Length: 560 pages
Release Date: July 1 2008
Publisher: HarperTeen
Blurb
In the blink of an eye all the adults disappear in a small town in southern California
Suddenly cut off from the outside world, those that are left are trapped, and there’s no help on the way. They must do all they can to survive. Chaos rules the streets. Gangs begin to form. Sides are chosen – strong or weak. Cruel or humane.
A new world order is rising, and, even scarier, some survivors have power – power that no one has ever seen before.
Review
When I was younger, the CHERUB series was my favourite set of books; I would pour over well thumbed copies with awe unlike what I had ever experienced before. Every word seemed lyrical; every scene was well judged, beautifully written, a magical world of thrills and adventure in my mind. Then came Gone; a world of bullies and power; hunger and fear and my mind moved quickly away from the world of teen spies to the frightening and stunning world of the FAYZ. Gone was a fantastic thrill ride I could never seem to put down; easily my favourite read of 2011.
The premise is simple enough; all of the adults in the Californian town of Perdido Beach (Spanish for Lost Beach
Gone truly is a character based novel, and the figures within this book really did make the story for me. The likes of quiet, unassuming Sam Temple, brainy and beautiful Astrid and loyal Edilio provide a front line of protagonists a reader cannot help but like and root for, while the side of evil; the charming Caine, devious Diana and psychopathic Drake remain an intriguing base of villains with their intertwining story threads that lock together and clash in the most amazing ways, producing mystery after mystery as the reader races full throttle toward the next gasp drawing revelation or shocking battle sequence.
Gone really does have something for everyone; Grant never falls short on action and character development, with romance that is prominent but not central to the novel providing a breath of fresh air when compared to the hordes of romance YA book on the market of late. Every page is high on interest and magic; with multiple points of view being executed to the maximum so that a scene never seems drawn out, a chapter is never lingering too long one subject but the reader is taken from one place to the next in a succinct style that rings true of one of Grant’s influences, lord of horror Stephen King.
The ending of Gone truly did this book justice; often books that remain thrilling and fast paced throughout flop at its denouement, but certainly not this time. A war wages amongst the children of the FAYZ that seems neither cliché nor unbelievable as Grant portrays his characters as still children; they do not miraculously grow up for the battle scene but do what they have to do to survive and, without any spoilers, that final paragraph made my jaw drop like nothing has before; it really is just that good, so riveting and exciting it’s almost unfair readers have to wait a year between each instalment in Grant’s cruelly beautiful saga.
Overall, simply glorious; Gone is a huge book but the pace and plot make five hundred pages feel like the shortest book in the world. This is unstoppable reading, a fantastic first choice to my popular author run, and what a fantastic kick start Gone is. Can the next book in the saga, Hunger, top what Gone has already produced? I’m sure it can, as the immensely talented Michael Grant seems to have only gotten started with us eager readers. This is how every month should start out; with a book that makes you realise just why we love reading so much, and Gone has done just that for me.
Dusty :]
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