I can't review this book because the PDF version I received was messed up about 20 pages into it. All of a sudden the pages where blank except for the chapter titles. If you can get me a working copy, I'd be happy to review it. The first 20 pages were very interesting.

First off thanks to Netgalley for a free copy in return for an honest review.

So first off this book really isn't for everybody, and unfortunately, it wasn't for me. On the positives, the idea behind the story is a good idea and way the chapters are set out is interesting. Some people will enjoy the action and the language and I'm sure some people will like that "movie feel" the book has.

For me however, this book just didn't work. For a start, the back story seems really interesting, but the most you hear of it is in the blurb describing the book. The action takes over and the story was lost. On top of this the characters are 1 dimensional. The protagonist is a annoying at best. I get that she speaks in dialect, but it was so over the top I found myself fed up with listening to her. If she calls another person a Dipshit again I may just resort to violence myself. There was so much scope here for character development and showing a different side to Alex, but it just never happened. The closest we got has her shaking after discovering her true self, which wasn't a surprise to the reader so I'm surprised she hadn't figured it out. And then there's the other freelancers. Very little development and stereotypes galore. The book is packed with action, that's true, but in a weird way the pace seems slow. Fights go on and on and become more and more unbelievable. For a book with so much action, the pace should have been fast. And then there is the end. Anticlimactic. Because we never really get to know any characters I found it weird to have this type of ending. Quite honestly I didn't care what happens to them so it was pointless.

To sum up it felt like the author was writing a movie script and in the process, forgot it was actually a book. This would make a great cheesy Tarantino copy movie, but as a book there was so much missing. It's fine to add swearing and action, but you still need atmosphere and emotion, and for me, this book lacked either. Shame, as I was looking forward to this.

What a fabulous book. The Art of Dying took me places I did not expect. The title drew me in as well as the dark and ominous title. It did not disappoint. Humanities devious side is in full regalia in this book. A look into the future that could happen if we don't allow our humanity to win out. Brilliant plot, characters and story. I highly recommend this book!