Lies is the third in the 'Gone' series. In Gone everyone over 15 vanished in an instant, leaving the kids to struggle with what had happened. In Hunger, the monstrous gaiaphage revealed itself in the nearby mine. Now in Lies, everything the town has built is threatening to come down around them.
The Council have taken some of the pressure off Sam, but he still holds himself responsible for everything that happens in the town. When Zil, part of the Human Crew, starts stirring up trouble, Sam wants to deal with him once and for all. The Council refuse.
Meanwhile Orsay has become known as the Prophetess. The children believe she's in touch with the world outside the FAYZ, their sealed little bubble. The messages she relays seem to say that the kids who vanish on their fifteenth birthday – take the poof, as the kids call it – have all reappeared in the real world. More and more kids are contemplating taking the poof.
When Zil finally attacks the consequences are tragic. But through the smoke and flames of Zil's rampage an old enemy is spotted. Someone everyone believed to be dead...
Reading any of the Gone books always poses a dilemma. You're not going to want to put it down for any reason. So far three books in the projected six-book series have been published, one about every six months. It's not fast enough. These books are heartstopping, breathtaking thrillers and they never let up.
Gone, the first book, takes place over the course of twelve and a half days, with an epilogue a few days later. Hunger, set three months later, covers only five days, again with an epilogue three days later. Four months on, Lies covers almost three days. The intervals are getting shorter, but the books themselves are not and it makes for a much more intense story.
I loved the brief glimpse of life outside the FAYZ, though Grant cleverly doesn't tell us whether it's real or an illusion provided to Orsay by the Darkness. The new kids are a nice touch as well; in an enclosed environment, it should be hard to introduce new characters, but Grant pulls it off so well that they never feel shoehorned in. At the same time the regular characters are not neglected; several have breakdowns of one kind or another in the course of the story, and it's painful watching them wrestle their way back to something approaching normalcy.
Can't wait for the next book, Plague, or indeed the final two – Darkness and Light.
Parents be warned; there is violence in this book, some quite severe.
'You ok, man?'
Sam didn't answer. He peered into the darkness. Searched the shadows. Clenched. Ready.
Finally, he forced hims fists to relax. Forced himself to take a breath. 'I've never set out to hurt anyone,' Sam said.
Edilio waited.
'I never set out thinking I'm going to kill someone. I go into a fight and I think, maybe I'll have to hurt someone. Yeah. I think that. And I have. You know; you've been there.'
'Yeah, I've been there,' Edilio said.
'If it's him, though, if Drake is somehow back...it's not going to be about just doing what I have to do. You know?'
Edilio did not answer.
'I've done what I had to do. To save people. Or to save myself. This won't be like that. If it's him, I mean.'
'Dude, it's Zil. Zil and the Human Crew did this.'
Sam shook his head. 'Yeah. Zil. But I know he's out there, Edilio. I Know Drake is out there. I feel it.'
'Sam...'
'If I see him, I'll kill him,' Sam said. 'Not self defence. I'm not waiting until he attacks. I see him, I burn him.'
Edilio grabbed him by both shoulders and got in his face. 'Hey! Listen to me, Sam. You're getting freaked out here. The problem is Zil. Ok? We have real problems, we don't need nightmares. And anyway, we don't do cold blooded murder. Not even if it is Drake.'
Sam firmly pried Edilio's hands off his shoulders. 'If it's Drake, I'm burning him down. If you and Astrid and the rest of the council want to arrest me for doing it, fine. But I'm not sharing my life with Drake Merwin.'
'Well, you do what you got to do, Sam, and I will too. Right now what we got to do is figure out what Zil is up to. So, I'm going to go and do that. You want to come? Or do you want to stand here in the dark talking about murder?'
Edilio stomped away, swinging his machine pistol down into firing position.
For the first time, Sam followed Edilio.
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