Savannah Grey

by Cliff McNish

Overview

Savannah Grey needs to keep moving. She doesn't know why, but she can't let herself get tied down by too many people. It's almost like she's being chased by something. And now something strange is happening with her neck—with her throat.

Savannah Grey never thought she'd meet someone like Reece—a guy who seems to understand her. He even knows about her neck. The same thing is happening to him. It's as if their voices are becoming weapons, warming up for some kind of attack.

Savannah Grey has no idea what might be chasing her or why her voice suddenly feels like the most powerful weapon on the planet, but she's about to find out.

Nature is preparing for battle with the universe's ultimate monster. The time to fight is almost here. The weapon is Savannah Grey.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940154549827
Publisher:	Wynema McGowan
Publication date:	09/13/2017
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	704 KB
Age Range:	12 Years

About the Author

Cliff McNish is the acclaimed author of the Doomspell trilogy. His other work includes The Silver Sequence series, Angel, and Breathe (Carolrhoda Books). He is married and has a teenage daughter, for whose entertainment he made up his first stories.

Editorial Reviews

Fifteen-year-old Savannah has bounced around among foster parents all her life and is plagued by constant uneasiness (and, lately, a sore throat). When Savannah meets the mysterious Reece, she soon discovers that there's more to her—and to her throat—than she realized. Savannah has superhuman strength, speed, and healing abilities, but even more powerful is the bansheelike stream of sounds that project from strange growths in her throat, which click and "billow" of their own accord and lash out destructively when threatened. Savannah's first-person narration alternates with a third-person history of the monsters she has been designed to destroy. McLish (Angel) has his horror movie–ready details and twists down pat, but he's most interested in his monsters—the story's most complex and intriguing characters—from the Horror, gruesome yet childlike, to the Ocrassa, which has used the animal kingdom like a smorgasbord, picking useful traits to become the planet's most dominant creature. Savannah, Reece, and the other humans feel like exactly what they are: pawns in an eons-old battle, as nature itself attempts to root out the ultimate invasive species. Ages 12–up. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Something strange is happening to fifteen-year-old Savannah Grey. At night, her throat clicks, whirrs, and gurgles. She cannot shake the feeling that someone or something is watching her and that her throat and voice feel like they are becoming a weapon. Things become even odder when she meets Reece, a mysterious boy who is experiencing the same issues. Savannah's throat seems set on protecting her, causing her to strike out at anyone who gets too close, including Reece. Inexplicably, Savannah feels protective of whatever has taken up residence in her throat. Though it controls and frightens Savannah, she intuitively feels it is something precious and will play in important role in some unknown future event. Before long, Savannah encounters complex and bizarre monsters—the Ocrassa, the Horror, and the Nyktomorph. When Reece is attacked by the Horror, Savannah must figure out who the real monster is and must work out how the thing in her throat can stop all this. The ending provides a plot twist few will see coming. This unusual story is truly unique. Perhaps most interesting of all is not Savannah's strange affliction, but the monsters. The Ocrassa, a shrewd opportunist thriving and evolving since prehistoric times, the Horror, a childlike imp, and the rebellious Nyktomorph are surprisingly multifaceted. The solid writing presents a very curious story in a matter of fact tone that somehow make the events feel all the more ominous; this is something that will happen, that must happen. In a genre filled with recognizable supernatural creatures, this book stands out as a thoughtful and intriguing paranormal tale. Reviewer: Amanda MacGregor

Children's Literature - Amanda MacGregor

Gr 7 Up—Savannah Grey's throat has felt very strange for a long time. Her foster mother tells her that she's been making unusual sounds in her sleep—squeaks, clicks, even an odd liquid sound. Things might be looking up for her, though, because her friend Nina has a boy that Savannah just has to meet. Reece is different from other boys her age and he, too, has something wrong with his throat. During a hospital visit, Savannah suddenly has on overwhelming desire to protect her throat, striking out at the doctor and then fleeing the building. With the aid of Nina and her phone's camera, she finds brown lumps and yellow stripes in her throat. She feels certain that these unusual structures are a sonic weapon meant to keep her safe from a monster that is lurking nearby. She has, in fact, already been visited by a monster with a doglike body but star-shaped head. To top that off, the Horror has donned a blonde wig and yellow dress and attempts to confine its movements to those of ballet. Interspersed with the chapters focusing on Savannah, her struggle to understand her new powers, and her growing relationship with Reece are others that focus on the real villain, the Ocrassa, a creature alien to Earth that has evolved over time to be a nearly perfect killing machine. While McNish writes action well, he just doesn't sell the weird throat-as-weapon concept. Neither weird noises as weapons nor ballet-loving, star-headed dog monsters are convincing.—Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapids, WI

School Library Journal

Fifteen-year-old Savannah Grey discovers that she can bench press 725 pounds, outrun anyone in her school and has a mysterious growth in her throat that instills a killing power. At first Savannah is confused and frightened by her powers, but then she meets Reece, a boy with a similar condition of the larynx, who tells her who she is and what she's meant to do. Together the two wage a battle against a cadre of ill-named, Scooby-Doo–esque buffoons/beasts (the Horror! the Nyktomorph!) in order to save themselves and the world. McNish's latest is chock-full of clunky plotting, cheesy one-liners and hokey supernatural nuances. If teen readers can make it past the first chapter, in which a slobbering, toothy monster—aka The Horror—sneaks into Savannah's room to spy on her, without laughing out loud, then they might make it far enough to discover the back story behind these foolish monsters. The tale struggles with audience: While the theme and the action sequences seem to suggest that the work is written for teens, the tone, dialogue and descriptive passages lack edge and read as if they were written for middle graders. The supernatural theme could pique the interests of reluctant readers, but they really deserve more than this work could ever offer. (Horror. 12 & up)

Kirkus Reviews