Review: Fast-moving tale despite oversimplified writing style...
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 14, 2013
Calli Courtnae, protagonist of this paranormal yarn, labelled YA, is a serious-minded high-school student who unexpectedly breaks the 100m world record (which somehow qualifies her as a distance-runner(?)). She is immediately "recruited" into a paranormal camp of lightning-fast runners and charged with helping to deliver a unique diamond to a cult demanding it in exchange for a number of hostages.Possession of the diamond enhances any number of Calli's skills (mind-reading, seer, healing, etc.). During the delivery run she plays out alternative scenarios of handing over (or not) the diamond as she tries to pinpoint an outcome that frees the hostages, halts the hostage-takers and preferably does not cost too many lives. The one she eventually  finds involves only a single death - her own!A note to authors who underestimate teen reading skills - in my teens I was comfortable reading Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, Steinbeck, etc. and firmly believe today's teens can handle more than monosyllabic writing.Nonetheless, I enjoyed the book.