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Watchers #4
War
Nobody knows who the WATCHERS are. But they are around us. They observe us. They see the things we can't see....
Jake Branford loves war. He loves reading about war and writing about war. He wishes he could be in a war. Then he stumbles upon the set of a war movie. In the middle of the battlefield, Jake must fight for his life. The movie is slowly going out of control....
In fact, it might not be a movie at all.
Jake is about to see what war is really like.
Jake Branford loves war. He loves reading about war and writing about war. He wishes he could be in a war. Then he stumbles upon the set of a war movie. In the middle of the battlefield, Jake must fight for his life. The movie is slowly going out of control....
In fact, it might not be a movie at all.
Jake is about to see what war is really like.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
6 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
About the author
Peter Lerangis
152 books794 followersLerangis's work includes The Viper's Nest and The Sword Thief, two titles in the children's-book series The 39 Clues, the historical novel Smiler's Bones, the YA dark comedy-adventure novel wtf, the Drama Club series, the Spy X series, the Watchers series, the Abracadabra series, and the Antarctica two-book adventure, as well ghostwriting for series such as the Three Investigators, the Hardy Boys Casefiles, Sweet Valley Twins, and more than forty books in the series The Baby-sitters Club and its various spin-offs.[1] He has also written novels based on film screenplays, including The Sixth Sense, Sleepy Hollow, and Beauty and the Beast, and five video game novelizations in the Worlds of Power series created by Seth Godin.[2] As a ghostwriter he has been published under the name A. L. Singer.[3]
Lerangis is the son of a retired New York Telephone Company employee and a retired public-elementary-school secretary, who raised him in Freeport, New York on Long Island. He graduated from Harvard University with a degree in biochemistry, while acting in musicals[4] and singing with and musically directing the a cappella group the Harvard Krokodiloes,[5][6] before moving to New York. He worked there as an actor[7] and freelance copy editor for eight years before becoming an author.[8]
In 2003, Lerangis was chosen by First Lady Laura Bush to accompany her to the first Russian Book Festival, hosted by Russian First Lady Lyudmila Putina in Moscow.[9][10]Authors R. L. Stine (Goosebumps) and Marc Brown (the Arthur the Aardvark series) also made the trip with Bush.[9]
Also in 2003, Lerangis was commissioned by the United Kingdom branch of Scholastic to write X-Isle, one of four books that would relaunch the Point Horror series there.[11] A sequel, Return to X-Isle, was published in 2004.
In 2007, Scholastic announced the launch of a new historical mystery series called The 39 Clues, intended to become a franchise.[12] Lerangis wrote the third book in the series, The Sword Thief, published in March 2009.[13][14][15] On March 3, 2009, Scholastic announced that Lerangis would write the seventh book in the series, The Viper's Nest.[14][16]
Lerangis lives in New York City with his wife, musician Tina deVaron, and their sons Nick and Joe.[17]
Lerangis is the son of a retired New York Telephone Company employee and a retired public-elementary-school secretary, who raised him in Freeport, New York on Long Island. He graduated from Harvard University with a degree in biochemistry, while acting in musicals[4] and singing with and musically directing the a cappella group the Harvard Krokodiloes,[5][6] before moving to New York. He worked there as an actor[7] and freelance copy editor for eight years before becoming an author.[8]
In 2003, Lerangis was chosen by First Lady Laura Bush to accompany her to the first Russian Book Festival, hosted by Russian First Lady Lyudmila Putina in Moscow.[9][10]Authors R. L. Stine (Goosebumps) and Marc Brown (the Arthur the Aardvark series) also made the trip with Bush.[9]
Also in 2003, Lerangis was commissioned by the United Kingdom branch of Scholastic to write X-Isle, one of four books that would relaunch the Point Horror series there.[11] A sequel, Return to X-Isle, was published in 2004.
In 2007, Scholastic announced the launch of a new historical mystery series called The 39 Clues, intended to become a franchise.[12] Lerangis wrote the third book in the series, The Sword Thief, published in March 2009.[13][14][15] On March 3, 2009, Scholastic announced that Lerangis would write the seventh book in the series, The Viper's Nest.[14][16]
Lerangis lives in New York City with his wife, musician Tina deVaron, and their sons Nick and Joe.[17]
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 23, 2020
I am not a reader of war books and it took me a bit to get into this one compared to the other books in the series. Lerangis’ writing style is brilliant as always and in no time at all I was completely captivated. I couldn’t put the book down.
May 8, 2022
I've enjoyed all the previous Watchers books even though they're meant for a younger audience - simple characters, simple but twisty plots, with one common thread of surrealism weaving them all together. But this one just didn't do it for me.
There's a lot of things going against this one, and they may or may not just be personal preferences of mine. First off the main character is a war-obsessed kid. He spends all of his free time daydreaming about how great it would've been to live through the civil war, to FIGHT in the civil war. At least he isn't dreaming about being on the Confederate side, but still. Even the Watchers (whoever the heck they are) are kinda wary of him and his obsession.
Admittedly, none of the books have huge plot twists that an adult reader can't see coming. I acknowledge that these are for a younger audience. But I'm confident that even when I was the targeted age I wouldn't have bought into War. It's incredibly predictable and it becomes increasingly frustrating as the main character continues to act as if it's all fake.
The segments where the Watchers talk amongst themselves is even more vague than usual - lots of confusing pronouns and we have no idea who they're even talking about. Again, I know it's purposefully vague. The previous books are too, but with those you at least had some idea about what was going on. Maybe this time I just didn't care enough to give it much thought.
I'm of course still going to continue the series. I'm still hoping for some kind of explanation/pay off at the very end, but I wouldn't put it past the author to just keep being vague and mysterious.
There's a lot of things going against this one, and they may or may not just be personal preferences of mine. First off the main character is a war-obsessed kid. He spends all of his free time daydreaming about how great it would've been to live through the civil war, to FIGHT in the civil war. At least he isn't dreaming about being on the Confederate side, but still. Even the Watchers (whoever the heck they are) are kinda wary of him and his obsession.
Admittedly, none of the books have huge plot twists that an adult reader can't see coming. I acknowledge that these are for a younger audience. But I'm confident that even when I was the targeted age I wouldn't have bought into War. It's incredibly predictable and it becomes increasingly frustrating as the main character continues to act as if it's all fake.
The segments where the Watchers talk amongst themselves is even more vague than usual - lots of confusing pronouns and we have no idea who they're even talking about. Again, I know it's purposefully vague. The previous books are too, but with those you at least had some idea about what was going on. Maybe this time I just didn't care enough to give it much thought.
I'm of course still going to continue the series. I'm still hoping for some kind of explanation/pay off at the very end, but I wouldn't put it past the author to just keep being vague and mysterious.
October 26, 2017
Leaping straight into action, Peter Lerangis transfers sibling rivalry into deeply understood support while presenting a thoroughly modern and accessible insight to the American Civil War.
This complex novel seems simple in construction. Black pages slice the regular storytelling in a similar way to commercial breaks on television. Yet it provides a commentary upon the story itself by this subtle pace-adjuster.
The complexity of war is also given a multilevel coverage by time shifts and character placements.
But ultimately the huge weight of such issues is eased by the vehicle of storytelling, even when using the high technology production of modern filmmaking. Thus the reality of feeling produced by immersing oneself in story is juxtaposed by the intention to recreate authentically while knowing the impossibility of really knowing anyone else’s experience.
A remarkable feat in so few pages.
This complex novel seems simple in construction. Black pages slice the regular storytelling in a similar way to commercial breaks on television. Yet it provides a commentary upon the story itself by this subtle pace-adjuster.
The complexity of war is also given a multilevel coverage by time shifts and character placements.
But ultimately the huge weight of such issues is eased by the vehicle of storytelling, even when using the high technology production of modern filmmaking. Thus the reality of feeling produced by immersing oneself in story is juxtaposed by the intention to recreate authentically while knowing the impossibility of really knowing anyone else’s experience.
A remarkable feat in so few pages.
April 28, 2020
Jake, 14 like rest of series' heroes, obsessed with US Civil War, lightning-struck, falls into time, movie set, or combo thereof, learns war is blood and death, not game and glory. If Watchers catch him, does he join them? Do I have to keep reading series to find out?
February 17, 2008
Another creepy-ass book from the dark ages.
May 9, 2013
Interesting twist to young adult fiction and the Civil War.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews