ARC Review: Memory Zero by Keri Arthur

Memory Zero
Author: Keri Arthur
Series: Spook Squad (Book 1)
Publication: Dell (August 26, 2014)

Description: MORTAL RECALL

For Sam Ryan, life began at age fourteen. She has no memory of her parents or her childhood. In a decade of service with the State Police, Sam has exhausted the resources of the force searching for clues to her identity. But all mention of her family seems to have been deliberately wiped off the record. Everything changes the night Sam’s missing partner resurfaces as a vampire . . . and forces her to kill him in self-defense. Now Sam is charged with murder. Suspended from the force, and with no one left to trust, Sam accepts some unexpected help from Gabriel Stern, a shapeshifter who conceals startling secrets.

While investigating the circumstances surrounding her partner’s strange behavior, Sam discovers that Garbriel’s been involved with a dangerous organization that’s planning a war on the human race. More immediate, someone is guarding the truth about Sam’s past—someone who’d rather see her dead than risk her knowing too much. To stay alive, Sam must unravel the threads of her past—and find out not only who< she is but what she is.

My Thoughts: This urban fantasy, set in Australia in some future time, introduces Samantha Ryan who is a police officer. She is 29 and has no memory of her life before the age of 14. She also has some growing powers of an unexplained and unknown nature.

The story begins with her trying to find her partner who has been missing for 5 weeks. Finding Jack raises lots more questions than it answers since Jack has become a vampire and tried to kill her. Running from him and another paranormal thing called a kite has her running into Gabriel Stern who is publicly a Deputy Director of the SIU and secretly a member of the Federation. Gabriel is a shapeshifter who becomes very curious about what Sam is.

The story is packed with action and all sorts of plots. While Sam is trying to find out more about herself, she is also trying to find out what Jack is up to. She is very reluctant to accept that he is a villain because he has been her only friend for the five years that they have been partners in the police. Gabriel is starting to like her but doesn't feel that they have any sort of a future because he is determined to never work with another partner and believes that a romantic relationship is impossible because he has already lost his mate.

This is the first book in a trilogy and leaves a number of questions to be answered. It was entertaining and well-written. This is a re-release of a book and series that came out in 2004 and 2005. The futuristic setting keeps it from seeming dated.

Favorite Quote:

There was something in those bright depths that seemed to run straight through him, driving deep into his soul. It was partly a recognition of fate—a sense that this woman, for good or for bad, would play a vital part in his future.

I got the eARC from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.