Hunger (sequel to Gone)

by Michael Grant.

One day all the adults disappeared, and only children under fifteen were left in San Perdido, California. One day an impenetrable dome surrounded the town. One day all the children learned they were on their own, in a new world: the FAYZ.

Three months after the FAYZ occurred, life is still the same: the adults are gone, some children have superpowers, and Caine and Drake are still the menacing enemies. But now they are hungry.

As children go hungry, tempers flare, and a rift grows between the "normals" and the "moofs" (mutant freaks).

While Sam Temple, the protagonist, tries to create order out of chaos, find food, and mediate squabbles and fights, Caine - a cruel, power-hungry (with super powers to boot) kid from Coates Prep School - devises a way to topple Sam from his position of leadership. He decides to take over the local power plant.

But Caine's not the only enemy now. Sam and his friends are now fully aware of "The Hunger" a creature that lives underground and is growing more powerful and evil...

My Review:

Perhaps it's because I've read close to thousand pages of this series in the past two weeks, or perhaps it's the actual novel, but I felt like there was some real character development in this book. Astrid, Sam's girlfriend, and Edilio, Alberto, and Quinn (normals who are Sam's friends) become more interesting and create more depth in this fast-paced plot.

Once again, Grant's story was exciting and compelling - although for a brief spell (pages 200 to 300 or so) I lost interest.

Ethically, the book becomes more interesting as character have to deal with prejudices and mistrust between the moofs and the normals.

Each time you think you're unpeeling the mystery of the FAYZ, you find out there is another layer that you didn't know existed, and these mysteries have me chomping at the bit to read the next book: Lies.

Grade: B+