4 out of 5 stars. Like Numbers, the characterization is excellent, but for me... the scenery and events lacked visual details. Please click Show/Hide to see my review...
It is 2026. Jem died of cancer leaving her teen son, Adam, to be raised by Nan. He has inherited his mother's gift of numbers, which she lost during pregnancy. When he looks into someone's eyes he sees the date of their death. He also experiences visual flashes and traumatic emotions. He journals the details including names, dates, places and circumstances. He hopes this exercise will relieve his anxieties, but it does little to soothe him. Similar to Jem, Adam is unable to see his own number. This is a constant stress for him, since he is continually haunted by death. His anger issues are understandable. His personality can best be described as 'defiant'.
He and his great grandmother are forced to flee their coastal home due to flooding. On the train to London he realizes many passengers have the same number, 1/1/2027.
Fifteen year old Sarah enters the story. As her father drops her off at school, he reprimands her for being a truant troublemaker. He drives off in their posh, gas guzzling car. Sarah's introduction to Adam (her classmate), who she perceives as the devil, is quite dramatic. Apparently she's had recurring nightmares about Adam, whom appears to be incinerating her baby. My first thought was 'Don't have a baby ? '.
Adam loves his Nam, but they have a strained relationship. He is angry and resentful and misses his mother. Adam learned to keep his ability secret after he unknowingly blurted out his mother's numbers as a child. He vowed not to share anyone's date and hid his gift from everyone including his great grandmother. Nan informs Adam she knows about the numbers. She gives him a letter, left by his mother, which reads “London isn't safe. 01/01/2027.” “Don't go to London”. Angry that she has brought him to London, he has a temper tantrum and takes off. Nan reports him missing. It doesn't take long for the police to find him. They microchip him and return him home
This is the future of 'Big Brother', where everyone is micro-chipped like dogs. The invasive government portrayed in this novel feels very realistic and frightening. Everyone at Adam's school is given a palm net, similar to a tablet with apps. It would be awesome if books were installed on a portable device and heavy text books no longer had to be lugged about. Unfortunately the palm devices serve the ulterior purpose of tracking everyone. There are also Mp5 players (lol). There is no mention of a reliable alternative energy source. The electricity in London powers off several hours during the evenings. There are still no flying cars...
It is soon revealed that Sarah's baby has already been conceived, and it wasn't a moment of teenage passion. She was raped by her own father. She is starting to show and plans to run away. As Sarah observes Adam from afar, she realizes he is hot ('beautiful' was the specific wording used in the book), and convinces herself he is not her hideously scarred nightmare boy. Before she begins her journey she shares a 'moment' with Adam during art class.
After meeting some seedy people, Sarah is introduced to Vinny (a nice drug addict... yes they do exist). He invites her to live at his squat. She worries he has an ulterior motive, but he is simply empathic to her situation because his own sister died from a botched abortion.
Concerned by her absence from school, Adam visits Sarah's home. He soon discovers her father is a sleazy, mental, nutcase who admits Sarah has left home.
Adam has ongoing issues with Junior, a bully from school. Junior and his pals swipe his book. He ends up in the office where school faculty demands the book. Adam grabs the book and makes a break for it. The book is protected but he is suspended for six weeks giving him an abundance of free time.
Sarah gives birth to Mia on her own in a bathroom. The delivery could have been a little more drawn out, more exciting, more realistic...
Eventually Adam gets the face of Sarah's nightmare. The details were a bit vague. He has a fight with Junior. Adam falls on a fire, and burns up half his face. Junior either falls on the knife or the guy trying to end the fight accidentally stab hims... Nevertheless a sharp object is involved and Junior dies, just as Adam predicted he would.
Nan seemed a bit selfish relocating them to London, but she soon announces she believes Adam has a purpose in London as a prophet. Adam is inspired to prevent the events of 1/1/2027. Norman, his buddy from school, shows him a website where someone has painted a mural with their depiction of what will happen on this day. Adam travels to the mural and discovers Sarah is the artist. After giving him a nice gash on his head, she reluctantly invites him inside. He reveals his gift for numbers. He meets Mia. Her date is 1/1/2027.
Sarah was forced to take Mia to the hospital when she developed an infection at the site of the umbilical cord. She was abruptly micro-chipped. Sarah used a false name at the hospital, but this does little to prevent them from locating her. Cameras tracking microchips are placed everywhere. The social worker is not impressed by their living conditions and threatens to return at a later date. After she sees Vinny and his pals geared up to do a batch of drugs, Vinny is arrested and Mia is taken away.
With nowhere left to go, Sarah ends up at Nan's house. Adam is subsequently arrested for Junior's death. He left behind too many suspicious appearing records of Junior's death date on his dad's laptop, his palm net, etc...
On 1/1/2027 Adam is enroute to a different facility. Desperate to protect Sarah and save Mia, he attempts to escape. He slugs his guard. Suddenly London is struck by the 'disaster', ripping the van off the road. The aftermath of the disaster was painted well, but I am unclear on the exact cause. As the pace of the book sped up, so did my reading, so I may have missed something... I assumed it was the shifting of tectonic plates (a possibility mentioned earlier) Earthquakes led to flooding and fires. The mention of rockets was a bit confusing, but I ascertained those were part of the New Years celebration and not bombs.
Everything is chaos. The entire city has literally been torn apart. The guards from the van are dead and there is no one to heed Adam's escape. He manages to reach Nan's house only to discover it has been flattened. A neighbor informs him Nan and Sarah left the house alive. Using deductive reasoning he figures Mia is at her grandparents so he heads there. Everything happens the way Sarah visualized it in her dreams except Mia makes it out of the burning house alive. When Adam looks into her eyes he realizes her numbers have changed to Nan's, 2/20/2054. Nan's body isn't discovered, but she is apparantly dead since her number has been 'stolen'.
There is a short preview for the next story. I am unsure about the premise. Sarah appears manically happy that Mia can have anyone's number and could potentially live 'forever'... I got a sort of Rosemary's Baby, Damien the Omen vibe lol. Is she going to age or become immortal like Dr. Who's Captain Jack or the Face of Boe ? Hopefully it will make sense. I will miss Nan's character.
He and his great grandmother are forced to flee their coastal home due to flooding. On the train to London he realizes many passengers have the same number, 1/1/2027.
Fifteen year old Sarah enters the story. As her father drops her off at school, he reprimands her for being a truant troublemaker. He drives off in their posh, gas guzzling car. Sarah's introduction to Adam (her classmate), who she perceives as the devil, is quite dramatic. Apparently she's had recurring nightmares about Adam, whom appears to be incinerating her baby. My first thought was 'Don't have a baby ? '.
Adam loves his Nam, but they have a strained relationship. He is angry and resentful and misses his mother. Adam learned to keep his ability secret after he unknowingly blurted out his mother's numbers as a child. He vowed not to share anyone's date and hid his gift from everyone including his great grandmother. Nan informs Adam she knows about the numbers. She gives him a letter, left by his mother, which reads “London isn't safe. 01/01/2027.” “Don't go to London”. Angry that she has brought him to London, he has a temper tantrum and takes off. Nan reports him missing. It doesn't take long for the police to find him. They microchip him and return him home
This is the future of 'Big Brother', where everyone is micro-chipped like dogs. The invasive government portrayed in this novel feels very realistic and frightening. Everyone at Adam's school is given a palm net, similar to a tablet with apps. It would be awesome if books were installed on a portable device and heavy text books no longer had to be lugged about. Unfortunately the palm devices serve the ulterior purpose of tracking everyone. There are also Mp5 players (lol). There is no mention of a reliable alternative energy source. The electricity in London powers off several hours during the evenings. There are still no flying cars...
It is soon revealed that Sarah's baby has already been conceived, and it wasn't a moment of teenage passion. She was raped by her own father. She is starting to show and plans to run away. As Sarah observes Adam from afar, she realizes he is hot ('beautiful' was the specific wording used in the book), and convinces herself he is not her hideously scarred nightmare boy. Before she begins her journey she shares a 'moment' with Adam during art class.
After meeting some seedy people, Sarah is introduced to Vinny (a nice drug addict... yes they do exist). He invites her to live at his squat. She worries he has an ulterior motive, but he is simply empathic to her situation because his own sister died from a botched abortion.
Concerned by her absence from school, Adam visits Sarah's home. He soon discovers her father is a sleazy, mental, nutcase who admits Sarah has left home.
Adam has ongoing issues with Junior, a bully from school. Junior and his pals swipe his book. He ends up in the office where school faculty demands the book. Adam grabs the book and makes a break for it. The book is protected but he is suspended for six weeks giving him an abundance of free time.
Sarah gives birth to Mia on her own in a bathroom. The delivery could have been a little more drawn out, more exciting, more realistic...
Eventually Adam gets the face of Sarah's nightmare. The details were a bit vague. He has a fight with Junior. Adam falls on a fire, and burns up half his face. Junior either falls on the knife or the guy trying to end the fight accidentally stab hims... Nevertheless a sharp object is involved and Junior dies, just as Adam predicted he would.
Nan seemed a bit selfish relocating them to London, but she soon announces she believes Adam has a purpose in London as a prophet. Adam is inspired to prevent the events of 1/1/2027. Norman, his buddy from school, shows him a website where someone has painted a mural with their depiction of what will happen on this day. Adam travels to the mural and discovers Sarah is the artist. After giving him a nice gash on his head, she reluctantly invites him inside. He reveals his gift for numbers. He meets Mia. Her date is 1/1/2027.
Sarah was forced to take Mia to the hospital when she developed an infection at the site of the umbilical cord. She was abruptly micro-chipped. Sarah used a false name at the hospital, but this does little to prevent them from locating her. Cameras tracking microchips are placed everywhere. The social worker is not impressed by their living conditions and threatens to return at a later date. After she sees Vinny and his pals geared up to do a batch of drugs, Vinny is arrested and Mia is taken away.
With nowhere left to go, Sarah ends up at Nan's house. Adam is subsequently arrested for Junior's death. He left behind too many suspicious appearing records of Junior's death date on his dad's laptop, his palm net, etc...
On 1/1/2027 Adam is enroute to a different facility. Desperate to protect Sarah and save Mia, he attempts to escape. He slugs his guard. Suddenly London is struck by the 'disaster', ripping the van off the road. The aftermath of the disaster was painted well, but I am unclear on the exact cause. As the pace of the book sped up, so did my reading, so I may have missed something... I assumed it was the shifting of tectonic plates (a possibility mentioned earlier) Earthquakes led to flooding and fires. The mention of rockets was a bit confusing, but I ascertained those were part of the New Years celebration and not bombs.
Everything is chaos. The entire city has literally been torn apart. The guards from the van are dead and there is no one to heed Adam's escape. He manages to reach Nan's house only to discover it has been flattened. A neighbor informs him Nan and Sarah left the house alive. Using deductive reasoning he figures Mia is at her grandparents so he heads there. Everything happens the way Sarah visualized it in her dreams except Mia makes it out of the burning house alive. When Adam looks into her eyes he realizes her numbers have changed to Nan's, 2/20/2054. Nan's body isn't discovered, but she is apparantly dead since her number has been 'stolen'.
There is a short preview for the next story. I am unsure about the premise. Sarah appears manically happy that Mia can have anyone's number and could potentially live 'forever'... I got a sort of Rosemary's Baby, Damien the Omen vibe lol. Is she going to age or become immortal like Dr. Who's Captain Jack or the Face of Boe ? Hopefully it will make sense. I will miss Nan's character.
No comments:
Post a Comment