With the launch of Altered Perceptions in behalf of Robison Wells and awarness of mental illness as a whole the obvious choice for me to get this month was his latest book, Blackout. I enjoyed his first two books published by Harper Teen, Variant and Feedback and I find him one of the few writers that can write realistic teen characters. Blackout was tense and suspenseful, punctuated with brief instances of seer terror - kind of like how combat has been described. And that is what life in Blackout is like. Rob does a great job giving us a peek into what would happen if order came to an end. Here is the link to the Audible page for the book. It was narrated by Ray Porter who did a good job except in his pronunciations of certain small towns in Utah - Manti ("Man`-Tie" not "Man-tee") at the top of the list. And I hate to say this, but Robison Wells, why do you love cliff hangers so?
Plot: Many people think that there isn't much going on in central Utah. But something terrible is. There and all over the country. Terrorist of some kind are systematically dismantling the countries ability to function. Dams, power stations, transportation, government, and military are all targets. They even turn Old Faithful into a pile of rumble. Nothing is sacred. In one case a whole city is brought to its knees and then kicked as it fights for life. There doesn't appear to much of a reason. No demands. No ultimatum. No contact with the terrorist whatsoever. The only thing in common with these attacks is that people causing all of this destruction and chaos are between the ages of 16 and 21. What's more, it appears they have abilities that empower them to do incredible things. And it turns out that they are contagious. Mount Pleasant, UT. Aubrey only wanted to have friends and instead she got invisibility. Or rather she got ambiguity. People ignore her when she wants them to. They don't hear her, they don't see her, if she touches them they don't associate it with her. As it turns out she's not the only one who can do incredible things. Unfortunately the next one she see is killed by the army at the Home Coming dance, right before all of the kids in town are herded onto buses and placed into quarantine. It is there that she learns about the teenage terrorist and that the army intends to fight fire with fire. At the same time, one of the most destructive terrorist cells in the country is in Utah and won't be leaving soon.
My personal favorites: Like Variant and Feedback, Blackout keeps you in suspense but in different ways. Rob lets you see the enemies movements and get an idea of what they are thinking without detracting from the story of our young heroes. The action was realistic and intense and the suspense was well done. I liked the characters and we learned and grew with them. I like the way that Rob portrays teenagers and personally feel that he does a great job of it. I also liked the tour through south and central Utah. I knew where the majority of the towns mentioned were and have even been to most of them. I liked the flow and pacing of the book as well as the way that he made his "powers" unique. I particularly liked the X-men reference, just to distinguish Rob's world from theirs.
Considerations: Despite being a book about terrorist and horrible things happening there is little violence to speak of and none of it graphic. The thought of teens causing such disasters and chaos may be difficult to listen to for some, but the book is very age appropriate. I can't recall a single use of course language and there is no sensuality of any kind. This does not mean the book is devoid of emotion, action, or attraction. Rob does a great job of writing to his audience and entertaining everybody above it. And if you didn't guess from my question to Rob, this book does end in a cliffhanger. Not quite as bad as Variant but still a significant one. I just have to say he better be working on the next one.
Blackout was a great listen and is one of the few "end of the world" books that I have read. It was solid and enjoyable. I have no reservations recommending it to anyone interested. The total length was a little under 8 hours.
Plot: Many people think that there isn't much going on in central Utah. But something terrible is. There and all over the country. Terrorist of some kind are systematically dismantling the countries ability to function. Dams, power stations, transportation, government, and military are all targets. They even turn Old Faithful into a pile of rumble. Nothing is sacred. In one case a whole city is brought to its knees and then kicked as it fights for life. There doesn't appear to much of a reason. No demands. No ultimatum. No contact with the terrorist whatsoever. The only thing in common with these attacks is that people causing all of this destruction and chaos are between the ages of 16 and 21. What's more, it appears they have abilities that empower them to do incredible things. And it turns out that they are contagious. Mount Pleasant, UT. Aubrey only wanted to have friends and instead she got invisibility. Or rather she got ambiguity. People ignore her when she wants them to. They don't hear her, they don't see her, if she touches them they don't associate it with her. As it turns out she's not the only one who can do incredible things. Unfortunately the next one she see is killed by the army at the Home Coming dance, right before all of the kids in town are herded onto buses and placed into quarantine. It is there that she learns about the teenage terrorist and that the army intends to fight fire with fire. At the same time, one of the most destructive terrorist cells in the country is in Utah and won't be leaving soon.My personal favorites: Like Variant and Feedback, Blackout keeps you in suspense but in different ways. Rob lets you see the enemies movements and get an idea of what they are thinking without detracting from the story of our young heroes. The action was realistic and intense and the suspense was well done. I liked the characters and we learned and grew with them. I like the way that Rob portrays teenagers and personally feel that he does a great job of it. I also liked the tour through south and central Utah. I knew where the majority of the towns mentioned were and have even been to most of them. I liked the flow and pacing of the book as well as the way that he made his "powers" unique. I particularly liked the X-men reference, just to distinguish Rob's world from theirs.
Considerations: Despite being a book about terrorist and horrible things happening there is little violence to speak of and none of it graphic. The thought of teens causing such disasters and chaos may be difficult to listen to for some, but the book is very age appropriate. I can't recall a single use of course language and there is no sensuality of any kind. This does not mean the book is devoid of emotion, action, or attraction. Rob does a great job of writing to his audience and entertaining everybody above it. And if you didn't guess from my question to Rob, this book does end in a cliffhanger. Not quite as bad as Variant but still a significant one. I just have to say he better be working on the next one.
Blackout was a great listen and is one of the few "end of the world" books that I have read. It was solid and enjoyable. I have no reservations recommending it to anyone interested. The total length was a little under 8 hours.
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