Ascendance by Shawn C Butler-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 26, 2025

Is it murder to kill GMO people?

Four teenagers are gunned down at a prestigious private school. Three of them were flawless and beautiful—almost superhuman—but also hateful bullies. The fourth was the vice president’s niece.

Reluctant partners Detective Sara Sanchez and tech billionaire Nathan Marks search for the killer as the world erupts into a war over what it means to be human… or a soulless abomination.

They have only seven days to stop a horror that will tear the world apart.

And the clock starts now.

••••••

REVIEW: ASCENDANCE by Shawn C Butler is an adult, speculative fiction thriller in the aftermath of a mass shooting at a prestigious private school in Boulder Colorado.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there WILL BE triggers for more sensitive readers

Told from several omniscient third person perspectives ASCENDANCE focuses on the search for the truth. In the wake of a mass shooting at the Valhalla School in boulder Colorado, seventeen year old student Erik Walker was arrested and his girlfriend Dana Dalton begins to espouse the ills of genetic modification. With the help of billionaire tech mogul Nathan Marks, Detective Sara Sanchez undertakes an investigation that reveals a connection to questionable politicians, religious extremism, greed, designer babies, madness and the strive for perfection. Meanwhile, conspiracy theories abound as they pertain to GMO, vaccinations, population and man-made pandemics, such that the people in charge begin to groom their followers as mindless minions.

The world building is complex, detailed and dramatic. The reader is pulled into a world of neural implants, cyber genetic dogs, dark web, genetic modifications and radicalization of young adults looking for a purpose and a direction ,while others have their entire lives programmed and modified.

ASCENDANCE is an extensive and sizeable story of secrets and lies, betrayal and vengeance, power and control, obsession and madness, artificial intelligence, corruption and genetically engineered humans. The premise is dark, dramatic and edgy, and not without some thought provoking possibilities and warnings.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy