GIRL MALFUNCTIONED

A teenage girl discovers that she’s the product of an experiment and seeks revenge in Holloway’s debut YA SF novel.

In Boston in the year 2030, 17-year-old Krista Kinsley is living on the streets, keeping under the radar so that her abusive father won’t find her. Her only friend is Jason, a chef who regularly provides her with a warm meal and conversations about his studies in physics. She has some difficulty communicating due to a stutter and seizure condition, but she’s also a quick thinker who comes up with fantastic solutions to impenetrable physics problems. After Jason arranges for Krista to meet Ron Arkin, a professor at his university, she learns that, when she was a child, she had a brain injury that the professor treated with a high-tech implant as part of an experiment. A tech malfunction leads to a reset, and, as a result, Krista develops incredible, enhanced physical abilities. Soon, numerous people are after her, including Arkin and his shady associates, her contemptible father, and Nathan O’Connell, a cop with a tragic past. All have different agendas, and most don’t have Krista’s best interests at heart, but she knows how to take care of herself—now better than ever. Holloway’s futuristic thriller mixes familiar elements of SF and crime fiction to tell a tale of ambition, agency, and revenge. Krista’s story is one of survival told by multiple narrators (including herself, her father, Arkin, and others) in a fast-paced novel that never lets up as she faces new challenges and enemies. Krista and O’Connell are the most well-developed characters among many, with both having survived past trauma; the two effectively bond in a relationship that’s very much like that of a parent and child. The villainy of the antagonists feels a bit over-the-top at times, but the author’s intriguing take on the development of artificial intelligence is a welcome bonus.

An action-packed techno-thriller with a fierce protagonist.