painless - Derek Ciccone

This book is currently ranked #1 in the free ebooks downloads on amazon.co.uk - in other words, without a kindle, i would probably never have read it. But since it was there, free to read, and with seemingly a good plot, well, i had to go for it.
I have to say, the central idea was quite good and peculiar: an american secret agency raising an army of CIPA (congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis) kids to become fearless soldiers. And the story of a family whose little girl, who can't feel pain, is hunted down as a new recruit.
The book was a pleasant read. But some bits were not really credible; the characters were realy simplistic, there was no depth to their personality, no balance of goodness and evil, it was more a matter of either or, and more annoyingly, i could guess the next twist of the story well before it arrived, which made the whole thing a bit predictible. So much more could have been done with this storyline, with many questions that could have really enriched the book and the reader - what it is to be a mother, a father, what can a state sacrifice for the greater good, what's the most important between individual freedom and collective survival, etc, etc. Topical themes that were only superficially touched on in this book.
Yet it was still entertaining enough, which has to be the main quality for a novel. Just not life changing.

Note for later: an entertaining holiday read, full of action more than reflection - to keep on the kindle for those long winter nights when i'm bored.