17 years after billions die in an apocalypse, the few hundred survivors are the most brilliant (Renaissance Men and Women, called RMs) and their less brilliant, Stepford-like children. What will happen when a small band of the teenagers, led by the President¿s subservient son (Matthew Cane) and loner Sophie Jackson, learn the truth about their harmonious society?
I just really didn’t like the book. The writing felt ameturish.
This is the first full length book in the Project RM series and starts off with an extinction event occurring in October of 2020, the very thing that Project RM was set up to help with, when it was started by a sixteen year old called Joseph, his grandfather on his mother’s side, and a polymath back in the 1970’s. The sort of incident in which numerous secure locations with Renaissance Men and Women (RM), would help to restart civilization afterwards. The remainder of the story takes place in 2037, with the main character being the grandson of Joseph and son of Eric Cane, the president of the Washington DC hub of Project RM. The small community wear colour coded clothing depending on their roles, such as RM of which there are about 43, ID which are security and intelligence, students, those that help to grow their food and so many more.
Matthew is about to start his final year of school and is surprised by his father and asked to do his speech instead of him, one of the things he is afraid to do. He is not a genius or polymath like many of the few hundred people in their small community, all that remains of mankind. His father expects him to take over his role as president when he retires and has been grooming him for this role for his whole life. Matthew feels like he can never do as well as he is expected to, and it is only the help of his best friends Rich and Bobby that he manages to get through this first hurdle, only to find that his father has a few more placed in his path. He woke that day with a very real conversation with his mother, in what must have been a dream. His mother died in a lab accident shortly after they arrived in the safe haven underground, when the Storm event hit. He never really knew her and has few memories. She tells him that he has a decision to make and a path to follow. The only items he has of his mother’s is a small book of poetry, which has a photo of a girl about his age, with a strange code of letters and numbers on the reverse. He doesn’t know who this girl is and he has had this image all his life.
One of the other things his father expects him to excel at is the game of comBaton, the chosen sport of the community, which was a mix of martial arts, basketball and football, which his father was a champion at. Matt’s two best friend’s Rich and Bobby have played with him on a team the previous year and start with trials to get some other players for this season’s games. It is whilst one of their training sessions, that he loses focus completely, as he sees the girl from his photo for the first time, and is knocked out cold! He tries to meet up with her, to speak to her and it turns out she was also expecting something to happen and had received a message of her own, and his speech triggered it. She is called Sophie Jackson and has an autistic older brother David. When Matt meets with her, David is also there and is part of this secret message and a locket she wears is key to future messages and what they are to do. Soon they receive messages saying the Rich and Bobby can also be included in the group, but they can’t tell anyone else and must keep what they are doing secret!
The main problem this causes, is the fact that Matt has been going out with a girl called Lori, a fairly mild relationship with no real deep feelings on his side, she is just always there for him, but this may not be quite as natural a twosome as you might expect. The circle of five have to become trusted friends, some already were, and now Sophie and her brilliant brother David may well be the key to what comes next. Unfortunately his father Eric is taking his rule of their community to extremes, and Matt and his group will soon learn that not everything is as perfect as they have been raised to believe. What they discover and is revealed slowly to them, will give them the chance to save mankind and complete the mission his mother Zoe tried to do all those years ago and which she died for. They will be putting their lives at risk, but the ultimate goal they are reaching for, is so much more important than just their existence.
A book full of intrigue, strong friendships and loyalty to the right path, no matter the consequences. The young characters are a mix of male, female, genius and just smart amongst many polymaths, with the usual problems of young love, rivalry from others and a sporting tournament all mixed in with intense school lessons unlike many would be studying. The president Eric Cane, Matt’s father, has a huge and strong following and seems to know everything that goes on in their community. They all have a neural implant that they can use to transmit messages, but it seems to also reveal their locations and every word they utter! An experiment that his mother succeeded with along with some of her close colleagues, but his father said for the record that it didn’t work and was abandoned. It is obvious that she did succeed, or they wouldn’t have been receiving the messages and information they did and when they needed it. A huge surprise to come as to what their ultimate aim is, but I don’t want to spill the beans, so will say no more!
A great read that follows on from a brief prequel that shows the story of his grandfather, the founder of Project RM and the many problems he had to overcome to get this organisation started, in a series of short stories, as well. Well worth reading if you can, as it shows you so much about what the project should be about and what sort of people should definitely not be left in charge! The world has been changed forever and mankind almost made extinct. One man’s idea of what the next steps should be, is definitely not an acceptable, nor sane option and only Matt and his friends can change this. A fantastically put together adventure through a future vision of the world. I can’t wait to read the next full length adventure, Storm Jumper. I would recommend this to all, especially if you want to read something with a great deal of depth and something different! I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.