Persistence of Vision

Title: Persistence of Vision
Series: #1 in Interchron series
Author: Liesel K. Hill
Genre: Dystopian Fantasy
Release Date: January 29, 2013

**I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review

Synopsis from GoodReads:
In a world where collective hives are enslaving the population and individuals have been hunted to the verge of extinction, Maggie Harper, and independent 21st Century woman, must find the strength to preserve the freedom of the future, but without the aid of her memories.

After experiencing a traumatic time loss, Maggie is plagued by a barrage of images she can't explain. When she's attacked by a creep with a spider's web tattoo, she is saved by Marcus, a man she's never met, but somehow remembers. He tells her that both he and her creepy attacker are from a future in which individuals are being murdered by collectives, and Marcus is part of the rebellion. The collectives have acquired time travel and they plan to enslave the human race throughout all of history. The flashes Maggie has been seeing are echoes of lost memories, and the information buried deep within them is instrumental in defeating the collective hives.

In order to preserve the individuality of mankind, Maggie must try to re-discover stolen memories, re-kindle friendships she has no recollection of, and wade through her feelings for the mysterious Marcus, all while dodging the tattooed assassins the collectives keep sending her way.

If Maggie can't fill the holes in her memory and find the answers to stop the collectives, the world both in her time and in all ages past and future will be doomed to enslavement in the grey, mediocre collectives. As the danger swirls around her and the collectives close in, Maggie realizes she must make a choice: stand out or fade away...

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I'm so glad I stepped a bit out of my box to read this exhilarating, suspenseful debut! Persistence of Vision is well-paced, well written and contains time travel, super-neurochemical powers, mystery, space ships, political ideology...it's filled with so much goody-goodness and keeps you on the edge of your seat needing to know what happens next. It's a pretty impressive feat to weave all these elements together to create a compelling story, and Ms. Hill accomplishes just that!

The characters are solidly written and although the novel is told mainly from 2 POVs, I really felt as though there weren't main characters...more that the team is the main character. The team is the (operative) arm of BCO or Brain Chemistry Optimists. They are the group of individualists fighting against the collectivists to maintain humanity.

The team consists of Maggie, Marcus, Karl, Doc, Joan, and Clay. There is a prophecy regarding maintaining world order and each of the members plays a specific role. 

Maggie is a tough little cookie. She is attacked in her home, saved by someone that seems vaguely familiar, thrust into a future that needs her in order to maintain a certain way of life, and is told she has actually been there before but she has no memory of it. That she is the key to the prophecy is astounding to her. Her role on the team is Executioner.

Marcus, whom Maggie was acquainted with in her earlier visit to the future, is a talented Healer. Karl is a Traveler, meaning he can time travel which is handy when moving Maggie around in time. Doc is a Witness and studies the prophecy rigorously as well as maintaining detailed records of BCO's history. Joan and Clay serve the team as Protector and Concealer which are important in protecting the team members during missions.

I felt the beginning of the book started of a little slowly but that was mainly due to the world-building going on. Once that was established, the story took off and I had a hard time putting it down. I really enjoyed the science that was incorporated into the story. It was fascinating to read about brain functioning and although some of it is fiction for the story, a lot of it is actual science. I love getting to learn something while reading for fun! :) All the revelations at the end of the book...holy cats! However, I think I ended up with just as many questions as I got answers in those last few chapters! I'm not sure how many books are slated for this series, but I am definitely looking forward to the next installment!