Luke’s life is about to take a dangerous turn.
But first he has to die.
In the year 2052, high school sophomore Luke Gibson considers himself an average teenager in a world on the brink of monumental change. Joining his parents and sister, Laura, at the first World Energy Initiative Conference, he is among thousands gathered in a Denver arena to celebrate free renewable energy when a massive earthquake strikes killing everyone in the stadium. The last thing Luke sees before his death is a girl reaching out to him—a stranger whose face he remembers from his dreams.
The end, however, is not the end. Suddenly, inexplicably, Luke is back home in Ohio and everything is different. His sister is gone, the victim in an unsolved homicide years before. Angela, his mysterious dream girl, is here also, and the only person besides Luke who recalls the previous reality. And now their determination to uncover the truth about Laura’s murder and their transformed world is making them targets—forced to flee for their lives from a nameless shadow organization and a government seeking vengeance for an unthinkable act of terror—as they stand on the threshold of a dark conspiracy that threatens all humankind.
With Platform 21, a brilliantly inventive and unrelentingly exciting excursion to a troubled near-future, author T.R. Patrick joins the ranks of Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games), Veronica Roth (Divergent), Pittacus Lore (I Am Number Four) and other masters of YA speculative suspense fiction. The first book in the “Beyond the Veil” series, Platform 21 follows teenager Luke Gibson up to and beyond his death in a horrific terrorist attack in Denver in the year 2052. Reawakening in a world strangely transformed, Luke sets out to uncover the truth about his new reality—joining forces with Angela, a girl he had seen previously in his dreams, in a desperate race for survival that will propel them across the threshold of an insidious global conspiracy that threatens the future of all humanity.
But first he has to die.
In the year 2052, high school sophomore Luke Gibson considers himself an average teenager in a world on the brink of monumental change. Joining his parents and sister, Laura, at the first World Energy Initiative Conference, he is among thousands gathered in a Denver arena to celebrate free renewable energy when a massive earthquake strikes killing everyone in the stadium. The last thing Luke sees before his death is a girl reaching out to him—a stranger whose face he remembers from his dreams.
The end, however, is not the end. Suddenly, inexplicably, Luke is back home in Ohio and everything is different. His sister is gone, the victim in an unsolved homicide years before. Angela, his mysterious dream girl, is here also, and the only person besides Luke who recalls the previous reality. And now their determination to uncover the truth about Laura’s murder and their transformed world is making them targets—forced to flee for their lives from a nameless shadow organization and a government seeking vengeance for an unthinkable act of terror—as they stand on the threshold of a dark conspiracy that threatens all humankind.
With Platform 21, a brilliantly inventive and unrelentingly exciting excursion to a troubled near-future, author T.R. Patrick joins the ranks of Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games), Veronica Roth (Divergent), Pittacus Lore (I Am Number Four) and other masters of YA speculative suspense fiction. The first book in the “Beyond the Veil” series, Platform 21 follows teenager Luke Gibson up to and beyond his death in a horrific terrorist attack in Denver in the year 2052. Reawakening in a world strangely transformed, Luke sets out to uncover the truth about his new reality—joining forces with Angela, a girl he had seen previously in his dreams, in a desperate race for survival that will propel them across the threshold of an insidious global conspiracy that threatens the future of all humanity.
My Rating: 5
My Review:
From the very beginning, I was completely blown away by Platform 21. The book is absolutely unique, in a wonderful way. I can't really think of much I did not like about the novel. Normally, I'm not a fan of actual people featured on the cover, but even that worked well.
I really enjoyed the parallels that could be found in Platform 21 and our own lives today. Despite the fact that the novel is set decades in the future, and is a work of fiction, the world that Patrick creates seems completely real. I was captured by the story from the energy hype on page one, and soon felt to be an actual part of the story.
Platform 21 has a large amount of twists and suspense that will keep the reader at the edges of their seat and yearning to find out what will happen next. I instantly connected to the situation and wanted to learn everything about it.
Luke is an excellent protagonist. Despite being poetic - understandable, as he is a writer - he still manages to have the voice of an actual teenager. He definitely is not one of those characters that annoys the reader so intensely it distracts them from the reading experience. I thought he was incredibly well crafted, and allows for further connection into the world of the story.
When reading, I could not easily get what was going to happen next, which really allowed me to unravel the plot with the same pacing as the characters, which I really enjoy. Another bonus is that there is a heck of a lot of plot to unravel.
Platform 21 is an addicting read, guaranteed to impress. Between the political themes, ongoing mystery and conspiracy, excellent characters and beautiful writing, I just could not put it down. I highly recommend this read, and I can't wait to continue with this author's work.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Author Timothy R. Patrick, born in 1985, started writing when
he was only nine, delivering his first short story to his Mom for her birthday.
Since then, writing has been an incredible passion. Every chance he could
write, he took it. He even scratched out a few stories in Naval Boot Camp at
Great Lakes, Illinois.
Tim spent four years in the Navy achieving the rank of Petty Officer 2nd class. He served three years aboard USS Chosin and was deployed twice in support of the Global War on Terror, and Iraqi Freedom. However, he would always be remembered as the guy who sat in the corner of the mess decks writing a book he would never release. He said it wasn't good enough.
After his time in the Navy, Tim became a Test Engineer working for companies like Scientific Research Corporation and Hewlett Packard. During this phase of his life he moved to Charleston, South Carolina where he bought a home and tried to settle into the American Dream. But Tim wasn't content with that, he wanted to do something more than work the 9 to 5. So, he tried his hand at politics and ran for Dorchester County Council as an Independent. They said he was too young and verbose. After losing the election, he decided to try his hand at writing instead.
Today, Timothy Patrick is the author of, Platform 21 - the first installment of the "Beyond the Veil" series. Platform 21 is a novel set in the near future which follows a young man on a journey to solve his sister's murder in the midst of global conspiracy. His current project is, The Vorago Initiative - which picks up right where Platform 21 left off.
----GIVEAWAY----
Author Timothy R. Patrick, born in 1985, started writing when
he was only nine, delivering his first short story to his Mom for her birthday.
Since then, writing has been an incredible passion. Every chance he could
write, he took it. He even scratched out a few stories in Naval Boot Camp at
Great Lakes, Illinois.Tim spent four years in the Navy achieving the rank of Petty Officer 2nd class. He served three years aboard USS Chosin and was deployed twice in support of the Global War on Terror, and Iraqi Freedom. However, he would always be remembered as the guy who sat in the corner of the mess decks writing a book he would never release. He said it wasn't good enough.
After his time in the Navy, Tim became a Test Engineer working for companies like Scientific Research Corporation and Hewlett Packard. During this phase of his life he moved to Charleston, South Carolina where he bought a home and tried to settle into the American Dream. But Tim wasn't content with that, he wanted to do something more than work the 9 to 5. So, he tried his hand at politics and ran for Dorchester County Council as an Independent. They said he was too young and verbose. After losing the election, he decided to try his hand at writing instead.
Today, Timothy Patrick is the author of, Platform 21 - the first installment of the "Beyond the Veil" series. Platform 21 is a novel set in the near future which follows a young man on a journey to solve his sister's murder in the midst of global conspiracy. His current project is, The Vorago Initiative - which picks up right where Platform 21 left off.
----GIVEAWAY----
Thank you so much for your generous review! This was actually a lot of fun for me to read - the way you described Luke was exactly what I was going for with him and his character. It was a lot of fun to write, and I'm working very hard on the second one to make sure it is even better than the first!
ReplyDeleteThanks again!