Nightrise

A Company Out to Destroy the World for Greed, and All Evil Breaking Loose, What’s Else?**
 * Telepathic Twins,

By Heather Lin Nightrise Anthony Horowitz. 365 pages. Scholastic Press. $17.99.

Abandoned as children, moving from one foster home to another until they are recruited for a rundown magic show in bad side of Reno, these twins aren’t very special, right? No. Jamie and Scott are connected to each other through telepathy and somehow to an ancient group of kids, the Gatekeepers, whose purpose is to imprison evil forces. There are five children total including Jamie and Scott. Now the time has come for Jamie and Scott to unite with the other three children to do what the Gatekeepers did 10,000 years ago. The suspense grows for many things are going wrong, how could anything go right? Whether or not they will succeed is still unknown. Anthony Horowitz introduces in Nightrise an alternate universe of mystical characters, fascinating powers, and intertwined fates. A place where the Old Ones were locked away by supernatural gates created by destined children so they could no longer wreak havoc upon the world. The Gatekeepers have come back to thwart the Old Ones from escaping their deteriorating prison. Each child has a story in the series The Gatekeepers where they face their greatest fears and discover their destinies. This is Jamie and Scott’s story. Jamie always acted like the younger brother and Scott the older. So what happens if Scott is taken away by Nightrise, a mystery company, that is forming to destroy the Gatekeepers? Now it is up to Jamie to step up and save his brother. Jamie must reach deep inside and find the courage to do whatever it takes to get Scott back. He needs to outwit Nightrise and their top security, heavily guarded, containment facility just to reach his brother. Suddenly, Jamie finds himself in a different time and world where things have gone from bad to worst. Evil and chaos is reigning all over the world and killing everything in its path. He experiences the most morbid and devastating situations. How will he ever find Scott now? Horowitz creates very descriptive situations in the reader’s mind through his writing. He describes details, both interesting and important, to create a picture in the reader’s mind. Some details of a place or person could be referenced later in the book, so it keeps the reader’s mind sharp. The style of writing is straight to the point while being descriptive. The author doesn’t give much unnecessary information allowing the author to hold interest. Although the writing style is not as sophisticated as some, it still supplies the necessary information throughout the book for the reader to predict the secrets of the book. The circumstances in the book can be found in many other fantasy books, but Horowitz does not follow these clichés to the same end. The choices, actions, and results of the characters are very far from expected. The reader’s predictions and anticipations are always wrong leaving the reader unsure of a satisfying outcome. By their teen years, Jamie and Scott star in a pitiful magic show as telepathic twins that capture the most attention of the dreary audience. Only few know that it is not an act, but actually telepathy. Their “uncle” Don even states, “The other acts in the show…they’re nothing. But those kids are special.” These twins never liked leaping into the window to a person’s mind and see all the cruel and horrible things that happened in the past, but it comes with the territory though they prefer keep to themselves, just the two of them with their safe and familiar minds. One day, at the seven o’clock show, two peculiar men with stylish suits, polished shoes, and terrifying faces appear in the crowd. The show is a disaster and bizarre things start to happen: the link between Scott and Jamie is tampered with and they find the windows into each other’s minds opening and closing randomly. These enigmatic men drug and capture Scott, but Jamie has enough time to escape, promising to himself and his brother that he will come back to rescue Scott. “Jamie took one last look at his brother. Scott was lying facedown on the pavement, one hand outstretched, the other folded beneath him. The dart was still hanging out of his cheek. His eyes were closed. There was nothing Jamie could do for him. He fell forward into the car.”

While trying to find his brother Jamie discovers the past in an abnormal and frightening way. Jamie suddenly finds himself in a different time and place, to be exact 10,000 years ago in a world that is gradually dying. He learns the truth about his and Scott’s destiny and what their futures hold. The details of the characters, their thoughts, and their actions are exceptionally written so that the reader feels involved and relates with the characters even though it is an alternate world. Each new character that is introduced has some sort of past, whether it was good or bad or some gray in the middle. Indeed, even Jamie and Scott have a dark secret of their own past. Horowitz finds a way to intertwine their pasts, presents, and futures, in a realistic and believable way. Nightrise is a suspenseful read that will keep the reader interested in mystery of the secrets that both good and evil are holding. This dark story brings the reader to a world where good has triumphed over evil before, but might not necessarily win again. Many things go wrong for these children, so will the strength between these five children may or may not be enough to stop the Old Ones?