Mouths have never run so dry at the idea of thirst.
When a calamitous drought overtakes southern California, a group of teens must struggle to keep their lives and their humanity in this father-son collaboration.
When the Tap-Out hits and the state’s entire water supply runs dry, 16-year-old Alyssa Morrow and her little brother, Garrett, ration their Gatorade and try to be optimistic. That is, until their parents disappear, leaving them completely alone. Their neighbor Kelton McCracken was born into a survivalist family, but what use is that when it’s his family he has to survive? Kelton is determined to help Alyssa and Garrett, but with desperation comes danger, and he must lead them and two volatile new acquaintances on a perilous trek to safety and water. Occasionally interrupted by “snapshots” of perspectives outside the main plot, the narrative’s intensity steadily rises as self-interest turns deadly and friends turn on each other. No one does doom like Neal Shusterman (Thunderhead, 2018, etc.)—the breathtakingly jagged brink of apocalypse is only overshadowed by the sense that his dystopias lie just below the surface of readers’ fragile reality, a few thoughtless actions away. He and his debut novelist son have crafted a world of dark thirst and fiery desperation, which, despite the tendrils of hope that thread through the conclusion, feels alarmingly near to our future. There is an absence of racial markers, leaving characters’ identities open.
Mouths have never run so dry at the idea of thirst. (Thriller. 13-17)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4814-8196-0
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
A jumble of characters and stereotypes does not constitute worldbuilding. Skip
What ought to be a tense story of discovery after escaping a post-apocalyptic steampunk hellscape is overwhelmed by a bland, unremarkable love triangle.
At the end of Ashes of Twilight (2012), Wren led her fellow coal-mining villagers out of the dome that’s imprisoned them for generations. The outside world is not blazing afire, as their rulers have assured them ever since the comet that sent their people into the domes generations ago, during the Victoria era. Though the sun burns their pale skin, and the fresh air (ridiculously) kills many of the escapees, Wren is determined never to go back. Though the events of the first book ended Wren’s previous wearisome love triangle, never fear: A new charismatic young man appears, along with some other outlandish adventurers, to add ponderous romantic tension. Wren’s ogling of all the boys—“[t]he smooth breadth of their chests, the work of the muscles in the back, the dips and curves in the stomachs and hips”—is endless. She’s not even distracted by the nigh-feral attackers outside the dome: stinky, toothless and speaking in a laughable hillbilly dialect (in coastal Wales, these ruffians deliver such gems as “I’m ah-tellin-ya”).
A jumble of characters and stereotypes does not constitute worldbuilding. Skip . (Steampunk. 14-16)Pub Date: July 23, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-312-64176-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: May 28, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Fans of the previous books will devour it; new readers to the series will have no problem diving in.
The teenage Sherlock solves mysteries about two different housekeepers and faces up to a vicious sociopath in this sequel to Black Ice (2013).
In the marketplace, Sherlock overhears two strangers talking about finding his mentor and his daughter, Amyus and Virginia Crowe. Believing that the Crowes may need help, Sherlock and his friend Matty go to their home, only to find the house empty. There is, however, a clue that sends Sherlock and Matty, accompanied by the violinist Rufus Stone, off to Edinburgh. Sherlock initiates the action in this caper, not one of the adults, exhibiting his growth and integration of their teaching. Historical Edinburgh and its looming castle reinforce the sense of foreboding created by the story’s events. The narrative resolves nicely with a breathtaking ending that involves men with crossbows and a grizzly bear. The denouement indicates that the next installment of this winning series begins right after Sherlock returns from Edinburgh. This rewarding mystery/adventure novel has it all: great characters, a fearsome villain, a generous ration of suspense and hints of romance.
Fans of the previous books will devour it; new readers to the series will have no problem diving in. (Adventure/mystery. 13-17)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-374-32311-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2013
BOOK TO SCREEN
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