Black Rain, by Graham Brown (Amazon Vine review)

 my edition

This is probably a record. Two negative reviews in a row, which is highly unlike me.  But this was an Amazon Vine read, and I've been putting it off, so I absolutely had to read it.  Let me get this out front.  I thought, from description of this book, that is was a CIA-thriller/suspense-type novel, which is why I chose to read and review it.  Imagine my surprise when midway through the book the author went off into the realm of science fiction and silliness. 

I will not divulge any plot elements here, because it would most likely wreck the story for anyone else wanting to read this.  To be very honest, I was definitely caught up in the story up until the characters' adventures in the jungles of Brazil, when I realized that the nature (and genre) of the story had changed. Not that I couldn't live with that, but the story became so unreal and so over the top plotwise that it was disappointing and caused my interest to wane, but I did go on and finish it.

I think this author shows promise in his writing style and his ability to think up incredible plots, and I did like the first part of the book, but if you write a book that is clearly sci-fi, please market it as such rather than as a CIA-type thriller. That's so not fair.  For the positives,  the book is very fast paced, there is a lot of action, and the author starts with a bang which sets up the later mystery of exactly what is out there in the Rain Forest jungle.  I really wanted to like it, but it just didn't do it for me.

However, as usual, I find myself swimming against the tide of other reviewers who gave it 4 and 5 stars (out of 5), so this is yet another one you have to check out for yourself.