Published: May 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Format: Hardback, 485 pages
First Reviewed: March 2011
Buy: Barnes & Noble//Books-A-Million//Amazon//Book Depository
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Bioterrorists watch and wait--ready to fuel another nightmare.
ShadowStrike poisoned the water of Trinity Falls two months ago. Now the Trinity Four, the teens most affected by the poison, have been isolated in a remote mansion, under twenty-four-hour medical care while scientists on four continents rush to discover a cure. Meanwhile, U.S. operatives scour the world for the bioterrorists responsible for this heinous crime, as two teen virtual spies, also infected, hunt for the criminals on the Internet. The danger remains real—for ShadowStrike has every reason to pursue the Trinity Four, and their evil plan will unleash a new designer virus that’s even deadlier than the first.
Rating: 2/5
Okay, so, this is actually the book I was drawn to, not Streams of Babel, considering it wasn't even in the store and I'd had to order it. Anyway, I loved the description of it, but after reading the first book, I wasn't overly excited to jump into this.
In all honesty, my first thought when I cracked open this book was, Dang, they must of used a whole tree on this mug! The pages are way thick. I kept thinking I was turning two pages. Pet peeve, that's all. Moving on...
I will say that I liked this book a little more than Streams of Babel, but still it was just okay for me. What I was missing most (that I was also missing from the first book) is the intensity. Novels dealing with terrorism should be intense, in my opinion, and considering this is also in multiple points of view, there should have been a great level of intensity. And some points, Plum-Ucci tried to give it some, but I don't think it really paid off.
For the most part, I felt as though I was just reading a story because I had to and I wasn't too invested in the characters or the plot. It was interesting and again I applaud Plum-Ucci for tackling this premise, but I think she could have given so much more.
As for the characters, there were some I felt were more compelling in this book than the last, but also characters that were even duller than they had been in the first book. Some voices were more distinct, while some still sounded the same.
It also reminded me of something I was missing immensely in the first book (and in this book, though it was more noticeable this time around): Relationships. I've never felt any strong relationships between any of the characters. And by that I don't necessarily mean romantic ones, considering there are friends and family as well. I felt that would have made a world of difference with this book.
Lastly, the plot was still just okay. Like I said, I was missing the intensity, but I also feel like Plum-Ucci spent too much time on the illnesses rather than what's really happening with the terrorism. Overall, it was just okay. Not great, not bad, just a decent read.
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