Strangled Silence

February 1, 2015

Gr 10 Up-Originally published in the UK in 2008, McGann's novel sometimes feels dated, but makes for an entertaining pick for mature readers. In her second year at university, Amina Mir lands an internship at the Chronicle. Her mother is a well-known and respected journalist, but Amina intends to make her own way. She expects the internship to start out as making coffee and keeping the copier working. When she is asked to do a human interest story on a veteran who has won the lottery but is not spending any of the money, she is glad just to have received a story assignment. What she does not expect is to find herself in the middle of a huge government conspiracy. Ivor McMorris, the veteran, tries to convince Amina that someone has manipulated his memories of how and why he lost an eye in Sinnostan. Then Chi Sandwith, a conspiracy investigator, gives her even further reason to believe it just might be true. Has Ivor concocted his story of brainwashing or could it really be true? The characters are well developed and believable. Hovering UFOs, a rogue surgeon, and mindwashed schoolchildren are just a few of the pieces that readers will need to put together to figure out what is really going on in this suspenseful tale. Those who are ready to move beyond Gabrielle Lord's "Conspiracy 365" (Kane Miller) series or Anthony Horowitz's Stormbreaker (Philomel, 2001) will enjoy this one. VERDICT This fast-paced and cinematic conspiracy thriller will keep teens' attention.-Deanna McDaniel, Genoa Middle School, OH

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2015
A university student, a vet and a conspiracy theorist unravel a dangerous government plot in a near-future England. In this dystopian London, the endless War for Freedom has led to a gradual erosion of civil rights, with heavily armed police officers and a Military in Schools Scheme that has army officers teaching geography via shoot-'em-up computer games. Amina is on work experience, a junior, coffee-fetching flunky hoping to prove herself as a journalist. A fluffy human-interest story introduces her to Ivor, a paranoid loner, lottery winner and recently injured veteran of the war in Sinnostan (a fictional country vaguely reminiscent of Afghanistan). Amina doesn't want to believe Ivor's tales of false memories and faceless stalkers, but Chi Sandwith, a UFO-obsessed hacker, tracks her down with disturbingly convincing evidence. The trio unearths terrifying evidence of a bizarre scandal involving countless maimed soldiers. In shifting points of view, the prose spoon-feeds details of 20th- and 21st-century geopolitics to readers who lack required context. Ultimately this is an espionage thriller for older teens and adults; the protagonists' concerns (career-building, being thoroughly alone in the world, post-military PTSD) skew the book older. U.S. readers may balk at the recurring use of "oriental," which has less negative connotations in the U.K. than in the States, as well as other stereotypes and slurs sometimes (but not always) spoken by unsavory characters. A good crossover thriller for conspiracy-theory lovers. (Science fiction. 17 & up)

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March 15, 2015
Grades 9-12 Newspaper intern Amina Mir is brilliant, beautiful, and very ambitious. When she is given a story to investigate about a reclusive, young war veteran who is too fearful to spend his recent lottery winnings, she uncovers a much bigger plot of government cover-up. McGann employs a large and diverse group of protagonists, including Tariq, Amina's little brother; Ivor McMorris, the one-eyed war vet; and Chi Sandwith, a wealthy tech geek; to lay out the puzzle pieces, and it's very effective. Rather than splintering characterization, we see each character through multiple lenses. Fans of Cory Doctorow's Little Brother (2008) will appreciate the Orwellian themes and lightning-swift pacing. Small drawings under the chapter numbers foreshadow the story's content and add a note of playfulness. The occasional wry humor leavens what could have become a predictable procedural, and an abrupt ending hints at a sequel. Although set in a future London, Briticisms are minimal, and American readers will be swept into the story with no difficulties of translation.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)