Anomaly by David Kazzie

Anomaly Reviews

• 
  Heather

  First, let’s talk about the issue of why Claire didn’t go on the first expedition but gets invited on this one. She’s an astrobiologist, so the issue of alien contact is within her wheelhouse. There are two separate excuses given for why she gets invited now but didn’t before. One, the sciences are a good old boys’ club and the previous expedition was set up in a sexist manner. Hard to argue for this when we’re told in passing that the original expedition had four women on it. Sure, that was less than half of the expedition, but not nearly as anti-female as the narrative insists it is. Two, the folks running this expedition think she deserves to go since she’s suddenly finding out her husband is alive after twelve years. Uh, sure, but we’re talking about a thing that’s so secretive that, including Claire, only 96 people in the world supposedly know about it. The idea that someone would let her on the expedition out of pity is a little hard to swallow. Ultimately, the whole thing feels artificial and convenient–just a little sleight-of-hand to arrange the setup the author wanted.
  
  I don’t like the characters very much. Jack’s reaction to everything seems to be to get drunk. Claire is kind of narcissistic, and Peter… well, I should avoid going into that to avoid spoilers, but it suffices to say that Claire’s memories of him seem to be tinted by rose-colored glasses. One of the few good parts to this book is the depiction of Claire trying to reconcile herself to the fact that Peter is still alive while she now has a husband and children, but it goes on forever. Most of the narrative is given over to this, and it gets to be a bit much. The anomaly itself ends up relegated to the very end of the book. While advertising copy concentrates on the exciting stuff, the actual meat of the story is almost entirely about Claire and her struggle to make sense of what’s going on. Thus I thought I was getting one kind of book, when in reality it turned out to be another.
  
  There are some bits and pieces that don’t really add up. Peter and the rest of his team had implants transmitting their vital signs back to the project; that’s how they believe he’s still alive. His vital signs suddenly got picked up again after having gone silent for twelve years. So… why aren’t they asking how come the implant is still working after all these years? Why did the signal suddenly start up again (no, that’s never addressed)? If they had this technology twelve years ago, how come they don’t use it on Claire and her team? (Yes, it’s true that they now believe no electronics will work on the island, but they did just receive Peter’s signal again after all these years, so that clearly isn’t entirely true. It would have been better than nothing, at least.)
  
  There’s also a weird sequence in which Claire gets caught in a traffic jam and ends up getting arrested for assault and battery, only to get bailed out by a DIA agent who was one of the people who told her about Peter still being alive. This whole sequence felt very random, and regarding the agent in question just left me with more questions than answers. Speaking of questions without answers, there are a couple of characters that never get explored or explained well enough for my taste. There’s also a completely random memory of Claire being scared of a clown when she was a kid. Huh?? Also, her men-vs-women thoughts get really tedious, particularly since they get echoed by everyone around her. She seems to believe men and women can’t be friends without there being more to it; Peter seems to think women are inherently unreasonable… I mean, am I actually supposed to like any of these people? Claire is so out-of-step and in conflict with both of the men in her life that it’s hard to believe she has had happy marriages.
  
  The details surrounding the alien artifact get confusing. Peter’s seen it, but he hasn’t seen it, but there’s some other weird orb thing, which first I thought was the anomaly, but apparently it wasn’t? Only they just left it there and moved on? And… oh never mind. There are also a lot of lectures about how this alien artifact must necessarily lead to war. We don’t need to be told at that much length.
  
  The ending is far better than this book deserves, even if it is still a little confusing and odd. I won’t go into more detail that that, because it would be rude to spoil it. Ultimately though, I can’t really recommend this book.
  
  
  Original review posted on my blog:
  http://www.errantdreams.com/2018/12/r...
• 
  Elisa

  I feel bad giving negative reviews but I didn't like this book. First, it spends almost the first part talking about the main character's life, her family, her children's activities and many other details that I didn't care about at all. I wanted to know what the alien artifact was. Then there is the (spoiler!) fact that if I saw my husband tomorrow and he looked like my grandpa, I'd probably have some questions. At some point I completely lost interest and by the time we got some alien action I was done.
• 
  Bryan

  Meh
  
  Conceptually pretty awesome. Suffers from a lot of overwriting. Beautiful writing but so much unnecessary writing. There are literally pages and page between any action and times where there is dialog that isn’t responded to until 2-4 pages later.
• 
  Adam

  It started off interesting enough and had some great buildup including some unexpectedly profound moments of insight, but unfortunately the ending really fell short.
• 
  Gary

  Once again I am struck with a book that is pushing me towards a 5-star rating. I hate handing those out like they should be common, but I loved this book! The story was completely engrossing, the writing was expertly spun into a story that had substance and a backstory. Period. I loved it! It has twists, turns, and some really wild science/science-fiction that will bend your mind.
• 
  Melissa Sinclair

  One of the great pleasures of reading is imagining yourself *into* the story -- what would you do if you were in the main character's place? ANOMALY transported me so effectively into the mind of the protagonist, astrobiologist Claire, that I was gripped from the very first chapter.
  
  ANOMALY is not really a book about aliens, but about a scientist and mother forced to reckon with the toughest decisions possible. To pursue adventure or choose the safer path? To claw her way back to her kids or accept that it's kinder to let them go? The descriptions are cinematic, and the plot twists in unexpected and satisfying ways.
• 
  Christophe Anagnostopoulos

  So.. I began reading this book without knowing the story or having checked before the goodreads ratings.
  
  It was an interesting ride till the middle of the story but after that it was bad.
  It was really bad.
  
  I can try to understand to a point why it took around 1/3 of the book to analyze the character of Claire but I was disappointed both with Claire's decision and mostly about the plot.
  
  Ok, the author build some tension and mystery about the interstellar alien object, but instead focusing more to that especially after Claire's decision, he chose to show how Peter reacted and how obsessed and selfish he was to make first contact.
  
  So sad, this story could have been good, but unfortunately its disappointing.
  
  Not recommended.
• 
  Debbie

  Started out really good
  
  But unfortunately it really dragged in the 2nd half. An interesting premise but when Claire got to the remote island, I expected more action. Yes, there was some (explosions, running, swimming) but such a lot of exposition, memories, that the actual action was just background noise. I really wanted to like this more. The ending was also a bit baffling.
• 
  Carol Conway

  Fantastic read!
  
  Just finished this book, and I need a day to come back to reality. The characters are beautifully written, and the plot was strong.
  If you love a good book and you like science fiction, this is definitely worth reading!
• 
  Elizabeth Louitus Moncur

  The story line was good but there was to much blah blah blah and I skimmed over a lot of it. I did not like the end...it left me hanging and I really don't know what actually happened.
• 
  Jim

  ANOMALY is, first and foremost, a First Contact story. But it is not, as one might expect from the blurb, hard sci-fi. It is much more character-driven and psychologically centered. Claire Hamilton is a successful University Professor of "Astrobiology" in the near future, happily married to Jack with two small kids. One day she gets a visit from NASA telling her that her first husband, Peter, lost and presumed dead 12 years ago on a mission to an island in the middle of nowhere to examine an odd meteor, is in fact alive. NASA is mounting a rescue operation and they want her to come, not as his ex-wife or widow, but as the world's leading astrobiologist. They also let her know that there have been several previous rescue attempts, in in all cases there were no survivors. Torn between her present life and her past with Peter, plus the scientific curiosity and resentment that she wasn't chosen for the mission 12 years ago, Claire agonizes for a week before deciding to go.
  
  Of course, nothing is as it seems, no one has been telling the whole truth, and things are far more mysterious than they were first presented to Claire. The meteor is of course not a meteor, but something else. And when Claire finally gets to the Island and finds Peter, there are still many mysteries all over the place.
  
  This is not hard sci-fi. We don't get too much info about the Anomaly. There are no physicists telling us about hidden dimensions or FTL or anything like that. Much of the novel concerns Claire's thinking about Jack and the kids, and Peter, after discovering an incredible truth about the Anomaly and putting all her efforts into getting off the island and back to her family as soon as possible. There are a few plot holes (the one that has Peter lost and presumed dead 12 years ago only to have evidence of his survival at the novel's beginning is a huge one) and some red herrings, but all in all it was an interesting read. The writing was better than average and there more than a few surprises along the way. I am stuck between 3 and 4 stars but have rounded up for originality and quality of writing.
  
  JM Tepper
• 
  Susan

  Despite a few plot oddities and unanswered questions which really didn't bother me at all until I read the negative reviews, I found much to love about this book. Imagine a combination of Star Trek, Lost, and Outlander. Throw in some of the worst "what if" questions a wife/mother can imagine. Mix in a few stereotypical problems expected by women working in a male-dominated profession. Serve with well-described angst and very readable prose. It may not be haute cuisine, but I found it quite satisfying. Based on the overall reviews, so did most other readers. I'll definitely read more from this author.
• 
  Anne Esposito

  The first half of this book was good. It was believable and had an interesting premise. The second half of the book seemed rushed, in that the actions of some of the characters made no sense. Some explanation was given later, but not enough to really understand why they did things. Without wishing to spoil the end, all I can say is that it came too quickly and left me very unsatisfied. There may well be a future book in the making, but that’s no excuse for properly ending the first.
• 
  Jennifer

  Great read! Compelling characters & plot. I listened to the audible book and read it at the same time because I couldn’t stand to wait until I was able to listen some more. For me, the story was a perfect blend of authentic character development & fascinating time travel concepts. There were plenty of surprising plot twists & I was sad when the book ended. I would love to see its sequel!!! Highly recommend.
• 
  Linda Hall

  What Now?
  
  I'm not sure how I feel about this story! This is definitely not a feel good or happy ending kind of book; however, it's one that kept me engrossed right til the end, and left me wanting more answers! What did her family think happened to her? What if anything had they been told? Who else knew? What did they know? What happened next?
• 
  Aubree

  This book is an irresponsible use of the human language. It could have been written on 1/4 of the amount of pages it was printed on. The sheer amount of excessive, non useful information was more droning and whining than entertaining. I will make sure to go out of my way to NOT read another book by this author. His creative licensure should be taken away.
• 
  Dream Always

  Not bad...could of been better.
  
  The first book i read from this author. I didnt hate it. I enjoyed the style of writing enough that I will try reading his Immune Series. A short Sci-FI read.
• 
  Dennis Keefe

  Great concept turns into bad romance
  
  So disappointing on every level. What should have been a great scientific revelation ended up boiling down to people being bitter about romances gone bad. Ugh.
• 
  Deb Bolen

  I thought this was a great story. It was definitely a sci-fi story and kept me wanting to read more. But I just wish it had a different ending. But the character had to do what she had to do. It just wasn’t what I wanted her to do.