THE LOWDOWN:
Anthony Dimair isn’t your average teenager. Anthony Dimair doesn’t have your average teenage problems. Unfortunately, Anthony Dimair doesn’t know that yet.
By most accounts Anthony’s been a pretty normal kid his whole life. When he starts what should be a normal year of high school, he suddenly begins to change. There’s something dark buried deep inside him, but it wants to get out.
As people start disappearing and unknown assailants start following him, Anthony turns to his Uncle for answers. With only the help of his friends he sets off on a quest to discover the truth. But discovering the truth may very well get him killed.
Follow Anthony on an epic adventure as he races against time and the darkness inside him. Will he survive to find out the truth? Or will he get himself and his friends killed in the process?
FIRST IMPRESSION:
“Careful with that,” demanded a scraggly gray haired man in a white lab coat.
Hanson nodded grumpily before sitting the cardboard box on the table. He pulled a small beige handled knife from his pocket and gently broke the seal. As he folded the box back the man slapped at his hand and shooed him away.
“We’ll take it from here. Go and bring us another subject.” He spat.
—ARC paperback edition
SNAPSHOT:
Clearly a labor of love, Anthony’s story sticks to the general rules one would expect from the synopsis. Fans of 80s kid-ensemble stories, such as Goonies, may enjoy the “let’s go on an adventure” spirit. However, none of the cast reaches their full potential, instead remaining clichés armed with indistinguishable voices and personalities better suited to after-school cartoons. The same can be said of the plot, which never veers from the well-trodden trope paths laid down by decades of novels, comics, and movies before it.
The dramatic reveal of Anthony’s true nature comes at the 11th hour—when even the newest paranormal YA reader will have already figured out the twists. In general, this one reads like a prequel to a more interesting later story, one more mature and filled with dark purpose.
Perhaps the hardest part for anyone picking up Anthony’s story will be the writing. Basic spelling, grammar, and punctuation are ignored from page one. Story structure is significantly lacking. Dialogue is stilted and filled with exposition.
The author has a small fanbase dedicated to putting this story into the hands of readers. However, it would do Anthony and the author both well to direct that energy at a professional technical and content editor first instead.
Appropriate for ages 13+. Some intense situations, scenes of violence and torture, latent racism and sexism.
Deals with identity, coming of age, government conspiracies, and the horror of scientific testing done to humanoid subjects.
GET IT ON YOUR SHELF:
If you…
– Enjoy reading a writer’s early self-published works
– Are a fan of action-adventure comic books
THE ESSENTIALS:
Paranormal YA
Paperback & Ebook, 242 pages
Published November 22, 2012 by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (ISBN 1469908875)
(Review copy provided by Melissa Garofano.)