Orphan Black meets Lord of the Flies in this riveting new thriller from the co-author of the Virals series. It’s been happening since Min was eight. Every two years, on her birthday, a strange man finds her and murders her in cold blood. But hours later, she wakes up in a clearing just outside her tiny Idaho hometown—alone, unhurt, and with all evidence of the horrifying crime erased. Across … horrifying crime erased.
Across the valley, Noah just wants to be like everyone else. But he’s not. Nightmares of murder and death plague him, though he does his best to hide the signs. But when the world around him begins to spiral toward panic and destruction, Noah discovers that people have been lying to him his whole life. Everything changes in an eye blink.
For the planet has a bigger problem. The Anvil, an enormous asteroid threatening all life on Earth, leaves little room for two troubled teens. Yet on her sixteenth birthday, as she cowers in her bedroom, hoping not to die for the fifth time, Min has had enough. She vows to discover what is happening in Fire Lake and uncovers a lifetime of lies: a vast conspiracy involving the sixty-four students of her sophomore class, one that may be even more sinister than the murders.
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WHOA. This one was intense… It opens with poor Min fighting for her life – literally. And losing – also literally. But it’s not the first time. For either the fight OR the loss…
What a great and original concept – it’s about seven different types of stories, packed full of enough action and drama to please even the most easily distracted… It’s technically a YA book, because it has a YA protagonist. But it could easily be “general” fiction because there are so many issues in here that are relevant to a broader population. It’s also technically a thriller, an apocalypse story, an analysis of family dynamics, a little Lord of the Flies, and… Like I said – there’s a LOT going on here. And all of it is quite good.
I will admit, I did see shades of the big reveal coming – but it still played out beautifully and I was engaged right up to the last pages. It cliff-hangs (it is, after all, parenthetically titled “Nemesis #1” on Amazon) but not in a bad way – while there would clearly be loose ends if you never revisited Min’s world, this installment doesn’t leave anything essential unanswered or open-ended. I hate when a series book does that – you can leave teasers, I like those, but don’t strand me in the middle of a thought…
I myself will definitely make a point of rejoining Min and Tack and Noah though – there are a few twists at the end that I would not have seen from a mile away, and I’m exceedingly eager to see how they resolve themselves in the next volume. This is a great find – and one I discovered thanks to Penguin RandomHouse’s Readathon (#Project Readathon – http://readwell.penguinrandomhouse.com/). Check it out, it’s an amazing way to donate books AND find new reads like this one!
Really a mind blower. You won’t see the twists coming and I don’t want to spoil it. I didn’t even plan to start it but accidentally opened it and read a few paragraphs and could not put it down. I finished it in 24 hours and just started the sequel, though I was so shocked by the ending I almost didn’t want to. Still I’m sure the characters will redeem themselves! At least I really hope so. I highly recommend this roller coaster ride.
This book was OK I guess. The characters were stereotypes that I’ve seen many times before. It held my attention for awhile but I have no interest in reading the next in the series.
Wasn’t sure what to expect from this book but it was really good. Had me hooked to know what exactly was happening with the characters and their dying and coming back to life. There is a major twist which made me catch my breath. I’m looking forward to book 2.
This book grabbed my interest from the first page…very original and well written.
I found the premise so interesting! When I found out what was going on, it was almost like story within a story. I pre-ordered the 2nd book “Genesis”, to be out in March. I can’t wait to read it.