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Summary
Summary
Jake King is a full-fledged adrenaline junkie. He'll jump off of a waterfall, ride his bike down the side of a mountain, rock climb without harnesses...... anything to feel the rush. Besides his best friend and secret love of his life, the beautiful Salome Lee, getting his adrenaline pumping is the only thing that clears his head. So when he's offered a spot on a hotshot crew of firefighters who rappel into wildfires, it's the perfect opportunity. Never mind that the crew members call themselves the Immortals, and that they have a habit of dying young. Salome knows there's more to the crew's mortality rate than bad luck, and to save Jake, she puts their friendship - and their unspoken romance - on the line. But to Jake, firefighting is like breathing pure adrenaline. And if he doesn't stop soon, they could all get burned. . . .
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 8 Up-Jake King, 18, relies on extreme sports for the adrenaline rush that clears his "brain cloud" and focuses his thoughts. He's suspended from school after a reckless climb up the town water tower severely injures a family friend. Jake spins his wheels, nursing a crush on girl-next-door Salome, until he gets an offer to join a crew of hotshot helicopter-rappelling firefighters known as the Immortals. His brother Scottie warns him that the Immortals are cursed, but for Jake the prospect of rappelling into a wildfire is too much to resist. Jake uncovers a secret society, the Rush Club, headed by menacing Immortals leader Mox Stone. Initiation involves risky stunts that have left numerous recruits dead. Jake opts in, hoping to destroy the Rush Club from the inside and stop these unnecessary deaths. By the time that Jake finally realizes that Salome is the only rush he really needs, it's too late to back out of the initiation, a dangerous cliff dive. It's unclear why Jake keeps Salome at arm's length for so long when they are clearly crazy about each other, and her motivations are confusing. Some listeners may find their attention flagging during the overly long sections between action scenes, but the allure of firefighting and a sinister secret society should help overcome these problems. Nick Landrum's smooth, restrained reading elevates Jonathan Friesen's uneven novel (Penguin/Speak, 2010).-Amy V. Pickett, Ridley High School, Folsom, PA (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Friesen's (Jerk, California) sophomore effort mars the excitement of rappelling into wildfires with flat characters that seem more motivated by the needs of the plot than real development. Jake King feels compelled to risk his life, as the thrill of danger is one of the only things that brings him out of his mental cloud. Another such thing: the awkwardly named Salome Lee, his gorgeous neighbor who rejects all other boys as she holds out for Jake. When Jake gets kicked out of school for injuring someone during a stunt, his father pulls strings and gets him assigned to a group of elite firefighters who fight wildfires that are too tough for regular forces. He falls in with an elite subgroup known as the Immortals, and quickly realizes that there are more dangers in the wilderness than just the fires. Friesen never sells the romance between Salome and Jake, two 18-year-olds with almost no social skills, and too many of the other characters--notably Jake's father, his older brother, and an arrogant firefighter, Moxie--are paper-thin archetypes. Ages 12-up. (June) Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.
Booklist Review
Eighteen-year-old Jake's latest stunt got him kicked out of school, but that's small potatoes to a kid who scales bare mountain rock in the pouring rain and dives off treacherous waterfalls without blinking. It's all for the rush, which erases the itching numbness of normal life; when free-falling, he thinks: I'm Jake King, small and stupid and reeling with a glorious panic. Though he has avoided the firefighting life of his father and older brother and much of their town now it seems like the only way to salvage his troubled life. Just like that, he is hired on to a hotshot heli-rappeling crew alongside men so badass they debate dinner choices while beating back blazes. Quickly Jake clashes with Mox, the leader of an elite group called the Immortals, as well as a secret society called the Rush Club a grim brotherhood of daredevils that Jake is simultaneously attracted to and repelled by. Friesen's thrill ride benefits from its unusual setting and its pulse-pounding action (and romance!), making it go down like a six-pack of Red Bull.--Kraus, Daniel Copyright 2010 Booklist