The Price of Rebellion

Some things are bigger than just us. We need to think about more than the individual or even the family unit, think of the bigger picture. The Price of Rebellion by Micheal C. Bland is the second part of a trilogy all about an inventor who would do anything to protect his family, but in doing this he has exposed a conspiracy that covers all of America. What would you do with this information? Would you try and save the country, or just protect your family? 

At the end of The Price of Safety, Dray Quintero showed the US people the truth. The implants that they are all legally required to install by the government allow the powers to see everything that we do and even project things they want us to see. With this news rippling across the country, is overthrow inevitable? It appears not everyone believes Dray and the rebels, instead trusting in the state-run media. Can Dray get through to the masses? It won’t be easy as he is fighting against a powerful enemy, but also other factions within the rebel network. 

Safety was an action-packed thriller, but also a personal journey about a family man. For all the car chases and gun fights, it was a simple story about a man making choices to protect his family. Not always the right choices, but Dray’s heart was in the right place. Rebellion is a bigger novel about a country on the brink of civil war. It is Dray’s goal to push the people into fighting, but it is not a simple task. Despite the more epic feel, Bland continues the theme of family. 

Book two starts off where book one ended and this means more action as the government start the methodical annihilation of the rebel groups. It is an arms race between as genetically engineered agents attack the rebels, who have a few pieces of technology up their sleeve. There is more room for this book to breath than in the first, especially in the first act. We learn more about the rebels and the reader is given time to access the situation before the inevitable action-fest begins. 

There are some adrenaline fuelled sequences in this book, Bland has an effective way of creating a sense of kinetic energy. I enjoyed the balance between this action and Dray having to deal with other rebel factions – no statues were ever built for second place. By the second half the theme of family once more comes to the fore. Dray struggles to balance saving humanity and saving his family. He almost always sides with family and this makes his life difficult but does lead to some interesting set pieces. 

Rebellion is a good second outing for a trilogy, it keeps up the same energy and feel of the first book but has more depth and develops the world even more. The ending is what you would hope it to be, a cliffhanger that leaves the story open to go in many interesting ways. With so much gunplay and technology in the book, I would recommend this novel to fans of action sci fi. Those who like family drama will get plenty of this, but the explosions are what will last in the memory.