Vision

Gr 9 Up--Bobby Pendell's family is struggling. He will do anything to keep his younger brother on track. This task is getting harder for Bobby since his mother left the family and his father returned from Iraq paralyzed and suffering from PTSD. The last thing his life needs is more complications, but that's exactly what the teen gets when he starts to get intense migraines that impair his sight and trigger intense and violent visions. They point out clues leading to a serial killer, and Bobby is now swept up in the murderer's dark plots. Add in a developing romance for the protagonist and a shadowy government agency that knows more about his illness and burgeoning powers than he does to the already full plot and even Amowitz's simple, direct writing can't sustain so much. The details about the serial killer build to a gruesome twist that some teens will appreciate, but the lack of specificity about what's causing Bobby's visions make getting to the climax frustrating. Amowitz's no-frills text keeps the narrative moving quickly but also lacks the kind of dark, descriptive richness a story like this would benefit from. The book ends with an all-too-neat conclusion, wrapping up every thread before suddenly opening it all back up again (with the obvious hopes of a sequel). Libraries looking to supplement teen horror and thriller collections are better off looking elsewhere. -- Angie Manfredi, Los Alamos County Library System, NM -- School Library Journal