Viper Within

by Sam Mills

Overview

DISILLUSIONED WITH HIS childhood faith, Jon longs to restore that sense of belonging to something greater than himself. Enter Jeremiah, magnetic and mysterious founder of the Brotherhood of the Hebetheus. In Jon, Jeremiah finds a willing disciple for his “new” religion, and an eager participant in the Brotherhood’s daring plan: they will kidnap a classmate who Jeremiah believes is part of a terrorist cell. By foiling her plot to blow up their school, the boys of the Hebetheus will command the world’s attention, show a righteous religion as the only real tool to thwart terrorism, and become avenging heroes.
But fate and faith have a twist in store for Jon as the captive girl they call Snake causes him to confront the reflection of what he's become in her eyes. Will the appeal of a blind faith be enough to sustain Jon’s allegiance? Or will he be unable to deny the viper glimpsed within himself?


From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780375849497
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	07/08/2019
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	325 KB
Age Range:	12 Years

About the Author

British author Sam Mills makes her YA debut with The Viper Within, a gripping, nobody-escapes-unscathed psychological thriller. She takes her inspiration from the works of Robert Cormier and her own experience as a former member of a religious cult.

Read an Excerpt

7:00 p.m.: Two hours to go . . .

In two hours' time I-and the rest of the Brotherhood-will kidnap a terrorist.
Our code name for this terrorist is SNAKE. By kidnapping SNAKE tonight, we-the Brotherhood of the Religion of Hebetheus-will prevent a bomb from going off at St. Sebastian's Secondary School. If I lean out of my bedroom window and look beyond the jagged patchwork of rooftops, I can see its metal railings, waving treetops, green playing fields. I picture what might have been, papier-mached out of TV images. Red blood sprayed across red brick. Parents hugging teenagers. EMTs lifting them into ambulances. Smoke spiraling up across a blistered sky. We will prevent all that.
I reach under my bed and pull out the wooden box, sifting through rustles of tissue paper. When Jeremiah first passed it on to me, I had this compulsion to just look at it. Sometimes two, three times a day. Just opening the box made my hands shake with anticipation. The virgin glint of the knife, arrowing through the paper, caused a firework to explode inside me; long after I'd put it back and tucked it under my bed, little sparks would fly through me for the whole day.
But over the last few days, whenever I've taken it out, I feel blank. I stare down at it now-nothing. Just a bit of metal trapped in a wooden handle.
I look at the posters on my walls and think: Slash them! Will that bring the knife back to life? Then I remember Jeremiah's words: We must keep acting as though everything is normal. A slip by just one of us will destroy our sacred mission.
I slice up air. Picture the blade held against a brown throat. How light or hard should I press it so as to provoke fear but not draw blood?
I hold it up so it catches the last of the sunset, narrowing my eyes until the silver blurs into a thinner knife of pure light. In its shimmers, I see all our faces: Thomas, Martyn, Chris, Raymond. And Jeremiah, our prophet, with his wise eyes and gentle smile.
"Jon! Dinner's ready!"
The knife slips and slices against my thumb, drawing a thin dribble of blood.
I hear a creak on the stairs and quickly shove it under my pillow.
"I've made lasagne-your favorite."
"Coming, Mum."


7:15 p.m.: One hour and forty-five minutes to go . . .
"Can you just finish laying the table, Jon? I forgot the serving mat. There. . . . Thank you."
This morning, when it was twelve hours to go, I forced myself to eat a bowl of cereal, but it felt like eating stones and on my way to school I spewed it up in some bushes.
A red trickle has reached the tines of my fork. I quickly look at Mum, but she is engrossed in her own world. She eats like a sad bird, taking tiny little mouthfuls, as though eating is a luxury she feels she doesn't quite deserve.
I press my thumb hard against the fork to stanch the flow from the cut, but my blood laces the lasagne with a salty, metallic taste.
My eyes sweep across the table and I notice that she has done it again. She has laid a third mat. Even though it's been a year. Last night, she brewed up two mugs of Horlicks before going to bed and then pretended that one was for me, even though I hate Horlicks. She still has dinner at 7:15 p.m., even though she's hungry much earlier, because that was the time Dad preferred it.
I take another mouthful and stare out the window. Six months ago, we moved to a new suburban housing estate where every house looks the same. The same red bricks. The same double-glazed windows, outfitted with gray bars to keep burglars out. The trees look pale and anorexic, wilting at being stuck in such a dump. Over the fence, I can see lines of other houses, stick figures moving about, people sitting down to eat, families snacking in front of the TV.
I look at these people and I wonder how they can go through life living the way they do, not doing a jot to change anything. No, they're all too busy dreaming of getting onto reality TV for fifteen milliseconds of fame. I fantasize that my fork swells into a giant metal harpoon that I smash through each house like a missile-
"Was school okay today?" Mum asks.
"Yeah, it was okay," I say. "It's always okay."
Silence. Then-
An explosion.
Outside.
Green glitter lights up the sky. The stars shrink and the streetlamps pale away.
People gaze up, mesmerized.
"Guy Fawkes tomorrow," says Mum. "I bought some sparklers. And some sausages. We can have a little fun and a fry-up."
"Uh-huh." I try to thread my fork through another layer of lasagne, but my hand is shaking too violently. The explosion echoes through me, carrying warnings of burning flesh. I feel relief that we are going ahead with the plan, that tonight we will be saving our school. Our first step to saving the world.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

U.K. author Mills's U.S. debut about a kidnapping gone haywire ventures into Edward Bloor/Ouida Sebestyen territory, but lacks the tension and shrewd psychological calculation to pull off its sensationalist plot. Jeremiah, an obviously sociopathic high-school student, has founded the Religion of the Hebetheus and persuaded a handful of his damaged peers to join his cult. Convincing his followers that he has overheard a beautiful, supposedly Muslim classmate named Padma (she's Hindu) tell a friend that she has plans to plant a bomb in her locker, he masterminds her kidnapping. The "brethren" hold her hostage for days in a cottage whose tenant, an old lady, lies in her bed, newly dead. Jon, the book's confused narrator, predictably falls for Padma and has a change of heart, as do other disciples; as none of them are any too bright, readers will find it hard to stay interested in their thinking. The fiery Waco-like showdown at the end feels not only obvious but overdue. Ages 14-up. (June)

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Publishers Weekly

When his seemingly devout father leaves the family for a worldly woman, Jon seeks something other than his father's faith to believe in. That's when he finds Jeremiah—a slightly older teenager who has all the answers to Jon's questions. Jon becomes a follower of Jeremiah's newly found religion, the Brotherhood of the Hebetheus, and prepares himself to kidnap a terrorist as part of his initiation into the faith. But things don't go exactly as planned. This first-person window into the functioning of a cult leaves nothing hidden from the reader's eyes. Jon, as well as the reader, wonders what is really right, and why bringing peace to the world involves the potential murder of an innocent girl—even though Jeremiah attempts to brainwash them into thinking she's a terrorist. With his heart and mind in a constant struggle, Jon's experience shows the inner rings of an extremist group who will stop at nothing. Many teens will relate to the desperate searching that comes with trying to believe in something, anything. While this book includes violence, swearing, and a not-so-happy ending, it offers a unique and un-sugarcoated view into the world of a cult; avid YA readers will appreciate the honesty. Reviewer: Ashleigh Larsen

KLIATT - Ashleigh Larsen

After Jon's dad, the local vicar, cheats on and divorces his mother, Jon loses all faith in Christianity and in the Christian God. Despite his disenchantment with Christianity, Jon remains open to religion, trying to find a faith that fits. While still seeking, Jon discovers Jeremiah, the charismatic creator of the Brotherhood of the Hebetheus and eagerly becomes one of Jeremiah's new disciples. When the Brotherhood discovers that a classmate they call SNAKE is a terrorist, they devise a plan to kidnap the classmate, capture everyone's attention, and teach the world about their religion. The more involved Jon becomes, the less sure he is about his new faith and the plan they have put into motion. Is Jeremiah a prophet of the true God? Is the Brotherhood the one true religion? Is SNAKE really a terrorist? Most importantly, will Jon uncover the answers to these questions before time runs out? Mills's skilled writing creates a superb novel with a gripping plot, a convincing teen voice, and complex characters. This novel would be an excellent addition to world cultures, religion, or general social studies classes as way to encourage teens to examine relevant world issues in a more personal way. Filled with an action packed plot, compelling characters, and a pertinent theme that never becomes preachy, this book is sure to please readers of all ages. Reviewer: Melissa Joy Adams

Children's Literature - Melissa Joy Adams

Gr 7 Up

In this dark and dour novel, Jon, 16, willingly joins a small cult called the Brotherhood of the Hebetheus, headed by Jeremiah, a charismatic classmate at St. Sebastian's. They kidnap a suspected terrorist, code-named SNAKE, to prevent a bomb from going off at school. Bumbling doesn't begin to describe the ineptitude and neediness of this sorry gaggle of disaffected misfits who liberally sprinkle their dialogue with racist and misogynist epithets throughout the repetitive and convoluted plotline. Will Jon complete his initiation into the Brotherhood by complying with Jeremiah's order to hang SNAKE, aka Padma Laxsmi, a beautiful and terrified classmate, against whom Jeremiah seems to harbor a personal grudge? Or will Jon succumb to his desire for SNAKE and somehow help her escape? From the dead body of an elderly woman festering near their hideaway to the adolescent Hebethian "scriptures" and rules Jeremiah spouts to control his small flock, this is a putrid tale, albeit in keeping with various nutcase religious personality cults throughout time and from around the world. Unfortunately, the plot has too many holes. Significant details, such as Jon having twice had access to weapons that he could have used to free Padma, are dropped without explanation. Absurdities, such as killing for peace, are hammered home without subtlety, but relationships among the lads, between Jon and his estranged father, his mother, and Padma are unresolved, leaving a story that is raw and muddled.-Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Junior High School, Iowa City, IA

School Library Journal

After his vicar father deserted the family, 16-year-old Jon lost his Christian faith. Falling under the spell of a classmate, Jeremiah, founder of the Brotherhood of the Hebetheus, Jon has joined four other boys as his disciple. Now, under Jeremiah's direction, they kidnap a Hindu girl whom Jeremiah claims is a terrorist. From their hideout, an empty cottage with a dead woman in it (undiscovered for some days), they record grandiose demands and send them to the media. The novel, set in contemporary England, quickly bogs down in long speeches and didactic commentary. A less-than-credible plot doesn't help, but the real problem is that once at the cottage, the novel goes around in circles rather than build steadily to the climax. Characters lose and regain their faith in Jeremiah; each turn provides the author a new opportunity to pontificate on global warming, consumerism and fear-mongering until the reader, too, feels like a hostage. Although Mills claims to be a former cult member, Judy Waite's Forbidden (2004), offers greater insight into cult psychology in a far better novel. (Fiction. 14 & up)

Kirkus Reviews