Are you ready to fight?
Abducted in the dead of night by a mountainous thug and a ginger-haired dwarf, eighteen-year-old Jack Flint is taken to an underground bunker where he and a group of other teens are forced to fight an implacable enemy in a dream world rife with danger.
Whiplash is a fast-paced story set with a rich and intricately detailed fantasy world where nightmarish creatures from the world of dreams threaten the waking world and teens with the ability to lucid dream must fight in a war for humanity's survival. Above the throng, powerful demigods vie for control while Jack and his companions struggle to find a path out of the madness.
Perfect for fans of The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, Divergent and Ender's Game.
Are you ready to fight?
Abducted in the dead of night by a mountainous thug and a ginger-haired dwarf, eighteen-year-old Jack Flint is taken to an underground bunker where he and a group of other teens are forced to fight an implacable enemy in a dream world rife with danger.
Whiplash is a fast-paced story set with a rich and intricately detailed fantasy world where nightmarish creatures from the world of dreams threaten the waking world and teens with the ability to lucid dream must fight in a war for humanity's survival. Above the throng, powerful demigods vie for control while Jack and his companions struggle to find a path out of the madness.
Perfect for fans of The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, Divergent and Ender's Game.
It starts with a knock on my front door at 3 a.m. I figure itâs Amy. Sheâs lost her keys again and, instead of just breaking in through the bathroom window like any normal person, she starts hammering on the door waiting for old Jacky-boy to save the day.
Knock Knock Knock
I jam my head into the pillow and try to ignore the thudding.
Knock Knock Knock
The knocking gets louder, and my teeth start to grind. I slide out of bed and head down the stairs in my PJs. Itâs only once walking towards the corridor that I realise how badly I need a piss. First, I need to get the door and stop that damned knocking.
Knock Knock Knock
I open the door, expecting to see my sister half-tanked and grinning like a loon. Instead thereâs a ginger dwarf in the middle of the doorway looking up at me with an evil grin. The guy standing behind him is a mountain in a black suit who looks like heâs been carved out of solid rock.
Have I missed something? Halloweenâs not for months yet.
Ginger gives me a little nod. âWell, youâre not much to look at. Iâd peg you for machine gun fodder, but I suppose Giant has his reasons.â
âWha...what?â Iâm still half-asleep, so itâs hard to come up with words that make sense.
âLucky to survive your first month Iâd say,â the dwarf says, screwing up his nose like heâs just smelt something rank. âStill, what Giant wants, Giant gets.â
I manage to clear my head a little. âWho the hell are you guys? Did my sister send you? Is this some kind of weird joke?â
I reach around the back of the door, trying to find the baseball bat we leave there just âin caseâ. I figure Ginger wonât be a problem, but if Man-mountain decides he wants a fight, Iâll be elbow deep in three kinds of shit.
âWait, are you cops? Donât you need a warrant or something?â
Ginger chuckles at that. âNo lad. Not cops. Weâve come to bring you in. Weâre taking you to see the old man.â
While heâs still talking, Man-mountain starts moving. He pushes straight past me, shoving me aside with a meaty hand that feels like the business end of a wrecking ball. I stagger a little as the bruiser pushes past.
âDude, what the hell? You canât just go barging into someoneâs house like that. Itâs the middle of the night for Godâs sakes.â
I reach for the baseball bat but canât find it. The best I can manage is an old umbrella hanging on a hook behind the door. I think about jabbing the big guy in the back with the pointy end, but a few mental flashes of Man-mountain jamming the umbrella down my throat make me rethink the idea.
Instead, I wave the umbrella at the little guy with the suit. âLook, just tell me what you want. Are you looking for drugs or cash? We donât have much money, but I can probably find something.â
âHush lad,â Ginger says, stepping through the doorway. âWeâre not here to do you any harm. Think of us as a courier service, here to pick up a package and deliver it to our employer.â
âWhat package?â
He pulls something out of his pocket and jabs at my legs before I can stop it. Next thing I know Iâm lying on the floor with every muscle in my body going into spasms. It only lasts for a few seconds but, by the time itâs done, my body feels like itâs been savaged by a gorilla. Out of the corner of one eye I can see Ginger holding a Taser gun in one hand, still grinning. I try to say something, but my lips and tongue donât seem to want to play ball, they just slosh around uselessly in my mouth.
Man-Mountain and Ginger take their time doing whatever it is theyâre doing to the house. Meanwhile I lie on the floor waiting for the feeling to come back to my arms and legs. I rock my body back and forth until managing to get into an uncomfortable crouch. I try to stand just as Ginger comes back into view and sticks me with the Taser a second time.
Fire bursts through my body, tossing me to the floor like a rag doll.
âBest you donât make a fuss,â Ginger says as the big guy grabs my legs and starts tying them together.
Still aching from the Taser, I feel rough hands slap tape across my mouth and tie my hands in place behind my back. I try to scream as the big guy picks me up and throws me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I watch, upside down, as they carry me out to the street and dump me in the boot of a black sedan. I land on something hard which crushes my left nut as the boot lid comes slamming down. The car takes off, and I lie there with one aching testicle and a head full of questions. Â
After a few minutes the pain in my muscles has started to ease off. The boot smells like piss and wet dog. I figure itâs not the first time these lads have had someone stashed in the back of the sedan. Couriers, they said. Thatâs kind of a unique take on abduction, but at least they havenât damaged the goods too much yet.
Has to be a case of mistaken identity. Some rich kid from High Park shares my name and these goons have gone and picked up the wrong package. Theyâre gonna take me to their boss and try to ransom me back to some Wall Street wolf who isnât even missing a kid. What the hell are they gonna do when they find out itâs just me and Amy with a little over twenty bucks between us?
Panic hits me like a brick to the chest. I figure Iâve gotta get off this ride before they get where theyâre going. Just need to pull free of the ropes, pop the boot and run like a bastard until I canât run anymore. Hollywood style! I try to kick out the rear lights, thinking I can use the sharp plastic pieces or some bare metal to cut my ropes. I kick and kick until my leg cramps and seizes up.
It takes a few seconds for the pain to settle and then I start up again. After a few more minutes of kicking all Iâve got to show for it is a cramp in both legs and the mother of all wedgies climbing its way up my ass. Somehow the ropes around my calves have gotten tighter and now theyâre starting to cut off circulation.
The car veers sharply to one side and I slosh around, smacking my face against something hard and wet. We hit a speedbump so hard that I feel my whole body get airborne for a second before gravity slams me down hard and crushes my ear into a thick paste. I feel blood coming from somewhere as the car hits another speedbump.
This time I hit my head so hard the lights go out.Â
Whiplash is the first in the Rust Chronicle Series featuring epic world-building and an inventive, action-based plotline.Â
My first thought on reading the first couple of chapters was, "who the hell thought about this?" The concept is very unique, innovative, and entertaining while still maintaining a fairly simplistic writing style that is signature to Young Adult novels. The intricacy of the dream world and the layering of multiple realities has a definitive sci-fi quality that meshed well with the story. Â
The author did a great of easing readers into the world without overwhelming them which was great and allowed certain areas of mystique to blossom.Â
The main character, Jack is sixteen therefore I cannot fault him for his less than stellar smart-alec commentary. While his crude remarks were funny at the beginning, I honestly expected some character development or maturity coming down to the end of the novel. The diversity of the characters was great and there was a good range of personalities between Jack and the side characters.
The most interesting thing in this series has to be the jaw-dropping revelations. The author did a great job of keeping readers on their toes and just when you think you know what's going on they throw a cliffhanger that makes you question everything!
My only criticism would be how stilted Jack's narrative seems to be at certain points throughout the novel. I believe this can be resolved in the next novel so it's not a dealbreaker for me.Â
Thank you to Reedsy Discovery and the author for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.Â