Infected

by Sophie Littlefield

Overview

"Nail-biting action with a scientifically and technologically involved plotline gives this novel an edge, and, moreover, the character development is surprisingly rich given the fast pace of the narrative; the weight of the themes also keeps the story from reading like a movie script. Red herrings keep the reader guessing until the end. Hard to put down." —Booklist 

The race-against-the-clock feel of TV’s popular show 24 meets the action-packed romance of the film Run Lola Run. This high-concept teen thriller sends readers on the race of their lives.

Carina’s senior year is spiraling downward. Fast. Both her mother and her uncle, the only two family members she’s ever known, are dead. Their deaths were accidents, unfortunate results of the highly confidential research they performed for a national security organization. Or so she’s been told.

She’s not buying it.

After finding a unique code hidden beneath the stone in a ring her mother left to her, Carina goes straight to the only family she has left: her boyfriend, Tanner.

The people Carina loved kept dangerous secrets. Secrets that make her question the life she’s been living up to now. Her life is on the line, but more importantly, so is Tanner’s. And if she fails? He dies. 

Praise for Infected: 

"Littlefield has written a heart-stopping adventure about a future in which science has become humanity’s enemy. A thrilling read for those who enjoy mysteries, strong female protagonists, and a smattering of math and science references in their YA lit."--School Library Journal 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780385741064
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	01/06/2015
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.10(d)
Lexile:	920L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

SOPHIE LITTLEFIELD is the Edgar Award–nominated author of several thrillers for adults. She lives with her family in Northern California. Visit her online at sophielittlefield.com.

Editorial Reviews

10/27/2014
In Littlefield’s (Hanging by a Thread) page-turning thriller, high school seniors and track-and-field stars Carina Monroe and Tanner Sloan are infected with an experimental virus that gives them superhuman strength and endurance. The trouble, however, is that the virus comes with a fatal side effect—after 36 hours, it will begin a gruesome and irreversible attack on their nervous systems. Carina and Tanner race to find the antidote and, along the way, discover the secrets that Carina’s deceased mother and uncle were keeping about their scientific research. Pursued by stereotypical foreign gangsters, they also have to reckon with Carina’s menacing legal guardian, whom her uncle warned her against. Though derivative in its plot and occasionally cheesy (Tanner’s advantages over the villain include “heart, and courage—and love”), Littlefield’s novel serves up plenty of twists and exciting action sequences, as well as disturbing set-pieces like the video Carina and Tanner find of a man dying from the virus, which raises the stakes for them. Ages 12–up. Agent: Barbara Poelle, Irene Goodman Literary Agency. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

2014-10-06
This is a tale with all the elements popular in this phase of 21st-century teen lit, ranging from first (but oh-so-true) love to Eastern European bad guys to the age-old supermensch.Orphaned Carina Monroe loses her uncle in an apparent auto accident. Now she only has Tanner, whom she will lose all too soon to Berkley in September. Morose, disoriented, now under the thumb of her uncle's co-worker Sheila, Carina attends his memorial service surrounded by security agents who want to restrict her movements and her privacy. She learns from Sheila that her life is in danger, and if she wants to survive, she has to trust Sheila. Instead, Carina takes to her heels with only Tanner for support. Together and on the run, they follow clues her uncle left trying to guide them to safety, but they only find themselves deeper in danger. They also find that their senses and abilities are changing, giving them skills they never had before. They've been infected, and if they don't find the antidote fast, they're going to die horrible deaths—if the bad guys don't kill them first. There's little new here, from the plot to the characters—even Tanner's hunky frame and "cobalt-blue eyes" are tired clichés. Meant to be a fast-paced teen thriller, this instead is a derivative novel that is readable but all-too-familiar. (Thriller. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews

03/01/2015
Gr 7 Up—Seventeen-year-old Carina knows too well the pain of loss. A year ago, her mother committed suicide, and since then the teen has lived with her Uncle Walter. The book opens with Walter's memorial service after a fatal car crash. Sheila, another scientist from the Calaveras National Laboratory, where Walter and her mother worked, has taken her in. Carina discovers a secret letter from her uncle that reveals Sheila's sinister motives. She also learns of a hidden apartment containing his research. The teen and her boyfriend decide to pursue the clues Walter has left them to find out about the mysterious Project Venice. The two run away only to be hotly pursued by security guards. Project Venice, they learn, has nothing to do with its official description (nutrition) but instead deals with a synthetic virus that can improve the performance of U.S. soldiers on the battlefield. This highly classified virus can temporarily increase strength, mental processing, speed, and sensory perception. After 36 hours, however, if a soldier who has been exposed to the virus does not get the antidote, he will die violently. The duo realizes that they, too, have somehow become infected. Hunted down by different parties, they try every means of escape, including jumping off buildings, scaling fences, shooting darts, and hiding in sewer pipes. Time is not on their side as the 36th hour is fast approaching. Littlefield has written a heart-stopping adventure about a future in which science has become humanity's enemy. VERDICT A thrilling read for those who enjoy mysteries, strong female protagonists, and a smattering of math and science references in their YA lit.—Lillian Hecker, Town of Pelham Public Library, NY

School Library Journal

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