and Meara.
These books are fun escapes that make me question the whole issue of evil, science and humanity. What is a human and at what point does it disappear? What inhumanity is one person willing to perpetrate on another and for what reason would they do so? What does it truly mean to be comrades, brothers in arms or just plain care so much for another that you would give up your own life to save theirs?
There is much potential for future books in this series and though there is resolution of sorts for Will and Meara I really REALLY want to find out what will happen to Aja, Nero, Phoebe and some of the other characters mentioned. I also REALLY R E A L L Y want the evil scientist “Creator Omega” to get a fitting justice ending at some point in the series 😉
Thank you to the author for the ARC – This is my honest review.
4 Stars