Dark Shift

by Rick Polito

Drake Copeland never knew his father. His mother disappeared years ago. So the day Drake and three classmates are stuck in the classroom while the rest of the school gets a field trip, it’s just one more time he’s been left behind. But when a bullied genius leaves his experiment running in the lab and throws the whole school through time, getting left behind is the least of their problems. Drake and his friends crash into a burned-out wasteland where their town used to be, discovering cannibals, starving werewolves, vampires, wise ghosts and a dark army directly connected to their own time - and maybe their own school.

Genres: Science Fiction

150 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 30, 2013

Reviews

[Mona Bliss · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is wonderfully dark and crazy! It manages to blend werewolves and vampires and post-apocalyptic world ending science with an egomaniac of a nut job villain along with a group of time tossed teenagers (excuse the excessive alliteration there please) and their science teacher as they try to save themselves and the world if possible. It moves like a freight train and the twisted damage to the world is like nothing I've ever read before. LOVED IT! This is a YA book but if you don't normally read YA I suggest you give this one a shot if you like dark, fast and gritty stories where everyone doesn't make it out alive and there are no easy answers. I'm looking forward to the next one!

[Crispernaki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an awesome, awesome book. Recently read it with the kids, and we have been talking about it non-stop. Just wondering though, how many classrooms have chalk-boards these days? Also, it seemed like some of the characters traveled from one place to another quicker than should have been possible... but then again, maybe they just all had transporter technology.

[Sarah (SB) ღ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story! Can't wait for the second one....this fall,I think ,I hope!

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

an exciting, quick read for young and old alike...

i'm not a big fan of YA books, but this one i truly enjoyed.
it's mash-up of genres...sci-fi/post-apocalyptic/vampires/werewolves/cannibals/ghosty people... it's got it all and i know that sounds like a dangerous mix. in the wrong hands it could all go as horribly wrong as the future our high school protagonists are thrown into, but mr. polito pulls it off effortlessly. it is a quick read that i think could've benefitted from just a little more character development/information (a little too quick in my opinion, but i guess when you're writing to/for younger people, it's better to be brief).
looking forward to the next installment!

[Carmel Tunac · Rating 4 out of 5]

The action picked right up. This is such an interesting story. there are a few transitions that are a little jarring though. Overall I'm excited to see what happens in the next book.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cannot wait for more. This is not my typical genre, but Polito makes me want to convert. Well-crafted and compelling.

[Hazen Wardle · Rating 5 out of 5]

In less than 1 week Dark Shift has shot to the top of Amazon.com's Hot New Releases list, currently sitting at number 2.
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Drake Copeland is just your average teenager--except for the fact that he prefers the back of class so he won't get noticed, has no living father, his mother disappeared years ago, and he is now stuck in the
foster system with adults who use him as a paycheck. His best friend is the only person in the school who ever pays him any attention-- that usually amounts to her telling him to "Shut up, loser."

Yeah, life was grand for Drake Copeland. And then he noticed weird things happening at school--to the school--but sticking to his low profile, he never tells anybody. Everyone else kept quiet too or maybe somebody could have prevented it from happening. It? Yes. When it happened. Drake and three classmates are the only kids who didn't bring permission slips for the all-school field-trip and get left behind in the empty school with the science teacher.

When they hear a loud hum and see the walls rippling like Jell-O, they black out and wake up to discover they aren't `in Kansas' anymore. What they find is not only unbelievable, but potentially deadly. Their school has crashed down in a post-apocalyptic landscape where the sky buzzes with dark static. Nightmares of the greatest proportions manifest themselves. Civilization is gone and Drake and his companions must navigate through a hellish maze of desolation in order to find out just exactly what happened--all the while struggling to stay alive.

[Nicola Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark Shift is the fantasy Ya Novel that follows a boy called Drake. The story starts with a class of students that didn't get to go on the school trip, so for the day they spent their time in the school lab. Whilst in the lab they start experiencing odd occurrences around them, ripples start floating across the room. An almighty explosion takes place and they come to realise that everything around them has been destroyed apart from them. They soon come to realise that they are now in a parallel world. With every ripple that occurs around them they are transported to a different time in a parallel world. Drake and his friends meet up with different beings (humans that have been changed) and they come to see the war that is going on between the different cultures in this new world. It is the job of Drake and his friends to try and find the cause of the devastation and rectify the world back to the one they know.

This is a very well written YA fantasy, which i enjoyed. The plot line is original along with the characters who differ quite alot from each other. I found the book very gripping and i read it in one day. With the ingenious descriptive methods used, and the way the story is played out, it runs smoothly and makes for a brilliant read. I look forward to the next book very much!

[Alisha Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark Shift was very interesting! There are books with adventure, and then there are books with adventure!!...Dark Shift definitely falls into the latter of the two categories. We're taken on a crazy ride through time and space with a group of high school misfits and their quirky Science teacher. Reading this book was like watching a SyFy movie: there are wide variety of creatures, wastelands, and an evil boy genius at the center of it all.

Each of the characters had a sense of humor about them that made this book fun. The students find that they have to suddenly grow and step up in this new world in order to survive, and I really enjoyed watching it happen. I even teared up a bit when one of the characters meets his end!

And speaking of, the ending was a bit confusing, but that didn't stop me from grinning like a loon when I finished reading it. Gotta love those fantasy/adventure books, they'll keep you on your toes!

All in all, I give Dark Shift 4 out of 5 stars and can't wait to read the next installment of the Dark Shifts series.

[FCD Review · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars: This book started out with an awesome story line and the blurb made it sound amazing! However, I felt that the story became way to complicated. I honestly think that the author could have also elaborated on the places that they went to a little bit more. I thought that the characters moved around to much without explaining why and how they got to the places they went to so quickly.

I also don't understand why the author came up with new names for every mythical creature (oops... spoiler). Couldn't he stick with the original names to make it less complicated? I have to say though that the story was quite adventure filled and unique.

If you still find the book interesting after what I have just said then by all means read it! However I have to say will not be reading the rest of the series. :(

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the Odyssey meets Twilight and us a great read for any age. I started this book because I know Rick and have been a longtime fan of his writing. I finished it because I had to. I mean, I got hooked. Rick takes you on a (well-written) journey that is packed with action and empathy. Be prepared to travel into different worlds and cultures, and to get to know an interesting cast of characters. I was riveted from the first sentence. I can't wait to read the next one. While the book is highly entertaining, it's also thought-provoking, providing multiple layers of meaning that make it especially appealing to older readers, as well as younger. Go out and get this book now so you can say you read Polito before he became huge.