Gone at Zero Hundred 00:00

Very Good Story, Very Well Written, Definitely Recommended, Well Edited in 1 reviews.

Ian Miller : With the caveat that it is some time since I could be described as young, this book fits nicely into what I think a YA book should be. It is written first person from the viewpoint of Sydney McSwain, an eighteen-year-old, whose mother, a PI, is murdered. To earn something, Sydney and Cody Beck, who had worked for some time with Syd's mother, take over the firm, intending to survive financially on some routine surveillance. Somehow, they fail to realize that one reason why Syd's mother may have been murdered is that one of her investigations was coming up against serious badness, and before long Syd becomes ever increasingly drawn into something that is escalating rapidly. Nevertheless, as Syd describes herself, she is relentless, and we have a well-paced action/mystery that draws the reader in.

The characters seem well-drawn and with the caveat above, the author seems to capture youth nicely. What I particularly liked is that Syd's adventures are all plausible with no unrealistic heroics, and the story progresses logically, at sufficient pace and with sufficient introduction of fresh material that the tension is maintained throughout. The story is well constructed, except perhaps at the end, which is more a teaser for further books. There are, however, occasional lapses of proofreading, e.g. "but what you did what still stupid". Presumably the second "what" should be "was". The story has some nice clues embedded that might draw in the perceptive reader, except that the occasional clanger spoils them. For example, Sydney is attacked and she hit the man with a swing of her backpack. Poor tactic, because a little earlier said backpack was locked in the boot of a car for safekeeping. At one stage, Sydney is hiding against a wall when four shots are fired. Two kill the person she came to meet, but later she is told two narrowly missed her. Sorry, but I assure the author, if a bullet narrowly misses you and hits something immediately behind you, you know about it. Nevertheless, these sort of things are picky, and my overall view is that this is a well-produced and eminently enjoyable YA book, and for that audience, I recommend it strongly.

Ian Miller Author of Troubles.