5 stars for Conspirator: The Lost Years: A Price of Talent Prequel (The Price of Talent #2.5) by AK Nevermore #dystopian #dubcon #free #bookreview
- N. N. Light
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
Title: Conspirator: The Lost Years: A Price of Talent Prequel (The Price of Talent #2.5)
Author: AK Nevermore
Genre: Dystopian
Book Blurb:
Be careful what you wish for...
On an alternate earth, a cataclysm has altered a subset of the population. Talents are persecuted for their psychic and physical mutations, giving rise to two conflicting societies based upon maintaining genetic purity. And the Source, a shadowy corporate entity dependent upon the exploitation of captive Talents, is hunting them…
Twenty-eight years before the events in Breaker, Nora Jester will do anything to aid the Reunification of her people.
Dedicated to the clandestine movement to disenfranchise the Source and unite Talents from the North and South as one free people, conceiving a female heir to marry their two cultures together shouldn’t have involved her heart. But her feelings for the Commandant are undeniable, even three years after their disastrous breaking. When it becomes obvious he’s moved on and that there is something horribly wrong with their son, she agrees to try again.
But entering into a new contract with a broken heart is a recipe for disaster.
This time, the Alpha is nothing like the Commandant. Violent, jealous, and dominant, he’s unsympathetic to Nora’s angst, and brooks no rivals. Shackled to him for the next three months, she’s running out of time, because if she can’t survive his attentions long enough to conceive, the Reunification may never happen. The Source has turned its eyes North, and if there isn’t a child ready to lead the South in rebellion before the Harvest, there may not be any free Talents left.
Conspirator is a dystopian sci-fi short and a prequel to Breaker, set in the world of the Price of Talent series.
My Review:
Almost three decades before Kara flees the Source and heads north, Nora is doing her part to aid the uniting of Talents in the North and South. Her orders are to bear a female heir who will marry a male heir from the North. Even though her heart belongs to another, she is forced to mate with the alpha. He is cruel, sadistic, and takes pleasure in her pain. Nora wonders if she will survive another mating, let alone maintain her status as a first of her house. With her back against the wall, she tries once more to bear a child with the alpha. When things go horribly wrong, will it be worth it in the end?
Conspirator is a prequel to what happens in Breaker, book one of The Price of Talent series. This is Nora’s backstory along with several of the movers and shakers in this series. AK Nevermore rips out the romance and brings us into the breeding world of the Source. This is a straightforward dystopian with plenty of intrigue, violence, and politics. This is dubious consent at best, so be forewarned.
What makes Conspirator so compelling is Nora. She may appear helpless in this deadly game for control, but she is anything but. Her strength to withstand abuse so horrific, it would kill most men, speaks of how badly she wants to unite the Talents. I don’t know if I could do what she did.
AK Nevermore’s storytelling and world-building are on display in Conspirator. Her narration is descriptive down the last detail. Readers will feel like they are right there with the characters in every scene. There’s a lot of subtext which I found intriguing. The world building is immersive and pulls the reader into the story. Nevermore fills in some details from the Price of Talent series that were vague in the previous books. Of course, it also layers in more clues to what will happen next.
If you’re a fan of dystopian with heaps of violence and want to know more about Nora, pick up your free copy of Conspirator today.
Warning: there are a lot of trigger warnings for this book including non/dub consent. If this offends you, please step away and do not read this book.
My Rating: 5 stars
Buy it Now:
Available as a free bonus with the purchase of Overlord
Author Biography:
AK Nevermore enjoys operating heavy machinery, freebases coffee, and gives up sarcasm for Lent every year. A Jane-of-all-trades, she’s a certified chef and restores antiques when she’s not running down the dream in her beat-up camo Chucks.
Unable to ignore the voices in her head, and unwilling to become medicated, she writes Science Fiction and Fantasy full time, volunteers for far too many committees, teaches creative writing, and on the rare occasion, sleeps.
Social Media Links:
• Website: https://aknevermore.com/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/AkNevermore
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aknevermore/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ak.nevermore
• Threads: https://www.threads.net/@aknevermore
Reviewed by: Nancy
