Book Review: Replaced by Emma Harrison - Alias APO Years #4

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: The look into Sydney's eyes before the characters start to go downhill.

Cons: Characters act stupidly and the plot gets boring.

The Bottom Line:

The book started well

But the longer it goes on

It just doesn't work

Frustration Builds as the Book Progresses

Replaced is the fourth tie-in novel for the TV show Alias from the "APO Years" series. Set in the fourth season, it tells of a mission that main character Sydney Bristow gets involved in along with her co-agents Weiss, Vaughn, and recent addition Nadia.

When the APO team goes to arrest Dr. Lance Bergin, things go from bad to worse. It ends with his escape and Weiss being infected by a deadly virus. With time running out, Sydney tracks the bad doc to South Africa, where she is sidelined. While she fumes, Vaughn and Nadia are called in to complete the mission. Only with this case, nothing is ever easy and the bad news just keeps coming in. Can the three agents stay alive long enough to find the cure for Weiss?

The Alias books seem to be hit or miss recently, and this one is no exception. The story starts out well, and I was enjoying it. As the book progressed, I got more and more frustrated. The plot relies on the agents making critical mistakes time and time again. While I found the first few believable, by the end I was rolling my eyes as they were doing things I knew better then to do. They are never this stupid on the TV show. The pacing was good; the action constantly moving. I just didn't find the action that was happening believable given the characters.

Sydney gets more and more annoying as the story progresses as well, snapping at everyone around her. I found this out of character for her. While she can be rather hard to get along with at times, this behavior was over the line. I did enjoy a look into her thoughts at the start of the story. The guilt over Weiss's condition was well done and in character as were the thought about having another female agent on the team. It just got to be overdone and over the top.

And one final complaint, although this one is minor. The book keeps saying they need to find a vaccine for Weiss, when in reality they should have been looking for an antidote.

Making the Alias books longer has not been the best decision.  In fact, Replaced was the last one I read.