December 24, 2012
Stylish, frenetic, and violent, Chapman’s debut is the textual equivalent of a Quentin Tarantino movie. The star is West Grayer, the 15-year-old sole survivor of what was once a family of six. Her mother became collateral damage in a state-sanctioned assassination; her father committed suicide; two siblings were also assassination targets; and the third was another collateral victim. This is all fairly normal, because West lives in an assassination-based society where children are bred in pairs, but raised separately. When the state decides it’s time—anywhere between ages 10 and 20—the twins are notified, and a lethal game of hide-and-seek begins, with the winner awarded the privileges of living and breeding. It’s how the state creates a defense-ready population. Parents scarcely object: one mother says to a targeted teen, “his is not the time to be testing my patience,” as though imminent death were roughly on par with breaking curfew. The brutality is no worse than in The Hunger Games or dozens of other entertainment options, but the societal nonchalance that surrounds it makes for a dismal setting. Ages 12–up. Agent: Steven Chudney, the Chudney Agency.
January 1, 2013
Violent teen dystopias are nothing new, but this debut, in which every character is or soon will be a killer, kicks it up a notch. Ever since a vaccine gone wrong rendered the population sterile, humans have been bioengineered. In the well-fortified city-state of Kersh, the ruling Board creates a genetic double (Alt) for every newborn; they are raised in separate families. Sometime between the ages of 10 and 20, each Alt is "assigned" without notice to kill the other within 30 days; if neither succeeds, the Board terminates both. (The rationale--breeding a population of soldiers to repel invasion--makes little sense.) Successful killers ("completes") move on guilt-free to better food, schools, marriages and careers. When their friend Chord gets his assignment, Luc's efforts to keep his sister, West, from involving herself end disastrously. Remorseful, West takes up contract killing. Fighting back, overthrowing the Board or sabotaging the system never occur to her, even as a fantasy. A few characters condemn class privilege (rich Alts can afford better training and hired killers) but rebel, puzzlingly, by becoming hired killers themselves. No one finds the price of safety too high to accept. Readers untroubled by brutal, compassion-free violence will find plenty to admire in Chapman's gamer pacing, clever suspense--here, stalking is a two-way street--and fast-mounting body count. (Dystopian adventure. 12 & up)
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July 1, 2013
Just after suffering a huge blow to her confidence, West is given the standard one month to find and kill her Alt, her genetic double, to prove that she's the better version. Before the month passes, West must prove to herself that she deserves to survive. There's action and romance aplenty, but West's journey of self-discovery is the real compelling narrative.
(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)