Description
The city authorities have abandoned the D-Zone as damaged beyond repair. It's a no-go area where ongoing earthquakes threaten to destroy what's left. But Jonah and Bas and everyone else trying to survive in the devastation there can't leave-they're 'illegals', without citizenship, without rights.
Jonah can see the quakes-before the ground shudders and grinds, before the buildings fall. Glimpsing is a rare ability and a great survival asset. It has attracted the attention of the entertainment company GlimpseCorp and the cult movement People for a New Nation. Both are desperate to control and cash in on this remarkable power.
When Bas joins People for a New Nation and disappears, Jonah knows his friend is in great danger.
And he knows that GlimpseCorp, with its reality TV program, offers a way to save him-and a way to bring new hope to the people of the D-Zone.
But Jonah's plan puts everything, including his own life, at risk.
Glimpse is a compelling adventure, an intriguing story of conflict, power, manipulation, love and friendship, set in richly imagined world that is in many ways very much like our own.
Review
Jonah and his friends Bas and Evie are surviving in the abandoned D-Zone. After the initial earthquake, the area was deemed unimportant and too dangerous to repair. They can’t leave because they don’t have citizenship and are considered to be illegals.
The quakes have continued and there are still many every day - but Jonah and some others have a gift where they can glimpse the quakes just before they start. A useful warning device, but naturally there are those that want to exploit this ability in order to gain power and money for themselves…
Those like GlimpseCorp, who make a highly successful reality TV show that tries to uncover those with the power to glimpse. And like the quickly growing cult, People for a New Nation, who are going around telling people that they can be reunited with relatives who died in the earlier quakes, and that a new safe world is about to come true. When Bas is intoxicated by the cult and the belief that he can get both his Mum and little sister back, his friendship with Jonah and Evie is ruined.
But is it too late? Can he come to his senses in time to help his friends show the world the ruthless and extreme lengths that both the cult and GlimpseCorp will go for fame, ratings, money and power?
This is a terrific teenage novel, that is in no way graphic or gory, but shows a post-apocalyptic world and the human instinct for survival. With greed and corruption at the highest levels, can they be exposed by the teenagers who are working together for a better world? A powerful story suitable for all teenage readers.
Reviewed by Rob
