WHIRLWIND

Frenetic pacing enlivens environmental preaching in this eco-thriller follow-up to Firestorm (2006). Meet Jack Danielson, high-school hero. Likes sentence fragments. Sent back in time from an apocalyptic future and saved the world. Now he just wants to see P.J., his high-school sweetheart. Uh-oh! She’s been kidnapped! The future’s in peril again! It’s up to Jack, telepathic pooch Gisco and “Ninjababe” Eko to save the rainforests from the fiendish depredations of a spidery super-villain! Except they don’t really do anything. Everything comes down to some mystic-wizard-ex-machina, actually named “the Mysterious Kidah.” We keep hearing how brave and smart P.J. is, but mostly she gets tied up and screams “Ja-a-ack! Help!” Oh, and trades catty comments with Eko over who’s going to end up with Jack. But hey, look! Unspoiled nature-wise indigenous tribes! Evil drug smugglers! Hot-air balloons! Scary gross Amazonian critters! Ninety-two chapters. Ninety-two cliffhangers. Guys looking for nonstop action with a heavy dose of political correctness will eat this up. Anyone looking for careful writing, character development or a thoughtful exploration of important issues will throw it against the wall. (Science fiction. YA)