It's the future and the Colonial Authority has decided to create the perfect soldier, one that will minimize their losses and show the Rebels that they aren't playing. Engineered to fight, designed to cause terror, trained to kill. They were called Nightriders, they were creatures of the night, beings out of nightmares. Now, the last one, is out there looking for revenge.

What makes Nixx's novel different and interesting is the context in which he places fantastic creatures like Zombies, Werewolves and Vampires. The role he gives them in a Universe at some time in the not-so- near future: soldiers, or rather, weapons. But more so the characters we meet, in particular the protagonist, Laura, the last of the Nightriders, and the first AI, one born of chance during one of her self-appointed missions.

Beyond the context the story is one of action, full of battles and chases. During the few moments of peace and quiet Laura and her husband/partner, Jess, ponder about the eternal questions of our time. What does it mean to be human? How do you define the set of features required to be part of humanity? What is freedom? What is choice?.

The more human aspect of the characters and of the novel aren't particularly interesting but everything else is. The way Nixx presents us with Vampires genetically created for a single purpose: terror and war. And how they seem to outgrow their original design is enthralling. As the dilemma around Augments and normal humans --referred as Baselines-- grows the line as to who the real monsters are becomes less and less clear.

Aside of the well presented adventure and story what I really like of Monster: Nightrider's Vengeance is the profile of its main character and that of the AI that becomes part of her team very early on. The way the later is presented is good and somewhat original; having just come to life it isn't an über mind --yet-- so it is prone to mistakes and more than a few mishaps as the team tries to escape a group of enemies.

While the story advances it is clear that Laura stays as the main focus of it and the AI soon becomes a sort of de facto sidekick, with Jess and other secondary characters only there to add depth to the adventure and the dialogues.

Monster is also a story of becoming, of understanding your true nature and realizing your own limits as well as going beyond those that others want to impose on you. This personal growth follows the main character and the AI, as they show us how human they can be and act while others present us with their inhuman sides.

There aren't many twists to the adventure, the whole novel feels like an Underworld meets Halo concept that is well presented and well realized. It's about fantastic and mythological creatures being there but not because of a super-natural Universe but one of technology, genetic engineering and nano technology. Nevertheless, Nixx manages to offer an original ending. He chains a couple of events which in a few lines twist the whole thing, change how we perceive the Universe, and make the whole experience very memorable.

As many Indie Author novels Monster: Nightrider's Vengeance isn't perfectly edited, there are some typos and the like here and there but ignoring the whole for such details would be like rejecting a Ferrari because of a flat tire. They don't add or take away anything, just make reading a little less clear and continuous. They get slightly in the flow of the words and the adventure. But even so, the rest is very much worth the ride and the few bumps can easily be ignored.