Frozen: Heart of Dread, Book One
Gr 9 Up-Natasha Kestral is a blackjack dealer in New Vegas. She is also one of the "Marked," a group of oft-feared power wielders. They are sometimes telekinetic, self-healing, or telepathic, but always discernible by their brightly colored eyes. With the United States almost destroyed and the world engulfed in a new ice age, most people have lost all hope. Having escaped from the institution in which she was being held against her will, Nat has reinvented herself with a new identity. But a voice in her head is forcing her to go to a rumored paradise called The Blue. To get there, she hires Ryan Wesson and his band of ragtag underage pirates to book a passage over the frozen ocean. Upon meeting, Wes feels an instant connection with Nat. As the two teens begin to trust each other, Nat begins to understand her true destiny. Can she reach The Blue in time? While some plot elements are a little hard to swallow, such as Wes being a military veteran at only 16 years old, there is a concentrated effort to build a glacially complex dystopian setting that is unrecognizable from the world we know. The romance seems a little forced, but the well-developed supporting characters among the crew help to provide a well-rounded ensemble. The plot flows steadily while providing glimpses into familiar science-fiction concepts that the story uses as its foundation. Fans of The Hunger Games will no doubt enjoy sinking their teeth into this exciting book.-Ryan P. Donovan, New York Public Libraryα(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.