Review: Started and Ended with a Bang
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 24, 2012
Samantha and James Blake are twins who are involved in a horrible bombing while on board a school bus for an outing. It is a suspected act of terrorism, but is actually something far more dangerous and sinister. As Samantha and James felt the flames licking their skin all James could think about was how he wanted out of the bus. He could feel the skin of a classmate melting into his own, and his only thought was to escape out of the bus. Samantha felt the fire and heat and saw the devastation and wished it was over; that the fire injuring her friends and threatening her life could be extinguished. Neither twin got their wish, but they did escape the tragedy with their lives as well as the lives of a few other friends and classmates. But as Samantha and James awaken in the hospital they begin to realize that nothing is as it seems.The bombing was just the beginning of a far more treacherous plan, but the twins can't even begin to comprehend what is going on at the hospital let alone figure out who could be behind the bombing.  The police are trying to keep the twins segregated from the general population, because it is suspected that they may have been the targets of this attack. Samantha is able to find out that piece of information off of her phone. Several times throughout this book Samantha and James see some of the severely bandaged kids moving like they are zombies. At one point Samantha is attacked by several of them as they try to bring her to the top floor of the abandoned wing of the hospital. Strangely enough, none of the nurses even pay attention to her screams. James notices the same thing as he tries to help Samantha. The nurses are actually blocking his path to his sister. What could cause this? And how is it that both James and Samantha are healing from such severe injuries so rapidly to the point of barely leaving a scar behind? Just what is going on here? Why is James so ravenous that he's craving McDonald's and he finds himself in the McDonald's in the hospital when moments before he was lying in his bed? Samantha too is ravenous all the time, but she's not teleporting herself into any fast food chains! However, she is noticing that things in her room are moving. The TV that was bothering her just moments before is shut off.  Hmmm, interesting.James and Samantha's father tells them that they need to get them out of the hospital and to their grandparents house as quickly as possible, but leaving the hospital is going to be much harder than anyone ever thought.I really enjoyed this book. There are several books similar to this, that I've read lately and this seemed to capture the mind of a teenager the best. Henning did an excellent job either remembering his own past, or researching how teenagers think and act! There were several times during the book when James would pull one of his heroic stunts; that he hadn't thought out at all where all I could do was thunk my hand against my head. Several times I caught myself getting frustrated when James would get distracted when Samantha was trying to figure things out and his mind would wander to Lolly the "hot girl" he had seen on the roof. It struck me then, that not only was I truly engaged in the book but also that Henning really understood exactly what a teenage boy's thought process would be like! This had me wanting to figure out the "big picture" mystery as well as the mystery surrounding the hospital. Henning did such a good job with the ending that I felt sympathy for; well you'll just have to read the book to find out who! This will keep you on your toes trying to guess the "real" bad guys from ones who thought they were doing the right thing. Trust me when I say you won't regret it!