I’ve got to admit, to me the premise of Extracted sounded both high-concept and cheesy at the same time.
Three people; a world war two commando, a diplomatic protection officer, and an insurance investigator in witness protection; plucked from their timelines just before the point of death to save the world from destruction brought about by a mistake made using a time machine.
Extracted gets straight to the point, introducing the reader to each of the main characters in the action-packed moments leading up to their ‘deaths’. We slowly find out why they have been ‘extracted’, and as the story progresses, we see some unknown agency closing in on them to try and steal the time machine for themselves.
I thought things would move swiftly on from there with our trio darting across the globe, using the time machine to find out what happens to cause the apocalypse. But no. A large part of the book deals with the preparation for this mission, and whilst it did feel like the story had ground to a halt before it had really started, the more this went on, the more I felt like this was a necessary part of the story – especially when it dealt with the psychological impact of ‘dying’ and waking up in a strange place.
The final act of Extracted then moves on at a brisk pace before leaving the reader on not so much of a cliff-hanger, but with a push to move straight on to the next book in the trilogy (which I did). It’s moments like this I’m so grateful for e-books and instant delivery.
