A Taut, Fast Paced Action Packed Novel

One of the first things that drew me into this book is its cover art, which is riveting, unique, compelling, and commanding. Zealous: A Thriller by Alex Rawecki is a taut, fast paced, stand alone action packed novel, where a scientist and her partner are in a desperate search for answers about a research project that may be affecting her, but they keep hitting dead ends, literally, as anyone connected suddenly seems targeted for a violent end, and soon she is as well.

“In a modern office building outside of Brussels” a man and woman are speaking frankly, “‘We're facing an issue with the project. We advanced to phase 4 three weeks ago, but the subject isn't responding as anticipated. We've double-checked the input data, and it all seems correct. However, we're concerned about potential malfunctions in the coming days if we proceed with the protocol as planned,’ Mathilde Bariau summarized.” She questions the algorithm, but suspects the subject is the problem’s source, thanking the general for his time as she leaves. As the door closes, the general “…slammed his fist on the table. He knew he had circumvented several rules when he gave this project a green light. Somehow, he had hoped the risk would pay off in the end. But now, too many people were involved to keep the failure of the project contained.”

Research scientist Nika Beresic’s increasingly weird dreams, the voices she hears in her head, and strange deja vu moments are really stressing her out. Suddenly she has an excruciatingly painful headache, which leads to a powerful seizure rendering her unconscious. She wakes up in a hospital where her doctor drops a piece of paper with a number sequence on it that haunts Nika when she sees it, and when her partner Marc reads it, he stiffens and rushes to return it to the doctor. 

Almost immediately Nika and Marc are on the run from their old life in a desperate hunt for anything that brings them closer to the meaning of that number sequence and what is happening to her. She is zealous in her online pursuit of documents, names, connections, and clues that can bring answers and clarity, while her partner starts seeing her as having psychotic behavior and needing medications with professional care to “help” her. Even Nika feels her own brain is gaslighting her, and ponders, “Why is she all of a sudden having dreams about being a secret agent on different missions?”

Their joint investigation leads them in a cat and mouse game as they journey across Europe, making appointments with people who end up being dead ends, suddenly extinguished in accidents. The two increasingly feel the walls closing in as the pool of people who may know something seems to be in imminent danger of extinction. The doctor where she’d been hospitalized records a message for Nika, but powerful players are monitoring the web, not hesitating to remove anything that points back to them. If she has another seizure, she’ll need hospitalization, but that risks making their location available to their greatest threat. 

This book keeps readers’ attention from beginning to the surprising end, and goes to show those with single minded zealousness to attain their goals rarely disappoint themselves.