Fourteen-year-old Tucker Pierce sits safely on the sidelines watching his teammate, Marty Wiggins, football star, make great play after great play. As long as Marty is in there fighting, Tucker will never have to actually play in a football game for Arbortown High School and since Tucker isn't very good at football, that's a good thing.
Fourteen-year-old Tucker Pierce also sits safely on the sidelines watching Tori Sleeper, girl in his class who doesn't give him the time of day. She fascinates him but he doesn't know how to get in that game either.
Life on this idyllic resort island, Pemberwick Island, Maine, is about to kick Tucker off the sidelines of life with a volatile twist. First, the mighty Marty drops dead on the football field. What happened to this athletic young man? Then, Tucker and best friend, Quinn Carr, take a middle of the night bike ride out toward the beach and stand in utter astonishment as they hear music coming from the sky and catch a glimpse of a huge shadow moving across the clouds.
A sudden streak of light holds them spellbound as they watch the huge shadow explode violently overhead. What the heck is going on?
Trying to explain what they've seen to their parents and the authorities produces some mystifying behavior. Why did Tucker's parents leave Connecticut to find "safety" on this little island? What does Tucker need to be safe from? There's something they aren't telling him.
Finally, a strange guy wearing a hoodie and sitting in the football stands making notes on a pad of paper, finds his way to Tucker and invites him to share a little of the fun red crystal stuff that Marty was ingesting. Tucker listens to the guy's sales pitch and allows himself a tiny taste. It's enough to change him into a superman version of himself. The stuff is called Ruby and Tucker learns quickly that it has the potential to be dangerous and seductive.
But these bizarre and frightening events are only the beginning. The island is about to be invaded and nothing is going to make sense to Tucker, Quinn, Tori or seemingly, to the adults.
Luckily we have Tori Sleeper who helps her father with his lobster pots and beyond. Turns out she's extremely self-reliant and has leadership written in her DNA. Carries her share in this trio of valiant defenders who are going to find themselves in the proverbial unfamiliar territory even if it is an island off the coast of Maine.
You need to know that this is the first book in at least a trilogy. The who, where, and when are laid out carefully and at a slower pace, initially, than you expect. The what is delivered intriguingly in layers and the why is even more veiled. Stick with it because the pace picks up and blasts off to an unimagined reality that will intrigue.
Action. Adventure. Suspense. Intrigue. Mystery. All of these words apply to this uncoiling journey filled with cliffhangers.
Ages 12 and up (Violence) 407 pages 978-1595146656
Recommended by: Barb
