Reviewed By Viga Boland for Readers’ Favorite
Take some Stephen King horror, add a dose of dystopia, toss in a generous amount of science fiction, mix in some fantasy and you have an appetizing bedtime reading snack created by Cynthia titled iDENTITY. Let your imagination soar to a future world, 2040 to be exact, where transporters ferry you over city rooftops in a heartbeat, where you shoot past Mars via a galactic “worm-hole” to a beautiful Hawaii-like planet in just 48 hours, and where by simply taking a regular round of little green pills, you can change your Identity. Sounds idyllic, doesn’t it? Not!
Four young women respond to an enticing hologram that promises them “instant fame without the pain”. Who wouldn’t be intrigued, especially when your life is on a downward spiral or has already hit rock bottom? After each signs on the dotted line, and takes her first green pill, everything about her and her life changes within a few hours. Jaz is transformed into a dazzling beauty who becomes the face of space travel; Maggie’s dreams of being a top author come true in no time; Sydney is the darling of the casinos, winning huge with every pull of the lever, and Lena rockets to the top of her industry, resuming her rightful position in financial management. And as long as these four lucky women keep taking their pills, the world is their oyster. But of course, no good horror story would be complete without a mad doctor who has had to experiment on willing subjects like these women to perfect his formulae. The unfortunate early recipients of what was initially a liquid green serum are now drowning in it as their bodies mutate into hideously deformed beasts. Will this happen eventually to our four lucky ladies? You will have to read Identity to find out!
Cynthia is an imaginative and clever writer who is obviously enjoying herself as she creates this story. She moves the story forward by skillfully switching between each of the four women. Readers are never lost, despite a rather involved plot and a large cast of characters. To her further credit, while Identity is primarily a fantasy, people do come across as very real. Readers are touched by their struggles and joys, and share their hopes that their lives will forever be better than they were. Indeed, who of us hasn’t sometimes wished that we could just take a pill or win a lottery and all our troubles would be over? So, let yourself indulge in the tasty blend of genres you’ll find in Identity. You, too, deserve a break today!