One Body. Five Minds. One Killer
Five minds by Guy Morpuss is a Post-Apocalyptic Thriller/ Sci-Fi, where overpopulation has been controlled by administrating the lifespan of the people once they cross the age of 17.
This is a fantastic, mind-boggling, and cleverly written story of a post-Apocalyptic world.
Blurb:
The Earth's growing population has finally been controlled. Lifespans are limited to eighty years, except for those who make an extreme choice: to become a commune. Five minds sharing one body, living for four hours at a time. But with a combined lifespan of nearly 150 years.
Alex, Kate, Sierra, Ben and Mike are a commune. They have already spent twenty-five years together, arguing, reconciling, alliances shifting and re-forming. They travel to a Death Park where games are played in which extra lifespan can be gambled like money. The plan is to win time to upgrade their next host body. But then Kate accepts a dangerous offer, and one of them disappears.
Someone is trying to kill off members of the commune. Is one of them responsible? Or is someone else playing a deadly game? It's hard enough to catch a murderer. It's almost impossible when you might be sharing a body with them...
This brilliant murder mystery blends classic crime with speculative fiction in a stunning debut.
Review:
Wow.! Just Wow.! I loved the book and it intrigued me from the day I read the blurb. I was so happy to have received the book from the great author, the wonderful team at Viper, and ever so amazing Anne from Random Things Tours.
When a book comes with a note that says: 'Are you ready to die?', you know immediately that it's going to be a great book.! Since the book is based on 4 different groups that a person can belong to, I had to know which one was mine. So, I took the personality test, and it turns out I am a Commune. (Yay..! Or maybe not.!)
You can take the personality test on Guy's website below (Click on the below image to take the test).
Although the book had too many elements and concepts, it didn't take me long to get the idea and ease into the world of Five Minds. After almost 10 pages, I was hooked. The suspense was built up early in the book that kept me intrigued throughout.
I loved the concept of having 5 minds in a body and still having the option of a private life without the interference of others who share the same body as you. It's such a thought-provoking idea. Yes, you get to have a personal space and can live up to 142 years, but sharing your body with strangers and trusting them to not get you killed (Since all of them die if one dies) is kind of dangerous. That's what made this so much fascinating.
All the 5 characters (more like personalities of the same human body) were very different. Kate was the smart and kind one, while Sierra was a spoiled heartless biatch. Ben was a total pushover that I didn't feel had a big role in the body. Mike was a bit too egoistic and I didn't like him much. He was way too much into his looks and body-shamed people a lot. Alex never felt naive and nice to me. He was a little too focused on hating himself (or his old body) and whined a lot. But I guess that was the reason to put these 5 people in a single body. They all had their strengths and their weaknesses that kept them alive (Well...! For some time).
The story also included some adventure games which were just the cherry on the top. I loved these mystery games and enjoyed reading how the characters solved them. Especially the final game that Kate played had me captivated (especially stage 2).
I found out that the author has these games on his website. Do check out these and play for a great experience:
The only reason for 4.5 stars would be that I guessed the killer somewhere around the last 50-60 pages. Nevertheless, the whole journey was great. Although the book itself was exceptional, I enjoyed how the author bought the whole book alive with the personality test and the adventure games.
Needless to say, this was a page-turner suspense mystery book and I couldn't keep it down before devouring it whole.