No Reprieve by Inge-Lise Goss is an awesome high tech, dystopian thriller. The novel is the second book in author Goss’ No Freedom Series, but she gives enough background information in this second book so that it could be read as a stand-alone.

The novel begins with a prologue which sets the scene. Pellegrin Murr, head of the ominous Institute, is giving The Founder a tour of its new building, the old having been destroyed in a rebel attack. Pellegrin describes for The Founder many new safety measures that have been employed, especially in the medical department. The Institute is staffed by androids, many of which have been engineered to look human. Any real humans that work there have had implanted a “loyalty chip” which prevents them from ever betraying the Institute. Thus, with this brief prologue, the reader knows he/she has entered a dystopian world – one ruled by androids and, wherein, the human race is at peril.

In the first chapter, we are introduced to our very human heroine, Paislee Hobson, who once belonged to Pellegrin, but escaped to join the rebels. She is being taken to Portland, Oregon where she will assume the identity of a young woman who works at the Courthouse. Paislee’s initial assignment is to discover which judges are really androids in disguise and which are humans with loyalty chips implanted.

From here on the novel takes off at a blistering pace. Twists and turns abound as Paislee tries to navigate the secretive world of the rebels and the all too pervasive presence of her one-time lover, Pellegrin. The characters are beautifully drawn and the future world author Goss envisions is frightening to say the least.

A real page-turner, No Reprieve does not disappoint. This is an exciting read for fans of science fiction, dystopian literature, or just plain old thrillers. While I have not read the first book in the series, No Reprieve kept me enthralled from the first page to the last. I plan on going back and reading Book I (No Freedom) which I have already purchased and will look anxiously forward to Book III. Highly recommended from this reader, five big shiny stars!