Friday, April 24, 2015

The Silence - Tim Lebbon

The Silence
Tim Lebbon
Titan Books, Apr 14 2015, $14.95
www.titanbooks.com
ISBN: 9781781168813

The Discovery Channel covers live a team exploring a cave in Northern Moldova.  However, while on the air the scientific expedition turns tragic when an unknown predatory species of apparently the bat family attacks the crew leaving several humans dead to the horror of the TV and Internet audience. 

Not long after that tragedy, these ravenous cave dwellers leave their subterranean home with a vengeance for the surface.  Using an intensified highly powerful sonar sense, the hordes spread across Europe killing anything in their path.  World leaders and the science community are at loss as to how to end the terror before a new species takes over the top of the food chain.  As mankind teeters on the brink of extinction, a deaf English teenager who has followed the horror on social media is the last hope for any to survive; as she understands firsthand how to live in a “Sounds of Silence” (Simon and Garfunkle) world.

Although the premise of a species threatening humanity is not new, Tim Lebbon provides a refreshing young adult take on the theme.  Readers, who ignore their plausibility meter that a young teen whose only credential is deafness can lead the way to staying safe, will cheer on courageous Ally as she tries to teach her family silence is the new world order.


Harriet Klausner

No comments: