Alex Rider is back with another full-on adventure @WalkerBooksAus Never say die by Anthony Horowitz out now @AnthonyHorowitz

Never say die

By Anthony Horowitz

ISBN 9781406377040

Walker Books

Loved this series. Can’t wait to get a copy now that it is out. At the school I work I have had to replace this series many times as the books get read over and over and never go out of popularity. I think what I especially love is that the mix of adventure and being a teenager make Alex a very realistic character. The right mix also means that this series is appropriate for a younger audience as well as teens. Some content in similar type series limits their reading audience because of content but this series is perfect so that ten year old students and up can enjoy.

In this brand new, explosive adventure in the number one bestselling series, Alex Rider is trying to get his life back on track after the traumatic events of his last mission. But even Alex can’t fight the past … especially when it holds a deadly secret.

If we go back to the very first book book in the series Stormbreaker you have what I think is one of the best opening sentences ever. I know that is all I need to read to my students and they are hooked.

When the doorbell rings at three in the morning, it’s never good news.

 

Check out the very cool trailer from Walker Books for Never Say Die

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The walled city by Ryan Graudin : @ryangraudin fast-paced YA thriller

The walled city
By Ryan Graugin
ISBN 9780316405058

The trailer for this new YA thriller may be short but I love it. I love the dark shadowy alleyways and the soundtrack is just perfect. It is a pacey and tense trailer worth watching over and over. I have added the book to my “must read” list as the trailer is so enticing I just have to read the book.

“There are three rules in the Walled City: Run fast. Trust no one. Always carry your knife. Right now, my life depends completely on the first. Run, run, run.”
“Jin, Mei Yee, and Dai all live in the Walled City, a lawless labyrinth run by crime lords and overrun by street gangs. Teens there run drugs or work in brothels—or, like Jin, hide under the radar. But when Dai offers Jin a chance to find her lost sister, Mei Yee, she begins a breathtaking race against the clock to escape the Walled City itself.”

If you want to hear the author talking about the inspiration for her book just watch the clip below.

Enders by @Lissa_Price @RHNZ : thrilling sequel to bestselling Sci-fi Starters

Enders
By Lissa Price

For those of you who loved Starters then you really do have to get hold of a copy of the sequel Enders.
We meet Callie and her younger brother Tyler and friend Michael in Starters not long after the spore wars has wiped out most of the Middles (middle aged people). Enders (old people) with all their money and might are able to rent out the bodies of young people, the Starters.
Tyler suffers from poor health and with their mother dead from the wars and their father missing, presumed dead, Callie is desperate to get money and a warm, safe place to live. She decides to rent out her body at Prime Destinations. For this rental to happen, a chip is placed inside Callie’s head, just like so many other Starters. This allows the “mind transfer” to happen. Her rental is to an Ender called Helena but it isn’t long before Callie realises Helena isn’t ready to give up her rental. Helena has other plans. And there is a voice inside Callie’s head slowly taking control. Heaps of action and such an intriguing concept. Lots of questions at the end. Who is “the old man”? Who is the voice? Loved Starters.

Enders kept me going just the same. Without giving too much away, Helena is no longer a problem. Callie has left Tyler at a safe house so she, Michael and the mysterious Hyden can find a way to have the chip removed and find other starters and rescue them from those in control. They are all being hunted down. There is again, a heap of action, and heap of guessing who to trust. The chip inside her head can now be controlled leaving her with no options but to do as the controller requires and that just might mean murder!
As Callie is told “trust no one but yourself, and then question that”.
If you are wanting a sci-fi thriller set in a not to distant future with just a little hint of romance these books really are a top read.
Sharing the trailer again, even though I posted this sometime ago. Always great to see this.

The eye of minds by James Dashner @jamesdashner @RHNZ new edge-of-your-seat adventure

The eye of minds
By James Dashner

This is due out in November and I do recommend you look out for it.
The Eye of Minds is the first book in The Mortality Doctrine. This new series is set in a world of hyper-advanced technology and cyber-terrorists. Gaming may be way beyond your wildest dreams but it may also be your worst nightmare.

Michael and other gamers live for the VirtNet where your wildest fantasies become real. In order to have more fun, you have to have the best hacking skills but eventually that isn’t enough and some gamers want to break the rules but at what cost.
As with everything rules are made for a reason – to protect. One gamer is taking people hostage in the VirtNet and that means incredible danger and risks.

The government believes Michael has the best skills and want him to track down the rogue gamer but what happens when the boundaries between real and unreal become blurred. Michael has more to lose than just a game. His life!

While checking this out I visited James Dashner’s website. Very cool and well worth a visit. Great trailer too.

All our yesterdays by Cristin Terrill : kill the past to save your future @cristinterrill @KidsBloomsbury

All our yesterdays
By Cristin Terrill

My lovely son gave me a book voucher for my recent birthday and it has been wonderful being able to buy new books as soon as they hit the shelves (and not feel guilty for doing so). The latest is All our yesterdays which I started reading in the shop and just had to have.

Marina was safe, privileged and falling for James but that was yesterday.
Today Em is stuck in a bare cell with no way out and no comforts. In the cell next to hers is a boy. He may be her only hope as she remembers who she used to be. There’s a drain in the floor which holds the key and the notes she wrote to herself in the past. I love the description of how she unscrews the bolts of the drain. Writing which is vivid and real.
Tomorrow Em must somehow escape and travel back in time. She needs to kill the boy Marina loved. It is the only way to save her future.
I am looking forward to finding time to read this book all the way through. Roll on the weekend.

Troubletwisters bk3 : The mystery of the golden card by Garth Nix & Sean Williams @AllenAndUnwin

The troubletwisters
By Garth Nix and Sean Williams

Jaide and Jack Shield are twins, who after a series of strange events are sent to live with Grandma X. Grandma X is strange enough on her own but throw in talking cats and wild weather and you have a mix of fantasy and mystery just ripe for readers age 10 upwards.
It isn’t long before the twins discover they have magical powers and they are suddenly forced to use their powers to fight evil and protect the world.

Evil continues to follow the twins and create havoc but this time they must search Rourke Castle for the mysterious Golden Card of Translocation. Will they be able to defeat evil or will survival cost them everything.
Grab the first book in this series and start on this scary adventure.

The mystery of the Golden Card
Book 3 is out this month!
Allenandunwin

The monster
Book 2

Troubletwisters
Book 1

Mila 2.0 by @DebraDriza : Debut sci-fi thriller @harperteen

Mila 2.0
By Debra Driza
Book 1
Harperteen

Seventeen year old Mila lives with her mother in a small Minnesota town. Mila is not like other teenage girls and she was never meant to know that she was different. She was never meant to know that she was an experiment in artificial intelligence built in a secret computer lab.
But she does find out and soon she has no choice but to run for her life, for her very existence.
There are dangerous operatives who want her terminated for knowing too much and others who want to catch her and unlock the technology within.
But Mila is discovering that there is more to her technological creation and it just may hold the key to keeping her alive.
This sounds intriguing and I have already ordered it from my library when it becomes available. Only a few days until publication day.

The darkest minds by Alexandra Bracken “Let the mind games begin” @alexbracken

The darkest minds
(Book 1 in a new trilogy)
By Alexandra Bracken

At the age of 10 Ruby’s parents notice a change in her so alarming, they lock her up and call the police. She is sent to a rehabilitation camp for children who have survived a mysterious disease which has killed most of America’s children. However, survival may not have been the best thing. These children have somehow come out with frightening abilities. Abilities they have no control over.
Six years later Ruby, classed as one of the dangerous ones, takes a chance to escape and goes on the run. With danger all around Ruby is intent on finding a safe haven but when she does, it is not what she expects. Why do they want to use Ruby and her abilities? Who can she trust? Or who she can fall in love with?

The cover of this book is fab – dark and enticing. Definitely one for my pile of good reads.

Two very creepy novels by Gretchen McNeil. Ten & Possess. Not for the faint hearted

Ten by Gretchen McNeil

Vengance is mine

This is definitely not for younger readers but will suit young adults who like a good thrill and a scare.
Best friends Meg and Minnie are on Henry Island with a bunch of teenagers for a good time of boys, booze and partying.
The discovery of a DVD with a sinister message, “Vengeance is mine” changes everything. Cut off from the outside world with a huge storm brewing the teens are beginning to turn up dead. Who is killing them and why? And can Meg stop the killings before she is next.
The trailer to this book is quiet creepy and I will have to make sure I am not reading it late at night when I do get it.

While I was checking out the trailer for Ten I found Gretchen McNeil’s trailer for her debut novel Possess.
Very cool. Both trailers are brilliant and I can’t wait to find the books at my library although again, not to be read late at night!

Possess
Fifteen-year-old Bridget hears creepy voices that turn out to be demons. She soon discovers she has the rare ability to banish them back to whatever hell they came from.
Confiding in a local priest hoping to find a solution, Bridget becomes embroiled in
dangerous cases of demonic possession. A demon delivers a special message leaving Bridget trying to save someone close to her from being killed. What do the demons want from her?
Both of these books are definitely ones to order.

The murder notebooks: Dead time by Anne Cassidy

Dead time
The murder notebooks
By Anne Cassidy

Rose Smith and Joshua Johnson spent three years living together as a family when their parents became involved with each other. One night the parents go out for tea but never return. Josh is sent to live with an uncle in Newcastle and Rose ends up living with her grandmother in London. They meet up again five years later. Josh is bent on finding their parents. Meanwhile, Rose is witness to the murder of a fellow school student. Days later, the boy’s girlfriend is also mysteriously murdered.
Murder, mystery and a bit of a thriller all mixed in make this a another to add to my long list of must reads.
Read more about this murder series on Anne Cassidy’s site.

After the snow by S. D. Crockett. Survival in a new ice-age

After the snow
by S. D. Crockett

While out hunting one day, Willo’s family are taken away in trucks by the government. He is left alone in the snow but is determined to find and rescue his family. He heads across the mountains to find someone who can tell him where to find his family. On the way across he finds Mary, a refugee from the city. He doesn’t have enough supplies for two but he can’t leave her in the snow to die alone. So they struggle for survival in a cold, bitter and treacherous new ice-age. And what of his family, where are they and how can he save them? He has only the dog spirit inside his head to guide him.

Body Blow: An Eddie Savage thriller by Peter Cocks

Body blow
By Peter Cocks.
Walker Books UK April 2012
Eddie Savage is 18 and on the run. Having been shot and left for dead by London’s largest crime family Eddie survives but must hide. Sun, sea and girls, that’s the way he sees it in his new hiding place in Spain. But Spain has its own turf wars. You can run but you can’t hide. This sounds a great one for the guys but thrillers really are for everyone.

Long Reach
By Peter Cocks
This is the first book in the Eddie Savage series. The criminal underwold is a vicious place to be and an even more dangerous place to leave. This first book is set in the ganglands of South London where Eddie is working undercover in order to find the truth about his older brother. Action and danger everywhere. How far will the Kelly gang go?

Two new futuristic young adult novels. Garth Nix and Michael Grant

Yey! Went shopping today!
Bzrk
By Michael Grant “the ultimate battle is for sanity. Losing is not an option when a world of madness is at stake”
“Freedom or slavery? Death or madness?” Having heard so much about this book I just couldn’t resist buying it. Thank goodness for gift vouchers!

I also bought another much anticpated and just published book today.

A confusion of princes
By Garth Nix
I just have to quote directly from the blurb.
“I have died three times and three times been reborn though I am not yet twenty in the old earth years by which it is still the fashion to measure time. This is the story of my three deaths, and my life between. My name is Khemri”.
How can you not be intrigued by this passage? Below are the two quick trailers on this book.

Hollow Pike – Where witchcraft never sleeps

Hollow Pike
By James Dawson
Orion Publishing Group

This book is not out yet but I am already looking forward to it when it does. Lis London moves to the country hoping things will get better for her. Hoping the nightmares she has of someone trying to kill her will end. Lis doesn’t believe in local stories of witches. But then one night, in the dark woods she realises she is not alone.
Can’t wait. Love the eerie music in this trailer.

Rippermania

The name of the star

By Maureen Johnson

The start of Rory’s new life in London is thrown into chaos when a series of brutal murders happen. What makes the murders stand out even more is their resemblance to Jack the Ripper murders of years ago. The only witness to the possible suspect is Rory, even though her room mate was with her at the time. How can Rory be the only one to see him and just why is she his next target.