The Calling

August 4, 2014
Frey and Johnson-Shelton open an ambitious trilogy, designed to play out over multiple media platforms, including mobile games. Ostensibly, it’s about 12 teenage Players, each representing a different bloodline from which all humanity is descended, who have been called together by the arrival of a meteor that signals Endgame—the point at which they must find three keys that will allow only one line to survive an apocalyptic event. As they outwit and outfight one another, they solve riddles and clues designed to help them succeed in their tasks. In addition, readers who solve the enclosed puzzles can compete to locate a (real-life) hidden treasure of gold coins. The premise is engaging, in a Hunger Games–meets–National Treasure sort of way, and the diverse global cast is welcome, but the choppy, disjointed prose (“Nothing happens. The stars are out. They stare. Wait”) quickly wears thin. The narrative shifts frequently among the overlarge cast, and it’s too soon to tell what’s signal and what’s noise in the overabundance of details. Ages 14–up. Agent: Eric Simonoff and Simon Trewin, William Morris Endeavor; David Krintzman, Morris Yorn.

September 1, 2014

Gr 8 Up-Meteors have crashed into the Earth all around the globe, signaling the beginning of Endgame. Twelve teenagers, who have trained all their lives for this moment, must put their knowledge and deadly skills to the test as they play the game set up thousands of years ago. Only one will win Endgame and save their family line from destruction by the Sky People. The losers will be destroyed and the rest of mankind with them. Frey's new teen novel is full of action and adventure. Unfortunately, this takes precedence over other aspects of the novel. There is very little world-building or explanation of Endgame. Instead, the characters know far more than readers, despite the omniscient third-person narrator telling every aspect of the story. And while the 12 protagonists are interesting, they remain two-dimensional. It's doubtful this confusing novel, the first in a series, will collect many fans.-Heather Miller Cover, Homewood Public Library, AL

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2014
A dangerous game begins with players from around the world competing for the future of the human race. Twelve Players, each a descendant of a long line of other, earlier Players, have been activated. They've trained their whole lives in the event that Endgame would begin. The stakes: The winning Player will save his or her bloodline from extinction. The objective: find three keys hidden across the globe and bring them together. The only rule: Find the keys. Everything else is fair game. It's a gimmicky premise, one that dominates the whole book. The plot is paper-thin, and the action is perfunctory at best. All the Players think methodically, constantly moving forward like sharks; this makes for monotonous sections with little to differentiate one Player from another. The standout is Sarah, a teen girl from Omaha, but her defining attributes are an annoying non-Player boyfriend and an inability to choose between him and the hunky Jago, a fellow Player. As a cross between The Hunger Games and Raiders of the Lost Ark, the concept of Endgame has potential-but only that, even after some 450 pages. By the end of the book, several Players have been removed from the field and the authors have established a twist, indicating that this potential may be realized in the forthcoming sequels. A poor start, but future installments might be worth it. (Adventure. 12-16)

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