Thirteen

April 6, 2015
As a baby, Adam was almost killed by a sword-wielding member of a cult known as the People; 13 years later—it’s now 2013—they’ve tracked him down once again. The People are led by the merciless Lord Coron, who is determined to kill the 13 boys born at midnight on Jan. 1, 2000, before they turn 14; he’s already murdered 12 of them. In an isolated schoolhouse, Lord Coron manipulates his followers into believing that once Adam is dead, the “Reign of the People” can begin. After the People injure Adam’s adoptive parents and capture his childhood friend turned romantic interest, Adam and a boy who escaped the cult attempt to stop the People before they destroy London. Hoyle’s fast-paced first novel is light on character development, and the dialogue is somewhat wooden, but the omniscient narration (Adam’s adoptive parents “did not know that Adam was a millennium baby. They did not know that his death was being planned”) keeps suspense high. The ending is left unresolved, paving the way for a sequel. Ages 12–up. Agent: Gillie Russell, Aitken Alexander Associates.

March 1, 2015
Only one boy has the power to stop a dangerous cult from wreaking havoc in the city of London.Adam leads the boring life of an average 13-year-old-hanging out with friends, going to school, and attending the occasional music festival. But then his life is turned upside down when members of a cult convinced that he must die before he reaches his 14th birthday begin to stage attacks. He manages to escape their clutches but at the same time puts everyone he cares about in danger. Cults are not yet an overdone topic in literature for teens, and a refreshing plot element is always welcome. However, these characters are too underdeveloped to present any real tension, even as lives hang in the balance. Adam's personality does not stretch beyond the thoughts and actions he needs to defend himself, and too rarely does he question the weirdness of his life, leaving him resistant to readers' sympathy. The bad guys are nearly comical in their attachment to cliche and weak threats: "People are going to get hurt if you don't get into that car right now." The easy language and simple sentences feel more appropriate for an audience younger than 12 than for teen readers. In a market saturated with tales of danger and heroic teens, this one is best left at the Tube station. (Thriller. 10-12)

February 1, 2015

Gr 7 Up-In this dark thriller by a first-time British author, a sadistic self-appointed messiah leads his brainwashed cult in murdering boys born on New Year's Day of 2000. Now 2013, only a few remain, including protagonist Adam, who runs, fights, and kills for his life, aided by his love interest and neighbor, Megan. Interspersed with Adam's action-packed running around are various scenes of gruesome murders, torture, and cinematically threatening posturing by the cultist leader, Coron, and his fit teenage disciples. Hoyle removes Coron's mystique fairly early by explaining that the "Master" he serves is merely a "shadowy production, a sort of echo, in Coron's sick mind." He also ends the novel with a list of real-life cults gone bad. Descriptive passages ("Gasoline was spilled carefully, thoughtfully, arteries linking to veins") and well-formed chapters, which almost all end in dramatic single-sentence cliff-hangers, keep this work thrilling, if readers can keep track of the very large cast of dispensable bad guys. VERDICT Though characterization and dialogue are a bit weak, this gruesome survival story will most likely garner a readership among violence-craving, action-loving anglophiles.-Rhona Campbell, Georgetown Day School, Washington, DC

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2015
Thirteen-year-old Adam is relentlessly pursued by a maniacal cult leader whose goal is to sacrifice Adam to an imaginary "master" before Adam's fourteenth birthday. The book has an engaging beginning but becomes tiresome as Adam and his friend Megan experience ordeal after ordeal. Overall it's an imaginative thriller full of violence and action, even if the young protagonist's sophisticated exploits strain credulity.

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)