Beat (Beat: Book 1) by Jared Garrett

Publisher: Future House Publishing

Date of publication: June 14th, 2015

Genre: Dystopia, Science Fiction, Thriller, Post Apocalyptic, Science Fiction Fantasy, Young Adult

Series: Beat

Beat—Book 1

Keepers—Book 1.5

Push—Book 2 (review here)

Purchase Links: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

Better safe than sorry. Better calm than dead.

Nik Granjer hates the Bug. It was the Bug that destroyed the world when it wiped out more than ninety percent of humanity a hundred years ago.

Even now, the Bug kills anyone whose heart rate goes over 140 beats per minute. That’s why the Prime Administrator gave everyone the Papas—digital wrist monitors that put people to sleep when their heart rate gets too high. The Papas saved humankind.

But one night on the border of New Frisko, Nik tampers with his Papa and discovers a dreadful secret: the Bug might not be there after all. When his experiment takes a terrible turn, a brutal enforcement squad from the city forces Nik into hiding.

On the run and searching for allies, Nik’s only hope is to discover the truth about the Prime Administrator’s regime and the origins of the Bug. If he doesn’t, humankind may never break free from the conspiracy holding it in its grip.

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This was a great book. A combination of sci-fi/dystopia/YA had enough action to keep you reading. You didn’t know what would happen from chapter to chapter, which increased my heart rate with the action.

This book takes place 100 years after a biochemical attack wiped out 90 percent of the world’s population. The survivors called it the Bug, which could kill you if your heart rate went over 140. A digital wrist monitor was developed to help the survivors watch their heart rates. The Papa puts the survivors asleep when their heart rates get too high.

Then you meet Nik Granjer and his friends. They like to “Push” their heart rates to the limit because they are 15/16 years old, and kids that age like to push limits and buck the system. Nik has also figured out how to bypass his nightly Knockout from his Papa.

I will say that I enjoyed Nik’s character. I was once a 15/16-year-old who liked to push limits, and he came off to me as realistic.

I also enjoyed the alternative spellings (Nik, Tek, Pol….etc). It added the right flair of difference to the book and kept my attention!!

I will say there is a huge twist that I didn’t see coming. Like 100% huge; I was taken aback by it (like Nik was) and a little shocked. A lot shocked.

The story itself was fascinating and very well written. If I had to picture a dystopian society, New Frisko would be it. Oh, and it takes me a minute to realize what city it was supposed to be.

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