Infected

October 27, 2014
In Littlefield’s (Hanging by a Thread) page-turning thriller, high school seniors and track-and-field stars Carina Monroe and Tanner Sloan are infected with an experimental virus that gives them superhuman strength and endurance. The trouble, however, is that the virus comes with a fatal side effect—after 36 hours, it will begin a gruesome and irreversible attack on their nervous systems. Carina and Tanner race to find the antidote and, along the way, discover the secrets that Carina’s deceased mother and uncle were keeping about their scientific research. Pursued by stereotypical foreign gangsters, they also have to reckon with Carina’s menacing legal guardian, whom her uncle warned her against. Though derivative in its plot and occasionally cheesy (Tanner’s advantages over the villain include “heart, and courage—and love”), Littlefield’s novel serves up plenty of twists and exciting action sequences, as well as disturbing set-pieces like the video Carina and Tanner find of a man dying from the virus, which raises the stakes for them. Ages 12–up. Agent: Barbara Poelle, Irene Goodman Literary Agency.

October 15, 2014
This is a tale with all the elements popular in this phase of 21st-century teen lit, ranging from first (but oh-so-true) love to Eastern European bad guys to the age-old supermensch.Orphaned Carina Monroe loses her uncle in an apparent auto accident. Now she only has Tanner, whom she will lose all too soon to Berkley in September. Morose, disoriented, now under the thumb of her uncle's co-worker Sheila, Carina attends his memorial service surrounded by security agents who want to restrict her movements and her privacy. She learns from Sheila that her life is in danger, and if she wants to survive, she has to trust Sheila. Instead, Carina takes to her heels with only Tanner for support. Together and on the run, they follow clues her uncle left trying to guide them to safety, but they only find themselves deeper in danger. They also find that their senses and abilities are changing, giving them skills they never had before. They've been infected, and if they don't find the antidote fast, they're going to die horrible deaths-if the bad guys don't kill them first. There's little new here, from the plot to the characters-even Tanner's hunky frame and "cobalt-blue eyes" are tired cliches. Meant to be a fast-paced teen thriller, this instead is a derivative novel that is readable but all-too-familiar. (Thriller. 14-18)

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March 1, 2015

Gr 7 Up-Seventeen-year-old Carina knows too well the pain of loss. A year ago, her mother committed suicide, and since then the teen has lived with her Uncle Walter. The book opens with Walter's memorial service after a fatal car crash. Sheila, another scientist from the Calaveras National Laboratory, where Walter and her mother worked, has taken her in. Carina discovers a secret letter from her uncle that reveals Sheila's sinister motives. She also learns of a hidden apartment containing his research. The teen and her boyfriend decide to pursue the clues Walter has left them to find out about the mysterious Project Venice. The two run away only to be hotly pursued by security guards. Project Venice, they learn, has nothing to do with its official description (nutrition) but instead deals with a synthetic virus that can improve the performance of U.S. soldiers on the battlefield. This highly classified virus can temporarily increase strength, mental processing, speed, and sensory perception. After 36 hours, however, if a soldier who has been exposed to the virus does not get the antidote, he will die violently. The duo realizes that they, too, have somehow become infected. Hunted down by different parties, they try every means of escape, including jumping off buildings, scaling fences, shooting darts, and hiding in sewer pipes. Time is not on their side as the 36th hour is fast approaching. Littlefield has written a heart-stopping adventure about a future in which science has become humanity's enemy. VERDICT A thrilling read for those who enjoy mysteries, strong female protagonists, and a smattering of math and science references in their YA lit.-Lillian Hecker, Town of Pelham Public Library, NY

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2014
Grades 8-12 High-school senior Carina is slammed with loss. First her mother, Madelyn, committed suicide, and now her guardian, Uncle Walter, has been killed in a car accident. At the time of their deaths, both Madelyn and Walter were working on a secret project: a virus that causes nearly superhuman abilities but also brings death in 24 hours unless an antidote is administered. Now, even more trouble: Carina and her boyfriend, Tanner, have both been injected with the virus and are on the run, and the only person with the antidote has men trying to kill them. Nail-biting action with a scientifically and technologically involved plotline gives this novel an edge, and, moreover, the character development is surprisingly rich given the fast pace of the narrative. The weight of the themes also keeps the story from reading like a movie script. Red herrings keep the reader guessing until the end. Hard to put down.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)