GAMER

A young gamer desperately seeks a back door when the virtual combat game in which he’s trapped turns all too real.

Set in a dystopian future in which a virus has killed off most grown-ups, this U.K. import sends homeless narrator Scott from the gang-ridden mean streets to a training academy disarmingly dubbed the “City Orphans’ Home.” There, after sharpening his “kombatant” skills while taking part in the addictive Virtual Kombat game, he suddenly finds himself locked into an advanced level where adversaries multiply exponentially and wounds may still be virtual but pain and even death are real. Can he find an escape route before the Grand Arena’s huge swinging blades and vicious attackers reduce his life bar reading to 0%? Facing foes with names like Ginger Ninja and Destroy in a series of savage beatdowns but befriended by capable, sword-wielding Kat-Ana (“kinda cute, but no Lara Croft”), Scott does find a way out. The book ends on a cliffhanger, though, with a teaser that will have readers reaching for the simultaneously publishing sequel. Featuring Frang’s geometric spot-art images of fists and swords, the episode races along in short, easily digestible sentences arranged in well-separated lines and paragraphs. Aside from one minor character who’s referred to as Black, the cast reads as white.

Violent, messy, uncomplicated action.