Though I haven’t read any other books by Nick Mamatas, I enjoyed the writing style. However, I felt it was more of a thriller than sci-fi, which is why I’m giving it 3 stars. The concept was interesting, but not really what I thought it’d be.
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Thanks to NetGalley and Rebellion for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

An intriguing premise that somehow goes off the rails, goes in circles and goes nowhere all at the same time. Not really what I was expecting. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I got a copy of this book because it said it was scifi. It isn't.
The book started off well, but just seemed to lose the way part way through it. I thought it was going to be okay, but ended up disappointed. Such a shame - the ideas could have been developed so much better.

This is the sort of book that you know you could like and you end up loving it.
Gripping, fast paced, full of surprises and with an intersting cast of characters and a fascinating world building.
Conspiracies, new technologies, action and everything which is necessary to make a book stand out and become one of those book you mark as "VERY VERY GOOD".
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

In Second Shooter, Nick Mamatas drags us headfirst into the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories with no apologies and no explanations--you are either with us or you are out. In this fast-paced science-fiction thriller, which Mamatas says he felt pressured to complete so that it might get read before the world ends, we explore the idea of the second shooter: the allegation of multiple gunmen at the John F Kennedy assassination expanded to second shooters witnessed in all manner of terrifying public attacks.

Mike Karras is a writer, only slightly more successful than average and a lot less successful than any writer you have ever heard of. He scratches out a living writing about conspiracy theories, taking advantage of the wildfire spread of information in the Internet age while straddling the line between wry journalistic cynicism and justifiable paranoia. Karras does his best to avoid the attention-seeking Bennet, whose radio show is dependent on continuing drama and hot takes, while struggling to impress the moralistic Rahel Alazar, who fiercely clings to her conviction that she knows what she saw, despite the fact that no one believes her, not even the conspiracy-loving journalist who has traveled across the country to interview her.

Mamatas has a knack for ambushing the reader with beautiful prose in the grittiest of circumstances. He doesn't shy away from the unhappiness and isolation that dog those who are convinced that they can trust no one; there's a touch of Bukowski in the way he almost apologetically warns you upfront that everyone is a loser. This makes it doubly pleasing when Karras manages to scrape a tiny piece of redemption from the quagmire.

We are encouraged to shake our heads in dismay at the distorted mental gyrations of the True Believers as they reconcile their mundane day-to-day lives with their conspiracies. This confidence leads us to barely notice that each layer of truth is peeled back like onion skins until we no longer know what to believe. In the end, what is a thriller but a collection of conspiracies populated by dark shadowy powers and constant surveillance as the protagonist learns that there is no one he can trust? The difference with Second Shooter is that we are invited to laugh at the people who read these novels before realizing we are one of them.

The references to memes and conspiracy theories could be off-putting in the hands of a less talented author-- I had to reach for Wikipedia a few times --but the key details are flagged and always spelled out where they are relevant to the plot. Everything you need to know is in there somewhere.

In a world where the spread of disinformation and polarizing pseudoscience increases with every new algorithmically-driven social media channel, it is something of a novelty to consider that the paranoids are both crazy and maybe right, even if for all the wrong reasons. There's a feeling of inevitability about the whole thing, even the supernatural elements: like any good conspiracy nut, you suspected it all along.

I did write a review for this...and I am currently sending it out...here is portion of it:

Nick Mamatas tangentially tries to speaks to journalistic integrity in his new science fiction thriller The Second Shooter, where travelling journalist Michael Karras is writing a book about the second shooter phenomenon (also known as the phantom shooter) that oftentimes happens when a mass shooting takes place. Karras’ book is commissioned by a close friend (salty editor, Sharon Toynbee) at a small independent publishing firm (Little Round Bombs Books) and is to contain in-depth interviews with shooting survivors who witnessed this allusive second shooter, while also attempting to understand why it is that they see or experience what essentially is a menacing phantom. Is the event psychological? Is it stemming from a mass-mediated universe that places a great deal of emphasis on ensuring that our attentions are consistently diverted? Is the second shooter real or is it fake, like the news that reports it? Or, is there really a second shooter, one that is seen but disappears into the ether until another mass shooting transpires? The novel sort of answers these questions but does so in a convoluted Postmodernist way, in that it begins with a simple and thought-provoking narrative about a very pertinent issue in the United States, and then becomes a pseudo-buddy novel combined with political commentary, rudimentary dialogue, and a surreal, confusing ending that delves too deeply into cultural studies discourse (take Michel Foucault, as an example).

There were parts of this book that I really did enjoy, and the actual concept of this book was really intriguing. I've never really heard anything about the second shooter phenomenon, but it’s left me very interested and I plan to look into this more.

Anyway, while there were parts that I was intrigued by, the majority of this book left me very confused. I did appreciate the character interactions, and some of the conversations that were brought up left me a lot to think about.

I didn’t love it, and I didn’t hate it. I did find that I really struggled to understand the reasons behind the main character's actions, and I didn’t connect with him or his aspirations.

(Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review).

I love Nick Mamatas' work, and this book just continued my infatuation with everything he writes. It's fantastic. Give it a shot.

The Second Shooter is a fast-paced and darkly funny novel that carries readers along like a storm surge, twisting and turning around ever-changing plot points and perspectives. It's a great send-up of America's contemporary culture of conspiracy theorists and the media figures who engage with and encourage them for the sake of the show, as well as a biting critique of everyone who benefits from public tragedies. I found it both entertaining and eerily believable.

The main drawback of this novel, for me, was that I had some difficulty finding the main character engaging. Everything that happened to and around him, and everyone he encountered, was much, much more engaging, which saved the book and ultimately resulted in a satisfying reading experience. I think it might have been a five-star read had there been just a bit more to Mike Karras, though perhaps his essential lack of, well, pretty much everything was important to the plot. At any rate, though his characterization was a flaw for me, I still enjoyed the book quite a bit.

I'd recommend The Second Shooter to anyone looking for a slightly paranormal thriller that's short enough for a fast reader to blaze through in an afternoon. Fans of the X-Files, Neal Stephenson, and William Gibson alike should find plenty of thematic satisfaction here, but Mamatas's take on familiar themes of omnipresent surveillance and vast conspiracy is individual enough to offer most readers something new to think about.

I received a free e-ARC of this title from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my review.

An interesting read, A bit slow to engage me and a bit of an oddity to read, but a thoughtful construction around big conspiracy.

The more I read into the book, the more enjoyment I got from it.

A writer whose content I will look out for more in future.

The Second Shooter by Nick Mamatas is an enthralling and engrossing read with a great plot and characters! Well worth the read

Enjoyed this book. You always hear about a second shooter, but it almost always fades out. A take on what that means. #TheSecondShooter #NetGalley

Sometimes you come across a book that is so different and unique, it can be hard to describe the story or genre and The Second Shooter is one of those books.
Mike Karras, is a freelance writer who has been commissioned by an obscure, left-wing publisher intriguing named Little Round Bomb Books. His investigation is focused on the conspiracy theory of the mysterious second shooter, that witnesses claim to have seen at mass shootings and assassinations. He is sceptical until he finds himself in the middle of a mass shooting, becomes the target of a right-wing radio host, and is followed by drones. He tries to uncover the truth with the help and sometimes hindrance of his editor, some pesky teenagers and a family of conspiracy buffs, the Alazars.

While the underlying premise of the second shooter isn’t unique the explanation and the overall story was different to anything I have read before. The plot races along with no drag with poor Mike lurching from one crisis to another, ending worse off with each problem he solves.
I really did feel sorry for Mike as this was one hero who was out of his depth through most of the book and I liked how realistic this was The secondary characters even those with very little to do in the book are so well written. My favourites have to be Sharon, Mike’s editor and Tony Alazar but all of them from Bracken, the right-wing lorry driver to Katrina, the teenage activist are vividly written and energise the scenes they are in.
Chris Bennett, the radio host is a creepy villain making his presence felt throughout the book and unfortunately is all too real in today's world. In fact, the overall premise and chilling finish is all too believable and could potentially happen.
The science-fiction element of the book doesn’t really kick in until halfway through the book but when it does it is truly mind-bending and to say any more would push me into spoiler territory.

I would have liked to read the science-fiction part of the story a little earlier. I found it hard to warm up to Mike as the main character.
Perfect for fans of Blake Crouch or John Mars
Summary
4 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed THE SECOND SHOOTER and I recommend it to anyone who wants a fast-paced, twisty novel about conspiracies and other things hidden in plain sight. The novel follows journalist Mike Karras on his quest to write a book about fringe theories and the “second shooter” phenomenon—the idea that at any mass shooting, there are always reports of a second gunman that can’t be substantiated. After finding himself at the scene of a mass shooting, Karras winds up following threads down a labyrinth of conspiracies, aided by a quirky cast of other outcasts and conspiracy theorists.

This book reminded me of The X-Files, in the best way. It had the same feeling of slowly uncovering a massive plot and of connecting real-world fringe ideas with increasingly zany sci-fi-esque elements. Mamatas is an engaging writer and gives Karras a perfectly wry, self-deprecating voice which is a pleasure to read. I look forward to what he comes up with next.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A well written thriller that ties together and examines many current conspiracy theories. The characters were all imagined well and the twists throughout held my interest through the gruesome plot developments.

This is the best book I have read in awhile! We follow freelance journalist Mike Karras as he investigates the phenomenon of phantom "second shooters" at mass shootings. On the way, we meet an Alex Jones type radio host, a nanotech invisibility cloak, and a magical keyboard. The ending is amazing. Highly recommended.

I’m the first person rating and reviewing this book, surprisingly so, for a recognizable author and a proper publisher. And I do really wish I was more complimentary to it, but since I can’t, the next goal is objectivity, Let’s see how I do with that.
This is a book I was supposed to like. I was sure I would. It had all the right elements. It was exciting, mysterious adventure through a conspiracy laden plot, a paranoia infused narrative doing a thoroughly original and disturbing take on the most American of scenarios…the gun violence and public shootings.
It’s a sort of thing the news has all but made us inured to, through repetition. There’s simply too much of it too often, and frequency tends to normalize the tragedy.
But here the author has cleverly twisted it into something even more sinister…what if there was a mysterious second shooter? Some people swear by it. And so the book’s protagonist, an investigative journalist working for a small press that specializes in conspiracy theories and such, sets off to find out the truth and ends up on an increasingly dangerous journey to something grander and more evil that he might have ever imagined. And he’s an imaginative guy.
This novel has a kitchen sink of goodies, including interesting characters from an African immigrant family to a radio jockey who screams for attention along the same lines as Alex Jones and a variety of conspiracies and conspiracy buffs. It has action, suspense, mystery. It even ambitiously ramps up into the metaphysical towards the end. It’s pretty well written and very clever in its references and yet…
And yet it didn’t quite work for me. Some basic reader/book incompatibility. It’s always difficult to narrow it down to the whys with the objectively quality book. I can try, I suppose. There was something about the general tone of it that didn’t quite engage me. At first it reminded me of the testosterone slathered slabs of Clancy or Flynn or something, but that wasn’t quite it, either. It just…it was busy in an overwhelming way. It convoluted itself in unnatural ways, but in the end its greatest drag was that it went too far. I wouldn’t say it got too clever for itself, mainly because I loathe the idea of something being too clever and the way it negates cleverness, but toward the end the direction the novel took was too over the top. It was like a result of pouring gallons of gasoline on a paranoid conspiracy theory fire and watching it go and do an obliterating power whoosh. Too much too fast too far.
Or maybe this is more like it..imagine talking to a conspiracy fanatic. At first they are likely to follow some thread of logic, however convoluted, but as you continue listening, they’ll go farther and farther and sound crazier and crazier, until whatever logic they followed is abandoned for all but the devotees.
So those are my notes and thoughts on the book. The bottom line is it’s interesting, it spirals down some fascinating avenues, it’s original. It has a lot to recommend itself. It didn’t quite work for me, but it wasn’t a waste of time by any means. I’d be interested to read other reviews of this book as they materialize. Thanks Netgalley.