I used to write a lot of book reviews for Horror Bound but have slowed way down the last few years. Now that this blog is up and running I’d like to get back to it more because I love spreading the word about the books I read and it's a lot easier to talk about someone else's books instead of my own. Beta by Sammy Scott is the perfect place to dive back into it.
Usually when I see I book hyped up a lot in various places I come to the conclusion that there is no possible way for the book to live up to the hype. Most of those books that get hyped and have a ton of praise end up being very good and I enjoy them, but it’s impossible to live up to the hype surrounding them.
That is not true of Beta by Sammy Scott. Believe everything you’ve heard about this book. It’s that good. I don’t like to give too much away when I write reviews because I don’t even read the blurb on the back of the book before I start reading. I almost always go in blind. I will, however, give you this: Beta tells two stories simultaneously one story is of a man who is being paid to live in a completely automated house for three months in order to beta-test the house and make sure everything is working properly.
The second story is of an author who is at a bookstore one day and meets and then befriends a woman who works at the store when he grabs a copy of one of his books and signs it. That’s all I’m giving you, though I didn’t even know that much when I started.
Scotts writing style is so easy to read and I think where he does his best work is on the dialog. Each of his characters has their own personality and voice that brings them alive. A second area where Scott excels is in his vision for the automated house. I don’t know how much of what is depicted is the book is possible, but I bet it’s more than any of us realize. A story like this seems like science fiction but is probably not far from becoming fact. And it is terrifying.
If you haven’t read this one yet it’s well worth giving it a read. Beta is a solid 5/5 for me.
