Zero Sum Game: Cas Russell Series, Book 1

I loved Numb3rs. LOVED the writing. Loved the actors. Loved the brilliant charismatic math genius who had trouble relating to the regular world. Love the way life wasn't always easy, for him or his family. Even when his mathematical solutions confused me (which was most of the time) I loved the elegance of those solutions.Then along comes Cas Russell, with her mathematical super powers. Sorry Charlie, you've been one upped...heck one hundred upped. Cas doesn't just know numbers, she knows how to make them work for her: harder, stronger, faster. Beyond Cas herself I was sucked in by the elegance of the writing. By the scene setting, complex world building, questions left unanswered until the perfect time.For a while I wondered about those unanswered questions, at least some of them. Wait a minute, I asked myself (okay, yelled at the writer) What about...How can she not realize...When did...How did...??Had to be an error in plotting. Had to be. HUGE plot hole. How sad.Except, no, it's not a plot hole. It's brilliant and scary and so so clever.Cas is friends with only one person and that person is not only no one's friend, his very name invokes rage in more civilized people. And I'm wondering how did they meet? What causes Rio, of all people, to act the way he does around Cas. And after a few suggestions I'm wondering more and more: Where DID Cas come from? Why is she not only a mathematical genius but also a physically superior human being?The answer is part of a moral dilemma, leaving Cas and the lucky readers with more questions than answers.Also leaving me with a kitchen full of dirty dishes and a garage too cluttered to park my car. But oh, the pleasure I found reading this book. I've promised the second book once the dishes are washed, the kitchen clean (almost done) and my own writing goals met (sigh, that's going to take a while longer)Thank you SL Huang for an amazing read.

This was a great thriller with some very interesting characters. The main protagonist, Cas Russell, is a mathematical genius in her 20s with some definite character flaws. Not cute flaws, but serious ones - an inability to understand or connect with most people and a very hyper sense of survival with ‘kill ‘em all’ being her first defense against anyone threatening herOh - that math genius bit? Very useful because she can see and factor vectors/trajectories/consequences of anything around her in a split second, and can use that knowledge to dodge or manipulate objects to avoid or mitigate the effects of, well, even bullets at time. Is it realistic? I have no idea, but it sounded reasonable, and since I totally suck at spatial anything, I bought it. Seriously, any type of fight scene I mostly glaze over, whether swordplay, battles, space fighters, because I’m clueless when it comes to that sort of thing, so I just enjoyed the idea of someone able to factor all that intricate math to their advantage.Getting the math out of the way, the characters in this book, and what they’re dealing with, were so well drawn. Cas is pretty damaged, and has done some fairly bad things, but she also felt like a real person-not all bad, and struggling to live the life she’s dealt. Her character growth throughout the book was interesting and compelling because it felt natural. She actually questioned decisions and emotions, and you could see her willingness to at least try other ways to deal with things as the book progressed and as she kept having to deal with, like, ya know, other people. I really loved Cas.Rio is someone I don’t think I’ve ever run across in a book - maybe similar to Dexter, I guess, would be the closest. I had very mixed feelings about him, but in an odd sort of way, I got him, too, and I have an inkling there might be a bit more to him than we’re shown in this book.This is a thriller, so there’s a big bad organization to fight, but again, like the characters, there’s shades of greyness to the organization as well. Ok, not too many shades, they’re really close to charcoal, but still…this wasn’t a purely good vs evil. The plot moved along quickly and yet the writing stayed very focused. There was some great imagery, which made me pause ever so often and just enjoy.What made this book so intriguing is that even the ending, which wrapped things up, wrapped things up in a rather loose bow with frazzled ends. I mean, it was wrapped up properly, but the way it was done, and the repercussions of some of the choices that had to be made, made this all the more compelling because there were consequences - real consequences. There are teases of issues to come later in the series (This is book 1 of series Russell’s Attic) and I really can’t wait for the next book.If all self published books were as tightly written and edited as Zero Sum Game, I’d fill my kindle with SPAs.

I liked it, till heading towards the end..Can't explain it will, and don't want to ruin anything, but it was a 4 star book for me, until it hit about 70ish percent. Then I was ready for it to be over. But I do look forward to picking up the next one.

I read the original publishing, and now have read the TOR release, and wow, so much fun!Really amazingly great story with lots of fun math (and math jokes!), gunfights, fistfights, evil villain plots, and wonderful characters in Cas Russell, Arthur Tresting, and Checker.Our protagonist, Cas, can somehow see vector calculus in her mind, and uses that to fight her way through some great scenes. I won't include any spoilers here; you should really read it all for yourself.Huang's writing style is wry, has a great bite, and kept me up until 3am waiting to see what was next. A true page-turner if there ever was one. Also very refreshing to hear an own voices thriller novel!

Fun thriller with a super powered math hero in a breakneck shoot-em-up. Well written with lots of questions left to answer.

4.5 starsIf my high school teacher had told me to read this book back when I was in high school I can guarantee that my math grades would have been higher.😂 But, seriously, Cas was awesome and her abilities were awe-inspiring. And the villain was super scary; I was on the edge of my seat for almost the whole book. Quite looking forward to Cas Russell's next adventure.

This started out interesting, rocketed into fast action, swept through into ‘hey, that’s weird’ and crawled out from under the debris with “wow!”As the blurb indicates, Cas is good at math. So good, that she can send a bullet ricocheting off various surfaces where she’s calculated for hardness, rebound angle and flexibility of moveable objects. She can shoot round corners, no problem. Cas usually takes protection type jobs, or occasionally search and rescue, where the search is for someone abducted, rather than lost by accident. She has very few friends, and she prefers it that way. The characterisation is perfect. The few friends she has are pretty good too.The friend she hasn’t got is also an interesting case, and I’ve discovered I’m interested in how this all develops. The plot thickens satisfactorily, twists and turns a few times, and the friend she hasn’t got goes in and out of favour a few times. Doubts over who can be trusted, concerns about the bigger picture, and an antagonist with a massive secret… it all adds up to a very convoluted tale that still hangs together.I’m aware I’m not reviewing this very clearly – it’s partly because there is so much going on I don’t want to spoil it for you. Part-cop, part-vigilante, part-dystopia, part-heist, part-X-men. Maybe it’s The Sting meets Blade Runner. I’m not sure. What I do know is the more I think about Zero Sum Game the more I want to read the next in the series. I'm gripped!

I was told to check out this book by a trusted scifi and fantasy podcaster because he could not put it down once he started reading. I have to agree with him, this is an excellent book, well written, very dynamic and it kept me on the edge of my seat for the entire time. There is enough action to satisfy those who like their solutions more hands on. Everything is morally ambiguous, and that is also one of the central themes in my mind. While the role of the heroes is pretty clear cut from the start, the book questions not only their choices, their methods but also asks the reader to re-evaluate a few things used so often today.

If you aren't sure if you'll like this book, buy it! It's worth the purchase. The characters are vivid and entertaining, there are many plot shifts you don't see coming. Did I mention the superhero does math really quickly as a superpower? It's a fresh idea from a talented writer.After reading book one, just try not to buy book 2!