The Secret Runners of New York by Matthew Reilly Underrated Gem

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⭐⭐⭐⭐ Stars

From the Back Cover

' The windows on all the skyscrapers are smashed . . .
No power, no lights, no people . . .
It's a parallel New York of some kind. '

THE COMING END

When Skye Rogers and her twin brother Red move to Manhattan, rumours of a coming global apocalypse are building. But this does not stop the young elite of New York from partying without a care.

CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET?

And then suddenly Skye is invited to join an exclusive gang known as the Secret Runners of New York.
But this is no ordinary clique - they have access to an underground portal that can transport them into the future. And what Skye discovers in the future is horrifying: the rumours about the coming apocalypse are true . . .

RUN! AS FAST AS YOU CAN!

As society crumbles and Skye and Red race to figure out how to use their knowledge to survive the impending annihilation, they soon discover that the chaotic end of the world is a fine time for revenge . . .


The Secret Runners of New York - Review

This book was in my TBR for a long time from the time it was released very unlike my normal approach to MR's books. 

This was my rebound book after the horror of Cobalt Blue and I was disappointed with myself for keeping athis book in the backburner TBR list for so long. 

This is a dystopian wonder and sometimes makes me wonder how Matthew would write a pureplay post-apocalyptic series, probably something like a Scarecrow or Jack west on steroids. We have seen some of this mettle in the Hover Car Racer and Troll Mountain. His control over the story in The Great Zoo also highlights this potential range. Till the time he decides to go down that road, I will be satisfied that he has written this book. 

This dystopian wonder has similarities to parts of the French revolution. 

Reilly has put the screws in the book with the upper crust of Manhattan, a sci-fi time portal that allows the protagonists and access information to a certain bloodline through generations to access a certain timeline in the future. 

The story is underrated amongst the rest of Reilly's books. 

The story is very well written and as a young adult adventure, the protagonists and the family ties which are the crux of the story. 

The book starts innocuously with the siblings Skye and Red enrolled into the snootiest school in Manhattan where all the upper crust families' children went to. Their classmates are virtually plucked out of the Cruel Intentions and all the similar growing of age movies like Wild Things, Mean Girls, etc. The have weird tastes, weird friendships almost cultish and even vulgar ways of displaying their tastes, likes and dislikes. The dislikes manifest themselves in extremely horrifying actions with intent to harm the target physically or mentally. Most of the students seem to have a few marbles out of space and time with certifiable streaks which keep manifesting in their actions. Their interactions and the heights to which they are willing to go, in the whole story takes the book to another level. 

The protagonist Skye joins the school for the rich and merciless and falls with some of the extreme hip people. The portal is a surprise and it hits our girl, with equally mixed messages in the news and a possible end of the world scenario. The story progresses into a spree in the future and every back and forth through the portal makes for some very difficult life decisions. 

The story goes beyond the portal and after the end of world with existence and rebuilding aiding the story. 

The after effects of the end of world is also very well written and after being a Reilly fan for over two decades, I am still amazed that this is one avenue that he has not explored enough. 

I have seen some of the streaks in Troll Mountain and would love to read more.   

Recommended for the adventure. 


⭐⭐⭐⭐ Stars

Recommended



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