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quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Fourteen years ago, scientist William Fox implanted four babies with the Medusa gene - a gene for psychic abilities. But Fox died and the babies were hidden away for years.
Now they're teenagers - and unaware that their psychic powers are about to kick in.
Cocky, charismatic Nico thinks his emerging telekinetic abilities will bring him money, power and the girl of his dreams. He's about to find out just how wrong he is ...
Nico Fox lives with his step-father, Fergus Fox, who runs a boarding school near London. Intelligent and popular, Nico thinks he has it all until his best friend, Ketty, starts going out with Billy Martin and he realises that he fancies her. Unfortunately for Nico, his emotional turmoil at this realisation triggers some kind of psychic ability during the school assembly and he wrecks the school hall. Stunned by what's happened, he's even more surprised when Fergus guesses that he was responsible for the destruction and tells him that he shouldn't use the ability he has - telekinesis - because it's evil.
Not everyone feels the same way as Fergus and Nico meets Jack Linden, a man who explains the background to the Medusa gene and who is keen to help Nico develop his abilities and Dylan, an American girl who was one of the four children who were part of the Medusa experiment and whose ability is to create a protective shell around herself. With Jack's help, Nico begins to master his ability, believing that doing so will bring him fame, fortunate and ultimately Ketty. However the deeper Nico gets involved with Jack, the more he discovers that there are sinister forces who want to recreate the Medusa gene and who will do anything to locate the four children implanted with it. As Nico's suspicions of Jack and his motives grow, he comes to realise that he might be on the wrong side.
The plot is fast-moving, there's plenty of action and the psychic abilities are pretty cool. However, there is little emotional depth to the characters and all are shown in broad brush strokes. Nico is emotionally shallow - he never says what he likes about Ketty beyond her being his friend and being beautiful - and he has little difficulty in adapting to his new abilities. The fact that he keeps referring to Ketty as “babe” may irritate some readers. Also, one nitpick is that Nico refers to his ability as “teleporting” on a couple of occasions, when this is a completely different ability to telekinesis.
This is a quick and easy read and there’s a teaser for the next book in the series, which will be from Ketty’s point of view. The crime-fighting thriller format will appeal to many, although the superficial characterisation means that I won’t be reading on.
The Verdict:
If you're looking for a quick and easy read that combines crime fighting with superhero powers, then you'll enjoy this book. If however you like your YA fiction to have a little more emotional depth to it, then the superficial characterisation may make it a frustrating read.
Fourteen years ago, scientist William Fox implanted four babies with the Medusa gene - a gene for psychic abilities. But Fox died and the babies were hidden away for years.
Now they're teenagers - and unaware that their psychic powers are about to kick in.
Cocky, charismatic Nico thinks his emerging telekinetic abilities will bring him money, power and the girl of his dreams. He's about to find out just how wrong he is ...
Nico Fox lives with his step-father, Fergus Fox, who runs a boarding school near London. Intelligent and popular, Nico thinks he has it all until his best friend, Ketty, starts going out with Billy Martin and he realises that he fancies her. Unfortunately for Nico, his emotional turmoil at this realisation triggers some kind of psychic ability during the school assembly and he wrecks the school hall. Stunned by what's happened, he's even more surprised when Fergus guesses that he was responsible for the destruction and tells him that he shouldn't use the ability he has - telekinesis - because it's evil.
Not everyone feels the same way as Fergus and Nico meets Jack Linden, a man who explains the background to the Medusa gene and who is keen to help Nico develop his abilities and Dylan, an American girl who was one of the four children who were part of the Medusa experiment and whose ability is to create a protective shell around herself. With Jack's help, Nico begins to master his ability, believing that doing so will bring him fame, fortunate and ultimately Ketty. However the deeper Nico gets involved with Jack, the more he discovers that there are sinister forces who want to recreate the Medusa gene and who will do anything to locate the four children implanted with it. As Nico's suspicions of Jack and his motives grow, he comes to realise that he might be on the wrong side.
The plot is fast-moving, there's plenty of action and the psychic abilities are pretty cool. However, there is little emotional depth to the characters and all are shown in broad brush strokes. Nico is emotionally shallow - he never says what he likes about Ketty beyond her being his friend and being beautiful - and he has little difficulty in adapting to his new abilities. The fact that he keeps referring to Ketty as “babe” may irritate some readers. Also, one nitpick is that Nico refers to his ability as “teleporting” on a couple of occasions, when this is a completely different ability to telekinesis.
This is a quick and easy read and there’s a teaser for the next book in the series, which will be from Ketty’s point of view. The crime-fighting thriller format will appeal to many, although the superficial characterisation means that I won’t be reading on.
The Verdict:
If you're looking for a quick and easy read that combines crime fighting with superhero powers, then you'll enjoy this book. If however you like your YA fiction to have a little more emotional depth to it, then the superficial characterisation may make it a frustrating read.
