 |
High schoolers and best friends Liam and Drew are at the mall playing the latest video game. However, as they leave, their typical day becomes anything but. Drew teleports the newest video game console into his lap. He says it isn’t technically stealing in response to Liam’s disbelief and protests. Trying to return the item, Liam is then recognized and arrested for murdering multiple kids at summer camp. Liam insists it wasn’t him, as he and Drew were in Mexico at the time. But there is a picture of him, and his fingerprints are at the scene. Things get even stranger from there as the boys discover that a mysterious object that crashed into the earth is developing humans with powers labeled Quantrics. Soon, they will encounter a future version of Liam and a murderous madman able to absorb the powers of Quantrics, killing them in the act.
Harwood creates an interesting science fiction story centered around her teenage protagonists. Excusing a few grammatical errors, the writing is compact, and the pacing is quick and engaging. Much of the story revolves around time travel, a difficult concept to write well. Harwood handles the subject adequately, although some ideas and events could have been developed more for depth of clarity. The powers the author gives to the different characters are fun and help maintain the reader’s interest, and the interactions and motivations guiding the characters are enough to keep them from being flat. Fans of teen fiction looking for light and entertaining science fiction will find it within Harwood’s pages.