The Ones Before: Book One of the Discovery Trilogy (1)

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Superhuman Durability: The One can handle physical damage that would kill a normal Redpill. Neo demonstrated this ability by stopping a sword strike with a hand, suffering only a small cut in the process. He also survived being slammed into the ground from a high altitude by Smith, an action which a normal Redpill would not have survived. Even before awakening as the One, Neo showed at least some degree of superhuman durability, as he continued to keep on fighting even when suffering severe blows from Smith that were potent enough to force him him vomit up blood, as well as narrowly survive lightning-fast and repeated punches late into the battle, both of which would have killed an ordinary man. The mechanisms by which The One appears are rather simple and arranged in the Prime Program process: when the anomalies in the Matrix reach a certain threshold and begin to pose serious problems, a random human is selected by the machines to be born with a special code (the Integral Anomaly) that, as said before, ties and attaches all of the anomalies within the Matrix to the programming of this human. The Oracle, who is aware of The One's existence and purpose because it is her duty to guide humanity to find The One, will enlighten him to his true nature and lead him towards the Source where he fulfills his purpose of reinserting the Prime Program and resetting the Matrix. She does this by predicting the return of The One to the people of Zion to aid them in freeing humanity from the Machines' grip. The Architect, as creator of the Matrix, is also well aware of The One's existence and purpose, referring to The One as an "eventuality". However, the Oracle during Neo's iteration as The One has decided to end the cycle. She does this by subtly altering The One's pre-conditioned attachment to humanity, necessary for the "Messiah" purpose, by focusing this attachment on a particular individual instead, with the goal of ensuring The One physically travels to the Source and meets with the Machines personally to foster peace.

Fabio becomes a liability for Rebecca, leading to a risky bargain and a bittersweet reunion with Matheus. Hannah faces the consequences of her deceit.

Storytelling and writing has always been F.D. Brant’s passion, but responsibilities took preference. And because of those responsibilities it took retiring to allow those passions to come to fruition. Since retiring he has written 8 books, and maintains a weekly eclectic blog, Words in the Wind. F.D. Brant always wanted to write, but life got in the way. Finally after retiring he got his chance. Fast paced… grabs you in immediately and continues to twist around!… will reel you in! I definitely thought I had the ending figured out, but NOPE! The twists keep on coming!” Goodreads Reviewer Madison begins to doubt Cooper, thus upsetting any plans for a forever future with him. Meanwhile, someone in their lives now has ulterior motives, thus placing Madison's hopes and dreams for a long life with Cooper in jeopardy. Could Cooper have been responsible all those years before? Does she even know the man she is about to marry?

But the week after I arrive, one of Cooper’s classmates corners me at the store. She says that Cooper’s not fooling anybody. Everyone in town remembers what happened to Celia Gray…

by Juan José Saer

Told mainly from Madison's viewpoint, Miranda Smith did a superb job planting seeds of doubt in the minds of both Madison and myself. Throughout the story's progression, I found myself thrown off course as I struggled to decide whether or not things were as they seemed. All the while the tension was being ratcheted up as I was taken on a merry-go-round of past and present occurrences. Facing a murder investigation, Rebecca and James reunite to get their stories straight. Hannah plays a dangerous game with Megan and Mark.

I loved the author’s previous book more but it still excited me and it was whirlwind, fast, captivating reading! I didn’t know what I was investigating when I started reading, and that was when the author pulled the rug from under my feet as she brought in a new mystery but so well connected to the main plotline. During his meeting with the Architect, Neo learns a surprising truth about the Matrix. The Matrix is much older than the humans of Zion think. The Architect explains that, in addition to two unstable versions of the Matrix, there have been five iterations, or cycles, of the Matrix. In each stable iteration, an incarnation of The One has appeared. Neo is The Sixth One to appear in the sixth Matrix iteration in which the trilogy takes place. Neo succeeds in reaching the Machine City and meets with the leader of the Machines, the Deus Ex Machina. He argues that Smith, who has completely taken over the Matrix by then, will eventually cause the Matrix to crash. This would kill all of humanity and would thereby deprive the Machines of their power source, wiping out both species from existence. He then states that he can destroy Smith and save both species, and all he wants in exchange is peace between the two races. Essentially, the purpose of The One is to ensure the stability of the Matrix through containing the anomalies in one individual rather than letting them spread throughout the system.Each chapter is written from the perspective of a different character and that works well, as does the theme of an earlier murder mystery that Cooper is suspected of. Because of this, it was OK for me. After Neo sacrifices himself and Smith is defeated, the Machines uphold the terms of the truce that Neo proposes, and the Machine War ends, with Zion saved from the brink of destruction, and the Matrix successfully reloaded, thus ensuring survival of both humanity and the Machines. Prior suggests some sort of seniority to me, it is related to 'primo / first'. 'The bank has a prior charge over the property'. It's not often I read a book in one day but I found this soon to be released book by Miranda Smith impossible to put down. Entertaining with enough mystery to keep the reader interested. Would recommend.

Sympathy is granted sparingly; it’s typically reserved for forms of tragedy. An unpreventable illness. An unprovoked crime. We forget most people are the source of their own unhappiness. When you’re the cause of your hardships, people are less willing to forgive. Much to Cooper's consternation, Madison feels she needs to find the truth before she can commit to marrying him. I want to thank the publisher "Bookouture" an Netgalley for the opportunity to read this terrific AVC and any thoughts and opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!

Fast, gripping, nail-biter, exciting, devouring-at-one-bite and finishing-at-one-sitting kind of reading!” Nilufer Ozmekik The myths have always been. They speak of an ancient people far advanced of where they are today. Yet, nothing has been found to show the Ones Before had ever existed, or lived sometime in the deep past. Still, those in the present time had to come from somewhere, why not the Ones Before? Suspicious, Kate goads Rebecca at Ben's memorial service and pays an embarrassing price. Hannah tells Mark the truth about Megan. I enjoyed Madison's journey of discovery as she tries to reconcile her kind hearted fiance with the cold blooded killer image he has in town. She is also trying to negotiate new relationships with her in laws, a stressful experience that most people will be able to identify with!