Book Review: In a Split Second by Sophie McKenzie

In a Split Second is billed as a thriller -- and it is -- if you can suspend some disbelief and just have fun with it. It is also supposed to be a "romantic thriller," and while there is a romance building, it's not a central theme.

Charlie's mother was killed in a terrorist bombing in London. A very poor, future London where the economy has been decimated and the public has lost all trust in the government. Charlie ends up living with her aunt and uncle who are very rich, and much better off than she and her mother ever were.

She meets Nat at school. Nat's brother has been in a coma ever since the same explosion. Nat has found evidence that his brother was actually involved in the bombing and wants to find out who his associates are that put him up to this. Charlie finds out some information that makes her think Nat is the one that planted the bomb.

So Nat has to come clean to Charlie. They both end up involved in an organization, also secret, that supposedly is trying to find the same people that Nat and Charlie want to find and make them pay for all the damage they have done and stop them from doing more.

Nat and Charlie, along with two other teens are trained to become a terrorist "cell" and their assignment is to infiltrate the bad guys and find out what they have planned next.

Yea, it's kind of far-fetched. I had to do some eye rolling. Nat and Charlie are at times very gullible. They didn't notice any of those red flags that jumped out at me. They also seem to take to this underground life very easily. They learn their combat and espionage skills almost magically. And, of course, they become romantically interested in each other.

Which is the other problem I had with In a Split Second. I hated the distrust and misread signals between these two. They are constantly thinking the other one isn't interested anymore -- for no real reason. There's a lot of wining about each other that I could have done without.

In a Split Second is fast-paced. The story is easy to follow, even with the dual narration. There is a nice build up of tension and of course, a twist at the end. This phase of the story has a nice conclusion, but there is definitely more story to tell. I would recommend In a Split Second to teens who want a fast-paced political thriller. I'm not sure there's enough depth to the story for most adults or those with more experience with this type of story, but it will hold younger readers' interest.

Published by Simon & Schuster BFYR, March 10, 2015
eARC obtained from Edelweiss
368pages

Rating: 3.5/5

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