An up-all-night read that’s clever and heartfelt.
In this YA fantasy debut, three siblings find themselves ensnared in a plot by demons to rule the world.
Seven years ago, Jon, Kelly, and Travis Bishop were out driving at night with their parents when their minivan suddenly crashed. Despite the efforts of Jon—age 10—and a few strangers, the children’s parents died. Now Jon is a high school junior, Kelly is 13, and Travis is 10. After seven years apart in various homes, the siblings have reunited under the care of Chris and Angie McCormick of Chantilly, Virginia. One day, the kids venture to Crystal Creek Park with Chris and local teachers Anton Edwards and Mark Parrish to explore Pandora’s Cave. As Kelly films the natural splendors with a camcorder, the group experiences a cave-in. Next, they stumble upon a horde of demons gathered before a stage. A human businessman then addresses the creatures, promising them a way to supplant humanity on the surface world. Soon, the demons discover the explorers and chase after them. Kelly, Travis, and Dr. Parrish escape—while the others wait for a rescue team. Eventually, the rescuers exit the cave, stating that they are fine and repeating the mantra that they “must work hard and fast.” Jon emerges at last—but now speaks with a perfect British accent. Author Gemmill has supercharged his YA debut with a tantalizing dose of oddness. Even before meeting the Demon Nation, readers learn that Kelly can read minds, Travis can feel others’ emotions, and Jon is a practicing swordsman. After leaving Pandora’s Cave, the mysterious “head injuries” that Chris and Jon suffer lead to erratic behavior: Chris holes up in the basement to create a secret “product” while Jon trains himself as a magician. Amid all this, Gemmill inserts some great science tidbits, like the cavern flowers created by a “trace amount of limestone in every [water] drop.” Later, heroine Kelly offers the sinister claim that with her telepathy, nobody could stop her from becoming president. Overall, Gemmill toys with his audience in truly subtle ways.
An up-all-night read that’s clever and heartfelt.Pub Date: July 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-692-44883-0
Page Count: 370
Publisher: Cottingham-McMasters Publishing House
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
Buckle up—fans of page-turning SF may find themselves binge-reading this novel in one butt-numbing marathon session.
Like a truck with no brakes speeding down a steep mountain road, Islington’s latest is an adrenaline-fueled SF thrill ride that follows a biomechanically enhanced assassin as he tries to understand his mysterious origins.
The chaotic opening scene gives readers a clear indication of what they’re in for: Contract killer Azure, attempting to complete a mission, is involved in a life-or-death battle with a multieyed biomachine called an Argos. “The thing’s bipedal but has six gorilla-like arms that end in half-metre-long claws,” he complains. After Azure barely dispatches the monster and kills his target, his AI assistant, Atti, informs him of his next job: protecting an elderly—and incredibly rich—woman living in a sprawling underground bunker in the middle of nowhere. “Old Woman,” as Azure calls her, isn’t forthcoming with personal details; all Azure can suss out is that she may be the target of a powerful organized crime syndicate—the same organization that employs him! Is Azure’s ultimate goal to save her or kill her? Although the worldbuilding could’ve been more comprehensive, Islington’s editing choices are brilliant—he strips away the insignificant narrative content to create a streamlined, action-packed adventure with seemingly one goal: to keep the reader furiously turning pages. The various mysteries—Azure’s murky beginnings, the tragic death of his best friend years earlier, Old Woman’s true identity, etc.—maintain the momentum and intensity. The takeaway here is the narrative potential of the characters as well as the plethora of subjects that could be explored more deeply, like immortality for the rich, cloning, and the potential to create bioengineered nightmares for “security.” Islington leaves the conclusion tantalizingly ambiguous. This novel could be the jumping-off point for a memorable series.
Buckle up—fans of page-turning SF may find themselves binge-reading this novel in one butt-numbing marathon session.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9781668239247
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Saga/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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