1. The Memory Box

I didn't quite know what to expect with this release, but picked up out of curiosity because it was on sale.

In this story, we meet Vienna Salvatori, an assassin for hire, who is sent to kill a big business mogul. She makes her escape past police with the aide of a bad Russian accent. After the mogul is murdered, the question is how did she get past them when they scanned her memories of the past day with their futuristic technology. You see, that's because she used a memory box, which hides her memory even from herself until the keyword is given. So she doesn't and the police can't know it. The thing is that Vienna doesn't just have one Memory Box, and she's not the only one who has one.

The plot in this story is fast-paced, incredibly fast-paced. It's hard to believe that they worked in so many plot twists in a little more than an hour. The Memory Box technology is played out to its full potential (and maybe a little past that) as one box after another slowly reveals the truth. The action is intense and non-stop but not graphic.

Probably, the most difficult aspect of this for me is the character of Vienna. She's a true anti-hero. The terms "assassin" and "bounty hunter" are not necessarily synonymous, but with Vienna they are. I didn't find her character all that likable. A rogue can be likable, but I found her hijacking of a spaceship to be less the actions of a lovable rogue like Hans Solo and more just "pure hood" behavior. Still, her reaction to uncover one of the secrets does show a glimmerings of a conscience. And she did show some cleverness towards the end.

Overall, there's no denying this is a well-made fast-paced, and exciting production. However, your ability to enjoy it may depend on how much you can get into a story with an anti-hero lead character.