About this deal
I have adored the author's writing style for years as he takes his time setting up the stakes for the adventure while fleshing out the characters judiciously so that the story gains from it. However, in his recent outings, including the atrocious movie 'Interceptor' written by the author himself, he has resorted to cliches built upon cliches ending in stale action set pieces. Cobalt Blue is another outcome of the same. The whole thing is laughable, and I admit, it was probably made even more laughable in audiobook format. The narrator did a decent job, even though the Russian accents were a bit much - but hearing the cringey, ridiculous plot read aloud was embarrassing. It was a mess that I just couldn’t stop listening to, so yeah, it probably did it’s job, but lets be real - it’s full of needless deaths that could have been avoided if these supposedly great superheroes uhh… ACTUALLY WORKED TOGETHER?! Why was that never an option????
Following rejections from all the major publishers, Matthew self-published Contest in 1996, printing 1000 copies. He produced a big-budget-looking novel which he sold into bookshops throughout Sydney, one shop at a time. If it wasn’t filled with WAY too many mentions of r*pe (seriously. Where were those editors..?!) I’d say it COULD have MAYBE worked as a teen action book, but even then it would have been SOOOOO BAD, because once you take away the terrible bits, guess what? You’re just left with the shit writing.
Cobalt White does not have a dedicated coloured text section, instead sharing the same purple text as her twin, Cobalt Purple, likely due to the difficulties of using white text. In the end, there is a short interview with the author where he claims this novella was initially a movie script. That explains the uneven pacing, but the bigger problem is the author turning a subpar story into a bombastic adventure that makes no sense from start to finish. An undercooked tale served with glossy decorations doesn't do justice to the author's legacy. years ago, Cassie and Arnold were alone at the family home in Texas when two of the Fury's sons, the Fury of Odessa and the Fury of Kazan, broke into the house. Odessa and Kazan admitted that their government's agencies have little intel on Cassie, and their intent to gift both her and Arnold's heads to their father. Despite an attempt at fleeing, Kazan managed to snatch Arnold from Cassie and broke his spine with a single punch, crippling him. Before the brothers could move in on Cassie, Cobalt returned home and swiftly killed the two Furies, later having their severed heads delivered to the Russian embassy in Washington. This incident prompted the family's relocation to a new home in Montana.
And then there’s our lead who apparently has 0 emotions despite a whole bunch of people she loves dying around her within the space of 24 hrs. While an uneasy truce was held between America and Russian thanks to the presence of their respective superheroes, Cobalt and the Fury of Russia remained rivals for many years. Yet in spite of their great abilities, both continued to age as normal humans do, and Cobalt, already older than the Fury by two decades, eventually passes away at age 79. As soon as she passes, the Fury - no longer possessing an equal to oppose him - announces that he will soon begin a campaign of destruction against the U.S. and to eliminate Cobalt's children. But when, as a teenager in 1919, her life is suddenly turned upside-down, she is catapulted into a new and extraordinary life - as a secretary, a scientist, a sister and a spy.
The problem with this? Cobalt Blue was much older than Fury when she got superpowers, which unfortunately don’t stop aging and heart failure. So one day after Cobalt’s death, the Fury of Russia comes to America to kill her offspring and wipe out the country. Now there is Cobalt Blue. Reilly’s super ability is to tap into the zeitgeist, even if he doesn’t direct it.
This is the fourth of Reilly's novels to feature a main female protagonist, following Bess in The Tournament, CJ Cameron in The Great Zoo of China, and Skye Rogers in The Secret Runners of New York.The day after Cobalt's funeral, the Fury arrives over Washington, D.C. to begin his campaign. Cassie, now aged 29 and working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Los Angeles, watches the television broadcast as her eldest brother, Greg, aka Cobalt Green, steps forward to take on the Fury. Having served proudly in the United States Army, Cobalt Green might seem to the one to end the Fury's campaign before it begins, but alas he is swiftly defeated and decapitated. As the Fury practically demolishes the Pentagon before flying off to his next destination, the horrified Cassie and her husband Trey Cassowitz decide to return home. She is a most unique secretary and she will work for many bosses - from shrewd businessmen to vile Nazis, to the greatest boss of them all, Mr Albert Einstein... Stephen Swain • William Race • Jason Chaser • Elizabeth I& Roger Ascham • CJ Cameron • Skye Rogers • Cassie Cassowitz • Raf
