It was a typical day at high school for Adam Daley. Driving his old 70s Omega to school, his thoughts were on trying to get his best friend to pass a class and mindlessly crushing Lori, who barely knows him. But something that happens today will change his life altogether...
When the electricity goes out, no one really thinks much about it. It's a little weird their cell phones don't work but everyone excuses it away as a fluke. When everyone is dismissed for the day, the only person driving out of the parking lot is Adam. As the day goes on, Adam and his friends notice the little things making it even more complex and not quite right, leaving them with that doubt of fear in their minds.
After getting home with his little brother and sister, his thoughts automatically go to his parents. His father is in Chicago and Adam isn't sure whether he's alive or dead. His mother, the chief of police in town, hasn't returned from work yet. But after getting back to the safety of home, he feels safer. Everything seems normal with people cooking out and everyone hanging out in their front yards. Adam still feels off-kilter though, especially when his neighbor Herb asks him to take him to the pool supply shop to buy chlorine tabs when he doesn't even own a pool...it is also the day when Adam realizes the danger in this whole situation with panic slowly building....
Day Two brings on more chaos with people storming the grocery store and mild chaos beginning to read its ugly head. Day Three becomes even more dangerous...
Now Adam, his family, Herb and others need to protect their neighborhood in order to survive. No one knows when the end to this will happen, but they not only need to prepare for the inevitable, but need to keep others from taking it away from them. It becomes a strategic battle, and Adam becomes not only a player, but a pawn in this game of survival. Keeping chaos and bullies out using walls and patrols is easy...it's the ones on the inside that may be their downfall...
I'll admit, I picked up this book because the cover and caption drew my eye to it. After reading the first part of the book, I was hooked. This isn't Walters first book by any means. He's a prolific YA author, but this is by far my most favorite. His characters are the strong point. The reader gets to know them, but also knows there are things that aren't being shown. The main characters, Herb and Adam, are ones that Walters deliberately builds slowly, opening layers to create curiosity and keep the pages turning.
There are several things about this dystopia book that sets it apart from others. Firstly, the main character is a teen guy who doesn't have a female counterpart to effectively brave the storm, so to speak. Adam is independent and his focus is on keeping everyone safe, not just his immediate family. Secondly, the relationships between adults and teens in this novel is what makes the plot fluid, but also thickens it as well. It shows the strength of teens in a world gone wrong, but also their weaknesses. Adam's evolution into a more mature person is only one of the many we get to know. Lastly, the reader is invited to the beginning of the end. While most dystopia take place during or trying to living in a stronghold of a dystopia society, Walters puts his right smack in the front of the entire chaotic world that is slowly falling apart. I also got confirmation after tweeting with the author...he's working on a sequel!
Perfect for readers of both genders, I highly recommend this for JH/HS.
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