Sunday, December 5, 2010

Persy -- Last Stop by Peter Lerangis

Six months ago, David Moore's father told his family "I'm going home", walked out, and wasn't heard from again. Since then, the Moore's have been something of celebrities, invited to talk shows and interviews to talk about David's father. David hates it. David just wants his dad back.

Then, one day while riding the "subrail", the train suddenly stops and the lights go out. Through the window, David can see a landing that definitely wasn't there before, and standing on the landing is his father. Before David can do anything, one man exits the train (dropping a business card as he does), David's father waves, and the train continues on its way.

With the help of his superstitious friend, David starts to unravel the curious mystery surrounding his father's disappearance and the strange visions on the subrail. And all throughout the journey, the Watchers are watching...

Which, I suppose, is why they're called the Watchers.

This story was intriguing and cryptic. It's quite short (I read it in less than an hour), but if it'd been longer and a little more detailed, it would've been amazing. But it's geared towards 9-12 year-olds, so it's only about a hundred pages and isn't high in the realistic scale.

I didn't like either of the main characters, but only because there was nothing special about either of them. They're just your generic main chars. I would've liked to know more about the Watchers themselves (you eventually figure out that the Watchers are the people making vague, imperious comments on the black pages), because at the end of the book you still don't know who the heck they are or what their purpose is.

But the ending was good. It was surprisingly surprising. I love a good plot twist, but only if it's done right, and I have to say, Peter Lerangis did it right.

All the books in the Watchers series seem to be about different people and different things, and I don't think they all even happen in the same place (and if you read Last Stop, you'll know what I mean by 'place'). But, unfortunately, I don't have access to any of the other Watchers books. So if you can find this one, I'd recommend it to science fiction fans, but just remember it's juvenile fiction. It shouldn't take you that long, though, so give it a go.

-Persy

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