“Who are we without our memories?” ― Marta Acosta
Title: Memory Kick
Author: C.M. Torrens
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Pages/Word Count: 230 Pages
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Blurb: Lost and missing his memory, Qusay Drazi turns to the drug kick to ease his pain while warming beds to feed his addiction. His years on the space station have taught him nothing is free. Meeting Cameron, who seems to have no ulterior motives, leaves Qusay confused but hopeful that Cameron is different. When Qusay finds the courage to ask for help, he discovers a price on his head for the locked away memories.
Cameron Miles believes people can turn their lives around, but his attempt to help Qusay unravels a slew of trouble, and they find themselves on the run from the CompCore corporation. When CompCore captures Qusay, Cameron realizes how much his feelings for Qusay have grown. Then he discovers what CompCore is after and how deeply it is buried inside Qusay’s mind. Cameron must decide how far he’s willing to go before the memory “treatments” leave Qusay a tattered and empty shell.
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Review: Memory Kick is another m/m sci-fi that, for me, fell short. It was a semi-enjoyable read, but the plot and world building needed to be expanded to create a true sci-fi story. Sci-fi is my favorite genre, and I’ve yet to find a book that has an incredible storyline and a lot of great sex. This book could have been it, but it wasn’t quiet there.
The story centers on Qusay, a drug addicted prostitute, and Cameron, a bounty hunter/body guard. Qusay’s drug of choice is Kick, a popular drug that gives users a different high, associated with different colors. Qusay likes the pink variety, which gives him a sexual high. Cameron is a typical Alpha male with no addictions or attachments. Cameron has a stopover on a space station, and literally runs into Qusay. From the start, Cameron feels something for the boy and offers to take him to a café and feed him, with no strings attached. Qusay is wary but agrees. This starts something between them. Cameron buys him food and Qusay begins to open up about himself. The problem is that Qusay can’t remember his past, and he thinks that his memory was wiped for some reason. He’s not even sure if Qusay is his name or if he has a family that is looking for him. Cameron offers to look into his identity. This opens up a whole can of worms for both of them. Suddenly every bounty hunter in the sector is looking for him, and one of the most powerful corporations puts up a bounty to find them.
There are some plot twists that were not too surprising. And they do get a HEA. The two worked as a couple and they did have chemistry. I just wanted them to be written with a little bit more depth. I was disappointed with the resolution; I’m not going to give away spoilers, but I would have liked to have had a full explanation of why Qusay’s memory was wiped. It was kind of glossed over. There’s never an explanation of exactly what the project he worked on was. The sci-fi part for me wasn’t very sci-fi. Yes, the story took place in a distant future, but we never get a story of how we got to this future. There is space travel and space stations, but the ins and outs are not there. More description and work is needed to make a story a sci-fi story. I felt like I was reading a contemporary romance with a bit of sci-fi thrown in. I was just looking for a meatier plot.
Memory Kick is worth picking up for an afternoon’s distraction, but it may not stay in your memory for long.
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