The Assault

August 1, 2012
After the aliens take over, it's up to the teenagers to save humanity. Earth has been taken over by an alien species, the Bzadians, who are determined to wipe out all humans as soon as possible. And it's clear that they are plotting something big to help them succeed, a weapon that is kept shrouded in mystery in a secret installation deep in the Australian Outback. Six teens have been surgically altered to resemble the Bzadians; they are led by Lt. Ryan Chisnall, aka Lucky. He and his team of Angel infiltrators have been living as Bzadians for months just to accomplish this one mission: Determine the nature of this secret weapon and destroy it before it can be deployed. Only Chisnall knows there is another mission as well...to discover the identity of the spy who has already become a member of his own team. Falkner supplies a tight story that features a strong plot and believable characters; the third-person narration shifts focus from Chisnall and his team to Yozi, a member of the Bzadian Republican Guard. Within his science-fiction framework, the author effectively employs the tropes of both survival and war stories to great effect. While an entirely satisfying read on its own, readers can only hope there is a second installment in the works. (glossary) (Science fiction. 12 & up)

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January 1, 2013

Gr 7 Up-Recon Team Angel consists of six teens between the ages of 14 and 18. This squad stands between us, the people of Earth, and complete subjugation. It is the year 2030. Sixty percent of the surface of the planet is controlled by the Bzadian. Millions of people have died or been forced into refugee camps. Separated by water from the rest of the world, the last remaining outpost of freedom is the Americas. Now, thoroughly trained and disguised as "Pukes," six young people prepare to enter the belly of the beast and overthrow the alien command post in Australia. What they don't know is that one of them is a traitor. As much adventure thriller, on the order of Alistair MacLean, as futuristic speculative fiction, the novel has the feel of an early Heinlein work. Sympathetic characters, snappy dialogue, and quickly paced action make it hard to put down.-Jane Henriksen Baird, Anchorage Public Library, AK

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