Undercurrent

by Paul Blackwell

Overview

In Undercurrent, Paul Blackwell’s fast-paced YA thriller, sixteen-year-old Callum Harris survives a plummet over a waterfall, but wakes to find himself in a life that’s totally different from the one he knew.
 
His parents were separated. Now they’re together. His brother Cole was a sports star. Now he’s paralyzed. And Callum, who used to be quiet and sort of unpopular, is suddenly a jock with two hot girls after him.
 
But there’s one difference that matters more than all the others combined: His former best friend wants Callum dead. And he isn’t the only one.
 
Tense and original, Undercurrent is a psychological thrill-ride with sci-fi elements that will appeal to fans of Neil Gaiman and Neal Shusterman.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062123503
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	07/23/2013
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	14 Years

About the Author

Paul BLackwell never went over a waterfall himself, but he has jumped off a sixty-foot cliff. Once was enough.

This is his first book for teens. He lives in Montreal, Quebec.

Editorial Reviews

Blackwell writes with a crisp, clean style, keeping up suspense and providing nicely off-kilter elements in character and detail.

Toronto Star

A menacing, suspenseful thriller. Hand this to fans of Mary Pearson’s The Adoration of Jenna Fox (2008), Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate’s Eve and Adam (2012), and the novels of Neal Shusterman.

Booklist

A pure concept thriller…the riveting opening and intense final scene will keep genre fans satisfied and breathless.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

When Callum wakes up to find himself lying in a hospital bed, he has no idea what happened or how he got there. Apparently, he has jumped off a waterfall in the town of Crystal Falls and no one knows why. As Cal tries to put the pieces of this confusing puzzle together, he learns the life he woke up to is far different from the one he remembers. First of all, his parents, who were on the verge of divorce, seem happily married; the most popular girl at school, who never liked him, is visiting him on his sick bed; and his brother is paralyzed from an accident, from which Cal remembers his brother walking away. Callum seems to have awoken in some kind of alternate universe and wants to get back to his normal life as soon as possible. Teens who enjoy suspenseful books will want to pick up this new thriller the next time they visit their local library or bookstore. This novel is thoroughly enjoyable and takes the reader on a great journey as Callum tries to discover what happened to him when he went off the waterfall. The author makes the story a page-turner and the ending leaves the reader hoping we will be able to return to Callum's world again. Reviewer: Margaret Capobianco

VOYA - Margaret Capobianco

A potentially deadly trip over a waterfall turns out to be the least of teenage Cal's problems. Callum "Cal" Harris has survived the falls, a journey few others have. But the town of Crystal Falls in which Cal wakes to find himself is vastly different from the one he remembers. Cal is feared at school, he has a hot girlfriend, his best friend seems to hate him, and his beloved older brother is comatose. Struggling to adapt to this new reality, Cal feels hunted by an unknown presence that seems bent on thwarting his attempts to fit in. Blackwell's debut for teens attempts to explore the concept of the multiverse, how the past shapes the present and the perception of reality, but it does none of it well. There's no narrative tension, no character development and no compelling reason to turn the page. Callum is an incessant whiner, which is understandable given that he has jumped universes and woken in completely new circumstances, but it also makes it difficult to generate any sympathy for him or his plight. While the multiverse has potential as a narrative device, Blackwell simply falls into the tired evil-twin trope and leaves it half finished. The framework never jells, leaving the plot points suspended in the mist of the falls themselves. (Thriller. 14 & up)

Kirkus Reviews

Thoroughly enjoyable. A page-turner.

VOYA