New author and could be another favorite. Great story and characters. Excellent use if multiple POVs. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

This book is a chilling blend of sci-fi and thriller, which was written pretty well. It got a little predictable toward the end but was still an enjoyable read.

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Forever After is a futuristic thriller that follows former CIA operative, Brayden Cross, in his mission to avenge his murdered wife. Along the way he discovers a chilling operation but can he neutralise the threat to humankind before the timer counts down to zero?

This is a great debut offering from Derek Robinson. Action packed from the start with an imaginative plot and likeable characters. The chapters were short, engaging and kept me turning the pages.
Sci-fi isn’t usually my cup of tea, but the blurb piqued my interest and I’m glad I decided to read it.

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for my advanced copy.

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinions. I have posted the following review to Goodreads as of 07/24/2025 at the link provided

DNF at 20%

I think calling this book scifi is a bit generous, as 20% into the book there was one brief mention of any scifi element, with the book to that point mostly reading like an action book/cop book/vengeance story that reminded me of Taken. The book uses quite a lot of movie tropes interestingly, which I suppose is a change of pace from using book tropes.

As the story went on and got more and more predictable, I found myself getting frustrated and bored. Of course there was a genius hacker available at Brayden's disposal. Of course the big baddie is named Vinny (really?)

The naming in particular really bugged me. I can't picture a grizzled ex CIA as someone named Brayden. I'm assuming, given the careers and children's ages, that Brayden and Sarah are mid 30s or early 40s. In the 80s names like Brayden and Riley were not common. I associate the name Brayden with teenagers and younger. It read like the author wanted to name his children that so he named his characters that instead. But if it doesn't fit the timeline of when the characters were born... then you really pull the reader out of the story by doing so. I kept confusing Brayden with his children during the first two chapters.

I also couldn't handle the absolutely over the top way that Sarah was so ✨perfect.✨ She is endlessly patient with her husband's awful work life balance and doing dangerous work? She is always patient with their children and knows how to talk to them calmly and diplomatically? And oh, she has a career doing therapy with foster children who have been traumatized. She's a saint. Movie tropes in abundance here.

Once the suspicious-but-obviously-bad-guy character was introduced and his name was seriously Vinny like he's in the mafia, I couldn't take anymore. Maybe once the scifi elements get actually introduced the story picks up, but I wasn't interested in sticking it out that far.

Best wishes to Derek Robinson and their future works!

A Smartly-Woven Blend of Sci-Fi and Mystery

Forever After is an engaging and boundary-bridging novel that successfully blends sci-fi elements with a compelling mystery-thriller plot. What I especially appreciated was the storytelling style—it wasn't narrated from any single character’s point of view, which gives the reader a wider perspective and makes the plot feel more cinematic.

Despite the inclusion of scientific and technical concepts, the author does a great job simplifying those ideas through the characters' experiences, making it very approachable—even for readers not typically into robotics or sci-fi.

If I had to point out one area of confusion, it would be around the timeline of Sarah’s death. In some parts, it’s referred to as happening a week ago, while in others (such as on pages 57 and 110), it’s said to have happened a year earlier. It may have been an oversight, but it caused a bit of inconsistency in the mystery aspect.

As a thriller reader who doesn’t usually gravitate toward sci-fi, I found this story refreshingly immersive. Forever After serves as a perfect gateway book for thriller fans who are curious about the sci-fi genre. I highly recommend it to both thriller and science fiction readers—you may find yourself enjoying a genre you never expected to.