Warsafe

By: Lauren Smyth

Narrated by: Jennifer Jill Araya

Play. Win. Survive.

There’s one building on her island that Halley has never visited: the Mercenary House. Perched atop a mountain, surrounded by unnaturally evergreen foliage, the House is rumored to be a breeding ground for criminals. Mercenaries are liars, cheats, spies . . . and maybe, depending on who you ask, killers.

At the Warsafe headquarters in Seattle, Roscoe is beta testing the company’s new video game. It’s her job to track down glitches—but something is different about this one. Lurking behind the lines of malfunctioning code is a secret that threatens to drag her deeper into the game, forcing her to put her life on the line if she ever wants to come home.

Worlds collide as Roscoe teams up with Halley to uncover the island’s secret and expose Warsafe’s designs. But some mysteries are better left unsolved. As traitor after so-called traitor is revealed to be on their side, they begin to wonder: Could Warsafe’s mission be critical enough to justify its cruelty?

©2025 Lauren Smyth (P)2025 Oasis Audio

Promising premise

I love the idea that this is a sci-fi for Christians and people who enjoyed RPO. But the execution wasn’t fantastic — multiple POV felt confusing (especially as the character voices felt mostly the same), and the story itself lacked the umph and personality I was hoping for. It wasn’t all bad, and I’m glad I finished, but it was just somewhat disjointed for me.