Triple Play!

The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch had all the initial trappings of an apocalyptic showdown. I really wanted this to be the adolescent version of The Stand…or something like that. The cover totally gave me the creeps.

And the book was fine, but it did not knock my socks off my any means. The climax  involves a completely unbelievable prank, one that would be incredibly dangerous and stupid even in a non-dystopian world. The two main characters are smart and savvy. I absolutely did not buy the choice they made even as cranky teens whose frontal lobes aren’t quite developed 100%. There’s impulsivity, then there’s just plain unlikely.

And the biggest conflict on the story hinges on a run-in with livestock. Really? It didn’t make sense to me at all. So I spent the second part of the book second-guessing everything the protagonist did. If he was so dumb, how did he turn into this sage and mature potential martyr at a chapter break. Nope, not authentic.

This is an easy read, and it is mildly engaging, but I did not find it suspenseful in the least. If the world as we know it is going to end, I want it to be with a bang, not a whimper.

The Last Summer of the Death Warriors reminded me a bit of the classic Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick. Stork creates a quirky and endearing relationship between two very different boys. I enjoyed this aspect of the book.

But the reason I chose to read this in the first place was because I was looking for titles that could qualify as mystery/suspense in a very loose interpretation of the genre. This book did not work in that sense, but ultimately, I don’t think that was Stork’s intent. It’s definitely a YA volume with some fairly juicy references to the desires of horny teenaged boys. There is also an underlying thread of violence to do with Pancho’s (the protagonist) sister. It’s actually a pretty dark book.

I was not awestruck by the Death Warrior idea; I wanted to be, but no. What I liked about this book the most was Pancho’s growth. Otherwise, I found the plot to be pretty flat.

But then I was reminded of another of Francisco X. Stork’s books, Marcelo in the Real World. I actually read this one last summer, so this is kind of a cheat. Nonetheless. Marcelo is a high school student with autism. The book is told very convincingly from his point of view, and it definitely gave me food for thought. Neither Stork nor I can really know what it’s like inside the mind of a genius on the spectrum, but I think this book gives it a really good shot.

The thing I probably liked best about Marcelo is that he spends the book fighting against being like everybody else instead of wanting and trying desperately to conform. I would totally hang out in his tree house with him. Again, YA; again some sexy-sexy references and some language, but I was not mortified at any point while reading this book.