PAST CONTINUOUS

Ade Patience, who spent most of Future Imperfect (2011) giving himself concussions in order to see the future and experience “the Buzz,” now chases a new high and fights still more aspects of himself.

Having spent the summer on a series of stylized Date Nights with his beloved Vauxhall, Ade finds himself increasingly drawn away from their relationship by his new taste for the Delirium, a high caused by chaos. When a thrill-seeking scheme gets out of hand, Ade seeks help from The Glove, a dangerous and unsavory figure with the power to change the past. Drugged and emerging from a sensory deprivation tank in The Glove's apartment, Ade finds that the past has indeed changed: Vauxhall doesn't remember him, and Ade must fight and defeat four alternate versions of himself. The book's rules of time travel and altering reality don't entirely hold up under scrutiny, but action, not metaphysics, is the point here. Short paragraphs and short, conversational sentences propel readers through larger-than-life fight scenes, criminal underworlds and superhuman displays. Frustratingly, Vauxhall is again more a prop than an actor; even when she attempts to use her powers, she does so as the pawn of Ade's enemies.

Intrigued readers should start with the first book, in which Ade, Vauxhall and their rapidly shifting universe are introduced.