The Rising

November 14, 2016
Alex Chin, the hero of this ambitious, technology-centered SF thriller from bestseller Graham (The Unseen) and Land (Strong Cold Dead), has enjoyed an outstanding football career at San Francisco’s St. Ignatius College Prep, until he’s knocked out on the playing field during a game. Thereafter Alex finds himself battling a clandestine group that includes a vicious homicidal general, androids posing as cops, and a shadowy figure known as ash man. Fortunately, Samantha “Sam” Dixon, a brilliant fellow high school student with a crush on Alex, fights by his side. To ensure the world’s survival, Alex must discover the secret of his origin, which his devoted, loving parents have kept from him, and unearth a vital piece of information, which he’s unaware is already in his possession. Alex’s perilous journey to solve these puzzles while trying to avoid those bent on destroying him can seem interminable at times, but his developing relationship with Sam will keep readers emotionally invested. Agents: Lucy Childs, Aaron M. Priest Literary Agency (Graham); Natalia Aponte, Natalia Aponte Literary Agency (Land).

November 1, 2016
A young man discovers his entire life has been a lie--he's really an alien!--in Graham (Darkest Journey, 2016, etc.) and Land's (Strong Cold Dead, 2016, etc.) sci-fi thriller.Alex--a handsome, blond football star--seems to be the quintessential American teenager. Of course, his upbringing is a little unusual, as his adoptive parents are Chinese immigrants, and he's beginning to realize that he may be more attracted to his nerdy tutor, Samantha, than to his perfect head-cheerleader girlfriend, but all in all his life is pretty good. And then he's injured playing football and his CT scan shows a mysterious "shadow" in his head. His doctor is murdered before he can explain the anomaly, and then his parents are killed--by a group of drones. It turns out that Alex was born on another planet, thrust through a wormhole by someone who wanted him to remain safe, and then closely monitored. The aliens, who long ago "seeded" Earth, are coming to reclaim the planet, and Alex is humanity's only hope. The novel strongly disappoints because there is little real science in the science fiction. The structure is too committed to the bestseller model of extremely short, cliffhanger chapters that don't advance the story but all too quickly lose the ability to build real suspense. By the time the crackpot professor is explaining to Alex about wormholes and alien strategy, there has been so little intellectual engagement offered the reader that it's hard to care or focus on the particulars. The characters are overly simple, the dialogue is weak, and, despite a showdown at Alcatraz in the middle of the night, the action is surprisingly boring. At least there will be a sequel.... With a good director, this could be the new Stranger Things, but on the page, it's bland.

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June 1, 2017

Alex Chin, the star quarterback, and his science-loving tutor, Samantha Dixon, are thrust together in a 24-hour science fiction adventure. Family members die, government officials lie, and the two teenagers discover that Alex's adoption was the beginning of a global crisis. Sam, who's interning at NASA, has connections, while quick-thinking Alex possesses sharp reflexes, and the two must collaborate to escape from the government special ops team and superhumans trying to capture or kill them. With adolescent main characters and nonstop action, this sci-fi page-turner could have easily been published as YA and will have plenty of teen crossover appeal. California's Alcatraz and San Francisco provide the perfect setting for this roller coaster of a novel. The budding romance between Alex and Sam barely has time to bloom among the cloak-and-dagger activities, but hopefully a sequel will continue the relationship and offer a resolution to Alex's problems. VERDICT Buy where fast-paced action thrillers and science fiction such as Rick Yancey's The 5th Wave are popular.-Sarah Hill, Lake Land College, Mattoon, IL

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2016
Yes, this genre-blender has elements of a suspense thriller, but, at its core, the novel is 1950s-style science fiction, like Robert Heinlein used to write, with a teenage hero, a girl buddy, and futuristic weapons, this time plasma rifles. Alex Chin is a high-school footballer with a bright future until he's slammed during a game. Hospital tests cause the machinery to explode and the doctor to mutter, the scan showed a shadow. Alex and girl-pal Sam begin an inquiry while on the run and, with the help of a large cast, learn that Alex was transported here from another planet; the aliens are growing us for food. But Alex is a child of the good element, with knowledge to thwart the food schemethe shadow in his headand he and Sam must battle the evil aliens while trying to save the world. Heinlein knew how to drive a narrative line through the fantastic stuff; Graham and Land try to do the same thing, but they sometimes allow the premise to slow things down. Still, this is a treat for fans of retro genre mash-ups.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

December 1, 2016

In just 24 hours, Alex Chin went from being a popular high school athlete with the whole world in front of him to an injured fugitive trying to make sense of his parents' murder and hiding from their killers. Adopted as an infant, Alex possesses special abilities that were previously unknown to him but that are valuable and dangerous to others. His parents and doctor all died as a result of knowing his secret. On the run with tutor and NASA intern Samantha, Alex tries to piece together clues and confessional videos from his late parents in an effort to learn as much about his past and birth parents as he can before he becomes the next victim. This collaboration by suspense novelists Graham (Night Moves) and Land ("Caitlin Strong" series) feels familiar--think Netflix series Stranger Things or the 1986 film The Manhattan Project--and what it lacks in originality, it makes up for in pacing and occasional suspense. Short, brisk chapters keep the narrative flowing. VERDICT Both the authors' fans and readers who appreciate the thrillers of Catherine Coulter will find this title entertaining.--Nicole A. Cooke, GSLIS, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2016

Graham, a Romance Writers of America Lifetime Achievement Award winner and a ThrillerMaster at this summer's Thrillerfest, and USA Today best-selling author Land ask why anyone would want to kill the doctor and parents of injured high school football star Alex Chin and target Alex himself?

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.