A Wonderfully Stormy Thriller - Eye of the Storm

Premise: Set about 40 years in the future when the planet has seen a dramatic increase in monster storms. Jaden has arrived in Oklahoma to spend the summer with her father, a weather scientist, at a special science camp run by his company, Storm Safe, in a community where tornadoes seem to change direction at the last minute. Something doesn't seem right about the camp, community, or Jaden's father. When a huge tornado threatens everything, she must decide to protect her father or discover the truth.

Title: Eye of the Storm
Author: Kate Messner
Length: 304 pages
Genre: Science Fiction
Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Content appropriate for: Grades 4-8

Three adjectives that describe this book: addictive, fast-paced, intense

True confession: I read the last 200 pages of this book in one sitting. That's how much this plot drives forward. Chock full of science experiments, research, data, and number crunching, at first glance it doesn't seem like Eye of the Storm should be such a page-turner. But Messner's skillful writing trumps all, ratcheting up the intensity with every truth uncovered and suspicious question revealed.

The only weak spot in Eye of the Storm is that the characters are a bit flat and almost type-cast:
* Jaden and Alex are nerdy problem solvers.
* Risha is a bit too boy crazy.
* Jaden's father is distant and fake.
* His new French-ballerina wife is happy to take care of the baby and have dinner ready for her husband.

Yep - these characters are thin. Still, it didn't bother me much because the focus is really on the plot and this crazy storm-filled future.

I absolutely loved this novel's action, suspense, greedy villains, and the way it made science, math, and even poetry cool.

5 stars