Seven Second Delay

April 27, 2015
Economical, efficient storytelling pays off in this dystopian thriller from Easton (Boys Don't Knit), first published in the U.K. Seventeen-year-old Mila has grown up in the U, a near-future Europe torn apart by war. Mila and Julian, a mysterious "Agent" who teaches Mila survival skills, attempt an escape to the Isles, a refuge of luxury and safety analogous to the United Kingdom. There, Julian is killed, and Mila is captured, facing interrogation and possible deportation. Implanted with a "phone," a device that serves as a communications device and spy camera, Mila is under surveillance; her only chances of remaining undetected are the seven-second delay programmed into her phone and the reluctant sympathy of Adam, the government handler who monitors her desperate flight. The pace is breakneck as Mila faces both brutality and kindness, while contending with government forces indifferent to collateral damage and the suspicion that Julian might be her ultimate betrayer. A somewhat anticlimactic ending either suggests that Mila is resigned to living in a repressive, exploitive society, or serves as a setup for a potential sequel. Ages 12âup. Agent: Claire Wilson, Rogers, Coleridge and White.

February 15, 2015
Fleeing a dystopian future Europe, an undocumented immigrant thwarts overzealous security forces in a seemingly idyllic nation formerly known as England. Mila was born in the U, in the remnants of Eastern Europe. Her home is a morass of civil strife, starvation and industrial projects that strip food and resources from failed states and send them to the lucky residents of the First World. Well-timed, slowly parcelled-out flashbacks introduce the mysterious benefactor who has escorted Mila across Europe, drilling her in English, tech skills and martial arts. That benefactor dies on the perilous last leg of their journey to the Isles-the wealthy nation once known as England. People of the Isles have the right to privacy, but with phones implanted in their brains, most don't bother to exercise that right. Mila is granted a phone-the ultimate goal of anyone who wants the rights of a Citizen-but when the government decides Mila's a liability, the phone's live video Feed makes it impossible for her to disappear. The Feed's seven-second delay is Mila's only advantage. Aided by the kind (if naive) Citizens she encounters, Mila is off on a truly split-second race against murderous xenophobes. American readers will recognize familiar themes and a frighteningly believable dystopia in this European take on comfort, safety and exploitation. Cinematically thrilling, passionately political and primed for a sequel. (Science fiction. 12-15)

February 1, 2015

Gr 8 Up-In a futuristic Europe, Mila and her companion Julian travel illegally to the Isles (England). Everyone in the Isles has a phone implanted in their brains, which connects them to one another and their surroundings, and allows the government to watch their every move. When 17-year-old Mila is captured and labeled a terrorist, she's given such a device, and the government not only watches her, but is chasing after her. Lucky for Mila, the surveillance feed is on a seven second delay, giving her a slight advantage in a race to save her own life. In this science fiction thriller, Easton creates a not-so-distant future where the issues (and controversy) of privacy and security take center stage. Although it moves at breakneck pace, the narrative has noticeable plot holes and weakly developed secondary characters. It is satisfying enough for those who seek a great chase story, as well as readers who enjoyed M.T. Anderson's Feed (Candlewick, 2002) or Neal Shusterman's Unwind (S. & S., 2007). VERDICT Seven Second Delay reads like a summer blockbuster action movie: great violent fight scenes, key character appearances, and a predictable ending.-Stephanie DeVincentis, Downers Grove North High School, IL

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2015
Grades 9-12 Mila must run. Steal a bike, hop a bus, stow away in a cargo truck, whatever. It only matters that she run. She's been captured by government agents while trying to cross the border into the Isles, the last prosperous country in Europe after an unspecified economic and political collapse. Suspected of being a terrorist, she's implanted with a phone through which her minder, Adam, can monitor her every move, but it's on a less than seven-second delay. Tough and resourceful, Mila escapes, fighting and fleeing her way across England, only seven seconds ahead of her pursuers. Mila's world incorporates a number of current issues blown up to gargantuan proportionsthe gap between rich and poor, reliance on social networking, and the conflict between privacy and security. This book's ultrafast pace will probably distract readers from the occasional hastily contrived plot point (such as that seven-second delay). Give this to teens who enjoyed Paolo Bacigalupi's Ship Breaker (2010), Karen Healey's When We Wake (2013), and C. Alex London's Proxy series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)