Amped by Daniel H. Wilson

Before I start, let me say that I hate negative reviews and by negative I mean author bashing. So I won't ever do that, I hope. Especially Daniel H. Wilson. I love his Robopocalypse & Robogenesis books.

Amped started out interesting. It was a sudden and new form of racism, in my opinion. I expected to be sucked in the way Robopocalypse swallowed me up whole. I was so ready for another book from this author, i raced to the book store and purchased a copy the day it was available. Owen Grey finds himself in the middle of a purge basically when "amplified" people, that is to say people that have had medical implants that improve their way of life, are no longer considered human beings, which means that are not subject to the same laws, but more importantly, they are not protected by them any longer. The implants may have started and been installed in the majority of people that needed them, but they soon became purchased by the wealthy as well. So anyhow, it throws you right into it basically. Owen goes for a check up and hears on the news how people were being evicted, beaten, shunned all kinds of nasty stuff. He has to flea. ends up on the run avoiding normal humans headed almost aimlessly. but his father told him there is someone he needed to find and a general area he could find them. So Owen heads there, a little community in almost the middle of no where. There he is found by people like him. People who actually make normal human beings fear amplified individuals. It is from them that Owen finds out, he doesn't have a run-of-the-mill implant. What he has is something more. Learning from this group of outlaws Owen discovers what his implant is capable of and what he is capable of. It all comes down to choices and Owen eventually needs to figure out what side he's going to be on.  All this was going good until we started reaching the end. Which to me felt rushed. I hate myself for not enjoying this book because the start of really made me feel like it was going for a whole freedom fighter vibe or at least a civil rights story. I really started to think it'd be a lot like Robert Sawyer's, "Mindscan", but with more action. however when Owen finally accessed the more interesting parts of his implant the book was already ending. the finally battle lasted only a couple of pages and left me wanting, not for a sequel, but for more substance in this story. Amped was not for me. Maybe there are other readers who will say this is their cup of tea. Having wrote this review late and just after finishing Robogenesis, I can tell you that Daniel H. Wilson has not lost the creativity, because Robogenesis ended up being my most favorite story to date. I tell anyone who likes to read and some that don't read about Robopocalypse and Robogenesis. They are wonderful books that I will never get rid of. I am sorry to say Amped does not fall into this category.