“A savvy female lead, a best friend crush, and twenty-four hours to save the world… LOVED IT!” –New York Times bestselling author Julie Cross I am the daughter of the first female POTUS, and today is about to become the longest day of my life… 24 hours–that’s how much time I have to save my mother before terrorists assassinate her. But now my father and brother are missing, too. This goes … and brother are missing, too. This goes deeper than anyone thinks. Only someone on the inside would know how to pull this off–how to make the entire First Family disappear.
I can’t trust anyone, so it’s up to me to uncover the conspiracy and stop these madmen. Because little do they know, they picked the wrong person to terrorize.
My name is Sophie Washington, and I will not be a victim. No one, I repeat no one, is taking me or my family down. But the clock is ticking…
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T-Minus was such a fantastically fun read! I absolutely loved kicking my feet up and immersing myself in this thrill ride. Shannon Greenland has a fantastic imagination. I loved the plot of this novel! I really felt like I was watching a movie.
I loved the kick-ass main character, Sophie. She’s in a literal race for time to save her family. I loved the flashbacks. It was a really tightly weaved story line, and I didn’t find myself lost at any point. I think this aspect of the novel was really well written.
There were parts that were a bit predictable, and honestly, I could have done without the romance bits. Otherwise, the story was awesome. T-Minus too me out of my real life for a while and let me just pretend I was somewhere else. I am always happy to read a book like that and am looking forward to more from Shannon Greenland!
*I received a complimentary copy of this book as part of a blog tour with Xpresso Book Tours. All opinions are my own.*
Find this review and more on my blog: https://www.jessicabelmont.wordpress.com
Chasing Liberty meets 24, as the daughter of the country’s first female president finds herself embroiled in a terrorist plot to take down the administration. On her seventeenth birthday, Sophie Washington is doing anything but having the time of her life. Her brother is missing, her family is separated, and she has been told she cannot trust anyone, not even Frank, her secret service detail who has been with her much of her life. With minimal training in a teen CIA program for the offspring of operatives, she stumbles her way through an ever-changing game. Recruiting her best friends from the program, Jackson, Zeke, and Callie, she attempts to do what she believes no one else will, only to become a pawn in the biggest conspiracy to ever target the United States. Without knowing who is working against her mother, Sophie is isolated and terrified, but finds something within herself to rise to the challenge in this pulse-pounding young adult thriller.
Plot
T-MINUS is a plot-driven tale, and the plotting is near perfect. The pacing provides plenty of page-turning action and just enough breaks to allow us to catch our breath before careening into the next big moment. The author keeps us guessing the entire time, allowing us to feel like Sophie, unable to trust anyone. One twist follows another, and layer upon layer of intrigue is expertly woven to create a story worthy of the big screen. In fact, I’ll be shocked if this isn’t turned into a blockbuster movie at some point.
Characters
The characters are great, but pretty much in line with the story. There is no new ground broken here, but I love Sophie as the somewhat risk-averse teen who is forced to step so far outside her comfort zone, she hardly recognizes herself. The cast surrounding her provide just the right balance, and because I don’t want to give anything away, i won’t say anything more about them.
What I Loved About T-MINUS
1. The Pacing. The story unfolds at the perfect pace and I devoured it.
2. Twists. So many twists and turns, I never knew what was going to happen next, but all of it was perfectly foreshadowed.
3. Sophie. The reader gets to see her in a way she never envisions herself, making her both sympathetic and someone to root for and a kick-ass heroine.
4. Intrigue. I’m a political-thriller junkie, and this book has all the same elements that made No Way Out one of my favorite movies of all time.
5. Zeke. Her fellow TIA member and secret crush, he’s completely swoon-worthy.
Bottom Line
A page-turning thriller with a strong female lead who also happens to be utterly relatable.
Intense!
T-Minus is very much like a YA version of the television show 24.Sophie, the daughter of the first female president, has a similar time frame to try to save her mother and the country–and faces at least as many twists, turns, and dangers as Jack Bauer did. Fortunately, we can read it in a day or two and don’t have to wait an entire television season to figure out what will happen.
On the whole I enjoyed the book–it definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat!–though there were times that it felt like a bit too much was happening. At times the way-too-frequent flashbacks were the only respite readers got from the action, and it was draining. An excess of setbacks and tragedies (one in particular; yikes) that the characters don’t have timeto deal with lost their impact somewhat when things just go on as normal afterward. (Obviously, life does go on afterward; but here it seemed a bit extreme given the circumstances.)
I’ll be keeping an eye out for more from this author!
Rating: 4 stars / B-
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
A savvy female lead, a best friend crush, and twenty-four hours to save the world… LOVED IT!
Thank you to Entangled Teen and NetGalley for an advanced copy. All opinions expressed are my own.
T-Minus
By: Shannon Greenland
*REVIEW*
If you read T-Minus, a suspension of disbelief is required because it’s improbable without it. A TIA (teen CIA) group go rouge and save the world??
So, accepting the narrative at face value, meet Sophie Washington, daughter of the first female POTUS. Sophie wakes to a credible threat against her mother and protocols that require separation of family members for safety. Sophie learns her brother has actually been kidnapped. She eludes her protection detail so that she and her friends can solve this puzzle before time runs out. There is action aplenty in this story. It’s a non stop situation. Because of the before mentioned training, these teens have skills and abilities to access what they need and fend off attackers. Sophie is a strong, intelligent, female lead, and that’s inspiring for girls. She is fierce and loyal. Her friends are the kind everyone wants because they are a solid group right in the action with Sophie regardless of the danger. It’s a ticking clock situation which makes the entire story more compelling and intense. The thrill is the ever present what if time runs out scenario. Sophie finds out a lot of information she didn’t previously know, including details about past events. It’s a game of secrets and lies. Who can she trust? Let’s hope, for her family’s sake, that Sophie is successful. If she fails, what becomes of them? Of her? This story is definitely great for a teen audience, and adults who love YA. Just don’t think about the logistics, and enjoy the entertainment value and thrilling aspects of the story instead. The countdown is on!
When I read the blurb of T-Minus, my attention was caught. It reminded me of 24 Hours. Since I was a fan of that show, I knew that I needed to read this book. I am glad I did!! T-Minus was a fast, explosive read that I got lost in.
T-Minus is the story of Sophie Washington. Sophie is the teenage daughter of the first POTUS. One night, she is woken up by her Secret Service agent with the news that the President and her family are the targets of a domestic terrorist attack. They are to be separated and taken to different safe houses. Sophie finds out that this terrorist cell has people who infiltrated the White House. Not trusting anyone, Sophie turns to the only other people she can trust, her friends from a CIA training camp for teens. Sophie has 24 hours to find out who is behind the attacks on her family and bring them down. But that is easier said than done when she doesn’t know who to trust.
I couldn’t believe the fast pace of T-Minus. Right from page one, the book was go-go-go. The author did a fantastic job of keeping the speed of the plotline as fast as she did. But, there were times when it faltered. Mainly during the flashbacks. If the author placed the flashback at the beginning of the book (like headers) or even had dedicated mini-chapters to them, I would have been fine. But to have a scene interrupted by Sophie remembering various people, drove me nuts.
I liked Sophie. I liked that the author showed how stifling being a child of the POTUS could be. I couldn’t imagine having Secret Service tailing me everywhere. I also thought that she was strong: mentally and physically. I would have lost it after what happened to her brother. But she didn’t allow herself time to dwell on it. Instead, she turned all her feelings into anger, and that powered her through the rest of the book. I also liked that she was also a normal teenage girl. She had crushes, fought with her parents, and did crazy teenage stuff with her friends. Of course, all that was told in flashbacks but still. It was nice to see glimpses of what she could be like during the book.
The mystery of who was behind the terrorist attacks was wonderfully written. The author was able to make me think it was several people, including Sophie’s father. There were several twists in the plot that took me by surprise. But it was the one at the end that made my jaw drop. I couldn’t believe who it was.
The end of T-Minus was unbelievable. The author wrapped up all the plotlines except one, which makes me wonder if there will be a book 2.
A fast-paced thriller that will always leave you wondering what happens next. Totally unpredictable.