PRAISE FOR UNDERTOW: “Undertow overflows with innovative, terrifying monsters — human, emotional and undersea. Landmark Coney Island becomes a dystopian state where two different species battle for dominance, and Lyric Walker is both a unique, quirky heroine and a fearless crusader. Allegorical and romantic, the book nevertheless reads like an action movie with especially awesome CGI.”— E. Lockhart, author of We Were Liars and The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks “Undertow crashes over you in waves of emotion, allowing glimpses of family and loyalty, before dragging you into the depths of human prejudice, cultural mistrust, and political corruption. Once you resurface, you'll view the world through different eyes.”—A.G. Howard, author of the critically acclaimed Splintered Series “Undertow will unexpectedly grab hold and pull you out into a world of epic romance and gritty suspense. A must-read tale of how love can survive under the most dangerous circumstances. It will leave you gasping for air, and for more.”—Tonya Hurley, NYT bestselling author of the ghostgirl series and The Blessed Trilogy “A gritty, turbulent novel as sweeping and deep as the ocean itself. UNDERTOW will pull you in and hold you down.”—Rebecca Serle, author of When You Were Mine, and The Edge of Falling “Lyric is a girl’s girl—as savvy as she is soulful, as sharp as she is tender. Lyric’s fierce, distinctive voice is the core magnetic force of UNDERTOW, and why we will all be stampeding for more.”
—Adele Griffin, author of All You Never Wanted and The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone
• "Sharp political commentary and strong parallels to the treatment of minorities in the U.S. ground the world in reality, while the well-rounded and ethnically diverse supporting cast will cause readers to root for them...the breathtaking action and cliff-hanger conclusion will leave teens desperate for more."—School Library Journal, starred review "There are some nice parallels to the civil rights movement and school integration in this novel, but the real attraction for most readers will be the romance and action, both of which are in high supply...should please readers looking supernatural romance with a bit of a twist."—VOYA "Civilization’s end is fast and furious in Michael Buckley’s Undertow. Cut your nails before reading or you will find yourself biting them off."—Campus Circle "Readers will find themselves immersed in this semi-edgy, race-against-the-clock world that's waiting to implode."—Kirkus "Buckley packs this propulsive novel with one walloping scene after another, and there's enough action, romance, and high-stakes drama to keep a wide array of readers interested."—Booklist "Buckley draws clear parallels between the vicious anti-Alpha attitudes and existing racial and ethnic prejudices...A fascinating, engaging, and tense tale, and a strong start to the series."—Publishers WeeklyPRAISE FOR RAGING SEA: "Fans of the first title will clamor for this sequel."—School Library Journal
2015-11-25
After the aquatic Rusalka's initial invasion in Undertow (2015), Alpha-human hybrid Lyric is a wanted terrorist looking for her family. Sometimes-enemy, sometimes-ally Doyle has revealed that the secret facility experimenting on captive Alphas and their families is in Texas. Lyric evades both a national manhunt (she's been publically declared the terrorist behind the attack on Coney Island) and roadblocks (designed to stifle the flow of refugee Coasters, those from the East Coast running for safety) with the help of human best friend Bex and Alpha warrior Arcade. Arcade trains Lyric for war, while Bex worries that Lyric's enjoying violence far too much. Complicating everything is the fact that Arcade is the fiancee of Lyric's love interest. The girls almost succeed in getting to the facility before the ruthless government contractors running it find them. (Since the operation is too dirty for the military, and corporations are so good at avoiding responsibility for egregious atrocities, torture has been privatized.) The sequence that follows is marked by a variety of betrayals and leads to a plan in which half-Alpha children like Lyric are sent to fight the Rusalka. Some plot elements may fail to hold water under close scrutiny, but frequent action scenes do much to distract readers. The characters' self-awareness and the importance given to friendships keep the romantic plots out of cliché territory. Watery fun right up to the cliffhanger for readers willing to go with the flow. (Fantasy. 13 & up)
