HOLDING THE FORT

A group of young time travelers must prevent a robot takeover in Peek’s YA SF thriller sequel.

Teens Ethan Tate, Annika Pepper, Caleb Warren, Austin Turnbull, and Glenn Vadenare children of workers at a top-secret military base in Blackwoods, Wyoming.They also make up Team Blackwoods, a squad of Laser Wars players who came together to play a game but ended up discovering a Chrono-Warp device and jumping back in time to save their town—and probably the planet—from an AI–induced robotic uprising. In their previous adventure, chronicled in The Fatal Error (2021), Team Blackwoods found out when a dangerous event will occur in the future, but not exactly what it is or how they can prevent it. They try to anonymously warn military higher-ups, but that results in the town being put on lockdown—and soon, they find that the entire adult population is being replaced by robot duplicates. It’s clear that Team Blackwoods has failed their mission; their only chance is to make their way to the Chrono-Warp device and try again. For this, they’ll need help from an unlikely source: a robot boy named Andy that Ethan’s father has been constructing. But can Team Blackwoods trust Andy to help them carry out their mission? Peek’s story picks up directly from The Fatal Error and assumes that readers have read it, making no attempt to recap events or character descriptions. Despite this, newcomers will quickly become invested in the teens’ mission. Peek writes in a breezy, mostly straightforward style. There are occasional moments of overly exuberant description (“The group held their breath, afraid that the slightest undulation of the expansion and contraction of their lungs might give them away”), but these moments are appealingly reminiscent of kids narrating their own adventures. By highlighting Team Blackwoods’ inexperience, Peek ups the tension of a mission that has distinct Terminator 2: Judgment Day vibes. Overall, the plot is an addictive mixture of low-key adolescent character moments, creepy mystery, and adrenalized heroics, and by the end, readers will be eager for a concluding volume.

A page-turning tale with engrossing, high-stakes action.