Dead Zone

Reviewed by: William Brown - Falmouth Memorial Library, Falmouth, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: December 9, 2014

Review

Dead Zone is the Sequel to Blackout, a story about teens who develop supernatural powers. Our main character, Aubrey, has the ability to make others not notice her, a power much like invisibility, if with a few quirks. In this installment Aubrey and her friends have joined the US Military to help the country as it is assailed by terrorist acts from superpowered teens.

This book sees the acts of terrorism rise into outright war as Russia invades Alaska and begins to crush the US Military response with the abilities of superpowered teens on their own. It's a good and compelling story that follows the original characters throughout the conflict. The atmosphere remains a bit more rigid and militaristic throughout compared to the first book. The writing for the protaganists is well done, but the story feels a little lacking as the entire Russian offensive relies on the powers of two teens. While this gives good reason for the antagonizing teens to be detailed as characters, they also seem to steal too much of the focus for events on that side. I think this story could have been improved by splitting this book into two, and really giving more time adding detail and focus to the other Russian superteens and involving them in a larger part of this stage of the war.

Still, it was an entertaining and compelling read. If you have teen fans of military action and war, or kids with superpowers, this is a good read. An excellent choice for fans of the Fifth Wave.

Overall Book Score: very good