Zhukov's Dogs - Amanda Cyr

This book turned out completely different from what I expected when I started reading, luckily it took a turn for the better.

 

Nik is part of a junior division of intelligence where teenagers are trained like dogs to follow orders. When he's sent to the now underground city of Seattle on a simple infiltration mission, he may loose more than he care to.

 

The first fifty pages or so, I didn't enjoy reading it. I can't really put my finger on what it was, but it wasn't working for me. Perhaps too military? I had some trouble in the beginning to bind with the characters (I spent several pages trying to guess the character's gender, which probably didn't help). But after this rough start, I noticed I started to enjoy the story more and more, until I actually liked reading it, a lot.

 

The premise might not be overly original. The 'good' soldier sent on a mission, where he accidentally learns there is more to (his) life than blindly following orders. But I liked the execution of the plot and think this is one of the better ones I read in this genre. Near the end I was kind of cheering for the characters. The ending is very open, which works perfectly and I think - hope - there won't be a sequel because I believe it's good not to always end with an overly happy all's well that end's well ending. I would however like to read more of Amanda Cyr's books.

 

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!