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Speeding Bullet
After Nick Herrera saved a little girl from being his by a New York City subway car, things have been different.... He has been different. Now it seems as if accidents are falling at his feet and he's destined to play the role of the hero. But more importantly, Linda Lanko, one of the richest girls in the city, has noticed him -- a below-average student from a poor family. But is Nick's invincibility just good luck, or is something else responsible?
200 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 1992
11 people are currently reading
509 people want to read
About the author
Neal Shusterman
90 books30k followersAward-winning author Neal Shusterman grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where he began writing at an early age. After spending his junior and senior years of high school at the American School of Mexico City, Neal went on to UC Irvine, where he made his mark on the UCI swim team, and wrote a successful humor column. Within a year of graduating, he had his first book deal, and was hired to write a movie script.
In the years since, Neal has made his mark as a successful novelist, screenwriter, and television writer. As a full-time writer, he claims to be his own hardest task-master, always at work creating new stories to tell. His books have received many awards from organizations such as the International Reading Association, and the American Library Association, as well as garnering a myriad of state and local awards across the country. Neal's talents range from film directing (two short films he directed won him the coveted CINE Golden Eagle Awards) to writing music and stage plays – including book and lyrical contributions to “American Twistory,” which is currently playing in Boston. He has even tried his hand at creating Games, having developed three successful "How to Host a Mystery" game for teens, as well as seven "How to Host a Murder" games.
As a screen and TV writer, Neal has written for the "Goosebumps" and “Animorphs” TV series, and wrote the Disney Channel Original Movie “Pixel Perfect”. Currently Neal is adapting his novel Everlost as a feature film for Universal Studios.
Wherever Neal goes, he quickly earns a reputation as a storyteller and dynamic speaker. Much of his fiction is traceable back to stories he tells to large audiences of children and teenagers -- such as his novel The Eyes of Kid Midas. As a speaker, Neal is in constant demand at schools and conferences. Degrees in both psychology and drama give Neal a unique approach to writing. Neal's novels always deal with topics that appeal to adults as well as teens, weaving true-to-life characters into sensitive and riveting issues, and binding it all together with a unique and entertaining sense of humor.
Of Everlost, School Library Journal wrote: “Shusterman has reimagined what happens after death and questions power and the meaning of charity. While all this is going on, he has also managed to write a rip-roaring adventure…”
Of What Daddy Did, Voice of Youth Advocates wrote; "This is a compelling, spell-binding story... A stunning novel, impossible to put down once begun.
Of The Schwa Was Here, School Library Journal wrote: “Shusterman's characters–reminiscent of those crafted by E. L. Konigsburg and Jerry Spinelli–are infused with the kind of controlled, precocious improbability that magically vivifies the finest children's classics.
Of Scorpion Shards, Publisher's Weekly wrote: "Shusterman takes an outlandish comic-book concept, and, through the sheer audacity and breadth of his imagination makes it stunningly believable. A spellbinder."
And of The Eyes of Kid Midas, The Midwest Book Review wrote "This wins our vote as one of the best young-adult titles of the year" and was called "Inspired and hypnotically readable" by School Library Journal.
Neal Shusterman lives in Southern California with his children Brendan, Jarrod, Joelle, and Erin, who are a constant source of inspiration!
In the years since, Neal has made his mark as a successful novelist, screenwriter, and television writer. As a full-time writer, he claims to be his own hardest task-master, always at work creating new stories to tell. His books have received many awards from organizations such as the International Reading Association, and the American Library Association, as well as garnering a myriad of state and local awards across the country. Neal's talents range from film directing (two short films he directed won him the coveted CINE Golden Eagle Awards) to writing music and stage plays – including book and lyrical contributions to “American Twistory,” which is currently playing in Boston. He has even tried his hand at creating Games, having developed three successful "How to Host a Mystery" game for teens, as well as seven "How to Host a Murder" games.
As a screen and TV writer, Neal has written for the "Goosebumps" and “Animorphs” TV series, and wrote the Disney Channel Original Movie “Pixel Perfect”. Currently Neal is adapting his novel Everlost as a feature film for Universal Studios.
Wherever Neal goes, he quickly earns a reputation as a storyteller and dynamic speaker. Much of his fiction is traceable back to stories he tells to large audiences of children and teenagers -- such as his novel The Eyes of Kid Midas. As a speaker, Neal is in constant demand at schools and conferences. Degrees in both psychology and drama give Neal a unique approach to writing. Neal's novels always deal with topics that appeal to adults as well as teens, weaving true-to-life characters into sensitive and riveting issues, and binding it all together with a unique and entertaining sense of humor.
Of Everlost, School Library Journal wrote: “Shusterman has reimagined what happens after death and questions power and the meaning of charity. While all this is going on, he has also managed to write a rip-roaring adventure…”
Of What Daddy Did, Voice of Youth Advocates wrote; "This is a compelling, spell-binding story... A stunning novel, impossible to put down once begun.
Of The Schwa Was Here, School Library Journal wrote: “Shusterman's characters–reminiscent of those crafted by E. L. Konigsburg and Jerry Spinelli–are infused with the kind of controlled, precocious improbability that magically vivifies the finest children's classics.
Of Scorpion Shards, Publisher's Weekly wrote: "Shusterman takes an outlandish comic-book concept, and, through the sheer audacity and breadth of his imagination makes it stunningly believable. A spellbinder."
And of The Eyes of Kid Midas, The Midwest Book Review wrote "This wins our vote as one of the best young-adult titles of the year" and was called "Inspired and hypnotically readable" by School Library Journal.
Neal Shusterman lives in Southern California with his children Brendan, Jarrod, Joelle, and Erin, who are a constant source of inspiration!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
May 21, 2019
Neal Shusterman rose to stardom in the late 2000s with master works such as the Skinjacker trilogy and Unwind, but his career started decades earlier. His first novel, The Shadow Club, is on par with the best fiction he ever produced, but I've found that to be something of an outlier. Not all of the Storyman's releases from the 1980s and '90s were as morally complex and emotionally explosive as The Shadow Club, though they were at least pretty good. The Eyes of Kid Midas, Darkness Creeping, and The Dark Side of Nowhere hinted at the Shusterman who would someday take center stage as perhaps his generation's finest storyteller, but those books didn't attain the magnificence of his later ones. I include Speeding Bullet in that lower tier of achievement, but it's not without exciting action and deeper meaning. Like everything Neal Shusterman writes, there's value to this offbeat tale of urban discontent.
Fifteen-year-old Nick Herrera of Manhattan, New York is less than pleased with his lot in life. He and his pal Marco eke by in high school with dismal grades, hoping to graduate at age eighteen, and the future Nick sees is no bed of roses. He wants more from life than a dull, dead-end job to hold down until he's too old to enjoy retirement, but has no clue how to pursue higher goals. His humdrum trajectory changes on the day a gory accident occurs on the subway tracks...at least it would have had Nick not intervened. A little girl falls in front of the oncoming train and no is close enough to prevent the carnage but Nick, who jumps down onto the tracks, lifts her to safety, and is freakishly lucky to escape the behemoth headed his way with only moderate injuries. Nick is Manhattan's celebrity of the day, but he senses there's more to his heroic deed than instinctive bravery and dumb luck. Suddenly he can't flip a coin without it landing heads up, and he feels empowered with a supernatural streak of good fortune. Putting this notion to the test, he performs another dangerous rescue and catches the eye of Linda Lanko, teenage daughter of one of New York's richest moguls. Linda senses a special aura around Nick and invites him into her exclusive circle, where they become more than friends. A hero is hard to resist; how much more a hero immune to bad luck?
After tasting the adrenaline and reward of saving people, Nick can't stop. He's sure this is his calling, that whatever jeopardy he places himself in, he'll survive. Fascinated by his courage yet frightened that Nick could be badly hurt or killed, Linda attempts to dissuade him from patrolling for rescue opportunities, but there's no arguing with destiny. As word of his feats spreads like floodwaters in the city, Nick begins feeling uneasy about bearing so much responsibility. He can't save every poor sap in New York, and shouldn't be expected to. With Nick trying to ignore his own foreboding, Marco encouraging him to embrace exceptionalism, and Linda begging him to quit while he's ahead, circumstances align for a day of doom in the heart of Manhattan, a day that screams for the city's boy savior to come to the rescue. Are Nick's accomplishments truly the result of destiny, or could his luck fail with his life on the line? In the grim situation he's about to enter, a misstep will mean death not only for Nick, but the people he cares about.
Nick may seem motivated to be a hero by glory or wealth, but it's deeper than that. He wants to leave a legacy in this world where people die each day who won't be remembered by anyone in ten or twenty years. If you don't carve a mark on history that can't be ignored, it's as though you never existed, and who in their right mind would be okay with that? Who would cheerfully accept that the lifetime of unique beauty they've witnessed and created, the people they've loved and nurtured and sent out into the world to make a difference, will disappear from the memory of the collective unconscious? Millions never think about that because it's depressing. Like Marco, they cling to their illusions and live an unexceptional life, going the way of the dodo when it's over. But Nick, like many ambitious souls, isn't content with that. "He wasn't like Marco—Marco's mental wiring was just right. It was a closed circuit that functioned fine, but Nick was seriously miswired—he knew it had to be true. God had made some weird circuitry mistake in his head, because Nick knew his dreams far outreached his ability to ever achieve them. He wondered if having high-voltage dreams in a low-voltage brain would cause him to pop a major blood vessel sooner or later." How do you cope when your reach infinitely exceeds your grasp? Is it possible to be happy when the best you're capable of is less than you're satisfied giving the world? If you're facing that sort of existential crisis, tune in for Nick's story. You'll find a kindred soul, and maybe new perspective on the eternal riddle of life.
I've heard Neal Shusterman say he's not supposed to use the same name for main characters in more than one book, but Nick isn't his only lead by that name. Twenty-three years following the release of Speeding Bullet in 1991, Shusterman and Eric Elfman came out with the first novel of their Accelerati trilogy, featuring a main character named Nick Slate. I wondered briefly why Neal Shusterman would break policy like that, but figured it's because of some important plot points in the Accelerati trilogy. He must have decided they were worth violating his rule about character names, and I concur. Speeding Bullet isn't a favorite of mine, but it moves at a decent tempo, has three-dimensional characters, and the paranormal elements can be explained away if the reader chooses not to believe. I might go two and a half stars for this book, and fans of the author's early material will like it. In my opinion, a day with any Neal Shusterman novel is a day well spent.
Fifteen-year-old Nick Herrera of Manhattan, New York is less than pleased with his lot in life. He and his pal Marco eke by in high school with dismal grades, hoping to graduate at age eighteen, and the future Nick sees is no bed of roses. He wants more from life than a dull, dead-end job to hold down until he's too old to enjoy retirement, but has no clue how to pursue higher goals. His humdrum trajectory changes on the day a gory accident occurs on the subway tracks...at least it would have had Nick not intervened. A little girl falls in front of the oncoming train and no is close enough to prevent the carnage but Nick, who jumps down onto the tracks, lifts her to safety, and is freakishly lucky to escape the behemoth headed his way with only moderate injuries. Nick is Manhattan's celebrity of the day, but he senses there's more to his heroic deed than instinctive bravery and dumb luck. Suddenly he can't flip a coin without it landing heads up, and he feels empowered with a supernatural streak of good fortune. Putting this notion to the test, he performs another dangerous rescue and catches the eye of Linda Lanko, teenage daughter of one of New York's richest moguls. Linda senses a special aura around Nick and invites him into her exclusive circle, where they become more than friends. A hero is hard to resist; how much more a hero immune to bad luck?
After tasting the adrenaline and reward of saving people, Nick can't stop. He's sure this is his calling, that whatever jeopardy he places himself in, he'll survive. Fascinated by his courage yet frightened that Nick could be badly hurt or killed, Linda attempts to dissuade him from patrolling for rescue opportunities, but there's no arguing with destiny. As word of his feats spreads like floodwaters in the city, Nick begins feeling uneasy about bearing so much responsibility. He can't save every poor sap in New York, and shouldn't be expected to. With Nick trying to ignore his own foreboding, Marco encouraging him to embrace exceptionalism, and Linda begging him to quit while he's ahead, circumstances align for a day of doom in the heart of Manhattan, a day that screams for the city's boy savior to come to the rescue. Are Nick's accomplishments truly the result of destiny, or could his luck fail with his life on the line? In the grim situation he's about to enter, a misstep will mean death not only for Nick, but the people he cares about.
Nick may seem motivated to be a hero by glory or wealth, but it's deeper than that. He wants to leave a legacy in this world where people die each day who won't be remembered by anyone in ten or twenty years. If you don't carve a mark on history that can't be ignored, it's as though you never existed, and who in their right mind would be okay with that? Who would cheerfully accept that the lifetime of unique beauty they've witnessed and created, the people they've loved and nurtured and sent out into the world to make a difference, will disappear from the memory of the collective unconscious? Millions never think about that because it's depressing. Like Marco, they cling to their illusions and live an unexceptional life, going the way of the dodo when it's over. But Nick, like many ambitious souls, isn't content with that. "He wasn't like Marco—Marco's mental wiring was just right. It was a closed circuit that functioned fine, but Nick was seriously miswired—he knew it had to be true. God had made some weird circuitry mistake in his head, because Nick knew his dreams far outreached his ability to ever achieve them. He wondered if having high-voltage dreams in a low-voltage brain would cause him to pop a major blood vessel sooner or later." How do you cope when your reach infinitely exceeds your grasp? Is it possible to be happy when the best you're capable of is less than you're satisfied giving the world? If you're facing that sort of existential crisis, tune in for Nick's story. You'll find a kindred soul, and maybe new perspective on the eternal riddle of life.
I've heard Neal Shusterman say he's not supposed to use the same name for main characters in more than one book, but Nick isn't his only lead by that name. Twenty-three years following the release of Speeding Bullet in 1991, Shusterman and Eric Elfman came out with the first novel of their Accelerati trilogy, featuring a main character named Nick Slate. I wondered briefly why Neal Shusterman would break policy like that, but figured it's because of some important plot points in the Accelerati trilogy. He must have decided they were worth violating his rule about character names, and I concur. Speeding Bullet isn't a favorite of mine, but it moves at a decent tempo, has three-dimensional characters, and the paranormal elements can be explained away if the reader chooses not to believe. I might go two and a half stars for this book, and fans of the author's early material will like it. In my opinion, a day with any Neal Shusterman novel is a day well spent.
October 7, 2021
Nick was a psychopath who was always thinking about killing his mom's cat in cruel ways such as: kicking it from the roof of his apartment building (he almost did), and choking the cat (he also almost did it). The other characters were just as unlovable and also psychopathic (hello, Linda Lanko!). I stayed until the end to see if the mystery was solved but it wasn't, making it a very unsatisfying and lame ending.
You all know this hurts me because I love Neal's books.
You all know this hurts me because I love Neal's books.
April 3, 2021
3.5.
My 34th book from Neal Shusterman.
This was entertaining and the twist is unexpected.
My 34th book from Neal Shusterman.
This was entertaining and the twist is unexpected.
January 26, 2016
...read this book quite a while ago when I was a teen. I have a fuzzy memory of the story, but 1 thing I remember clearly that it was 'BIZARRE'...
March 16, 2017
I couldn't finish the book.
December 21, 2008
Teenager Nick Herrera saves a child from an oncoming train in the subway and becomes a hero for fifteen minutes. After saving a few more people in the weeks that follow, Nick comes to believe he has a power - the power to save people. The novel examines the powers and limitations of belief against a gritty N.Y.C. backdrop.
Shusterman is great at spinning ethical and psychological complexity into YA novels (The Shadow Club, Dreadlocks.) This one, however, isn't his best.
Shusterman is great at spinning ethical and psychological complexity into YA novels (The Shadow Club, Dreadlocks.) This one, however, isn't his best.
October 9, 2011
It was okay, but I didn't really like it. It was to simple.
July 9, 2011
The book held my interest enough to finish it, but with an unsatisfying ending, unlikeable characters, and a lame plot line i will not be reading it again, and i would not recommend this book.
September 20, 2020
2018
Not what I expected coming from Neal Shusterman but it was still an enjoyable read
Not what I expected coming from Neal Shusterman but it was still an enjoyable read
July 18, 2019
It's not an amazing book, but it's still pretty cool. The constant ambiguous nature of Nicky's existence is what makes it interesting. Does he have the power to save people? Do people believe he does? Does it matter if he's believed or not? Or is the only power he has his own belief that can do it? These questions are never really answered, which I like.
Nick is not a hugely interesting character, but his growth over the course of this short novel is pretty impressive and the way his relationships with the other characters evolve. I don't love any of the characters (Marco is dull, Linda is annoying), but they are all definitely interesting, which is definitely more important for this story.
Nick is not a hugely interesting character, but his growth over the course of this short novel is pretty impressive and the way his relationships with the other characters evolve. I don't love any of the characters (Marco is dull, Linda is annoying), but they are all definitely interesting, which is definitely more important for this story.
May 30, 2023
*SPOILERS*
Nick is thrust into a strange and confusing situation, and handles it all with a cool and level head. He starts to go on an ego trip, which I don’t entirely blame him for, he believed he healed a man’s heart attack, and flipped a coin almost thirty times, all of which landed on heads, and even continued this trick with another coin. He later realizes his errors and is quick to fix his mistakes, and in an act of desperation, tries to heal his dying friend knowing it won’t do anything. Marco miraculously started to quickly recover, so maybe Nick really does have powers, or maybe not. I like the characterization of Nick a ton, which made this book very enjoyable. :)
Nick is thrust into a strange and confusing situation, and handles it all with a cool and level head. He starts to go on an ego trip, which I don’t entirely blame him for, he believed he healed a man’s heart attack, and flipped a coin almost thirty times, all of which landed on heads, and even continued this trick with another coin. He later realizes his errors and is quick to fix his mistakes, and in an act of desperation, tries to heal his dying friend knowing it won’t do anything. Marco miraculously started to quickly recover, so maybe Nick really does have powers, or maybe not. I like the characterization of Nick a ton, which made this book very enjoyable. :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 7, 2025
To be honest, I liked the book, but it wasn't something spectacular. But with that said, it was still a good read!
I loved the plot and writing style, it was very encapturing. A few things I didn’t like, was how Nick wanting to strangle his cat just was completely ignored??? Like, thats psychopath behavior. And also, I feel like Marco, Linda, and even Paulie could have been more developed. They felt bland.
But with all that said, still, a good read. Would read again.
I loved the plot and writing style, it was very encapturing. A few things I didn’t like, was how Nick wanting to strangle his cat just was completely ignored??? Like, thats psychopath behavior. And also, I feel like Marco, Linda, and even Paulie could have been more developed. They felt bland.
But with all that said, still, a good read. Would read again.
May 14, 2022
This book is different but good. And clearly the inspiration for Mr Shusterman later book “Bruiser”. Some references in the book definitely date it to 1991 when it first came out but it’s still good and for such a short book it still has deep and profound moments and character development. Good twists too. Recommend.
July 11, 2020
Decent book; not up to Shusterman's usual standards.
April 6, 2022
This was a compelling read that kept my attention--and kept me guessing, but the ending fell flat. I loved Neal Shusterman's "Unwind" and still recommend him as an author.
November 27, 2024
Not one of Shusterman's best.
May 12, 2008
Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com
For Nicholas "Nicky" Herrera, his life is simply defined by getting through the day. His very Catholic mother has a habit of reminding him how much he's like his older brother, Salvatore. His police officer father tries to keep the family peace. His other brother, Paulie, is the smart one. For Nick, who is barely making it through the tenth grade, he's finally decided that there's nothing more in his future than surviving, and possibly working at the docks or in sanitation like the goals of his best friend, Marco.
Until one day, Nick rescues a little girl from the tracks of the subway. Suddenly, he's a hero, and every quarter he tosses keeps coming up heads. When he garners the attention of Linda Lanko, the daughter of the richest developer in New York, he realizes that there might be a purpose to his life after all. Rescue opportunities are now popping up all over, and word-of-mouth throughout the city has turned Nick into a modern-day hero of Superman proportions.
Nick's heroism, of course, brings him all sorts of problems that he never even imagined. While on one hand his life now seems charmed, his personal relationships--with his family, with Marco, with Linda--are taking twists and turns into unfamiliar territory.
Then tragedy strikes a number of devastating blows all in quick succession, and Nick realizes that being a hero isn't all it's cracked up to be. Who is Nick Herrera, really, and what's his purpose in life? It's suddenly the most important thing in his life to figure it out, and the way he does that will leave the reader breathless.
SPEEDING BULLET is a compelling, quick read that had me staying up late to finish it. You won't be disappointed when you pick up your own copy!
For Nicholas "Nicky" Herrera, his life is simply defined by getting through the day. His very Catholic mother has a habit of reminding him how much he's like his older brother, Salvatore. His police officer father tries to keep the family peace. His other brother, Paulie, is the smart one. For Nick, who is barely making it through the tenth grade, he's finally decided that there's nothing more in his future than surviving, and possibly working at the docks or in sanitation like the goals of his best friend, Marco.
Until one day, Nick rescues a little girl from the tracks of the subway. Suddenly, he's a hero, and every quarter he tosses keeps coming up heads. When he garners the attention of Linda Lanko, the daughter of the richest developer in New York, he realizes that there might be a purpose to his life after all. Rescue opportunities are now popping up all over, and word-of-mouth throughout the city has turned Nick into a modern-day hero of Superman proportions.
Nick's heroism, of course, brings him all sorts of problems that he never even imagined. While on one hand his life now seems charmed, his personal relationships--with his family, with Marco, with Linda--are taking twists and turns into unfamiliar territory.
Then tragedy strikes a number of devastating blows all in quick succession, and Nick realizes that being a hero isn't all it's cracked up to be. Who is Nick Herrera, really, and what's his purpose in life? It's suddenly the most important thing in his life to figure it out, and the way he does that will leave the reader breathless.
SPEEDING BULLET is a compelling, quick read that had me staying up late to finish it. You won't be disappointed when you pick up your own copy!
November 13, 2012
This realistic fiction book was great, it was full of mixed ideas and tense moments. In the book the main character begins to experience a weird time in his life where the fate of the life of other people is put in front of him. He begins this change and decides that his job is to to save lives thinking that if he keeps flipping his coin and getting heads he must save people. He keeps doing this until he figures out that his coin trick was phony and that one of his closest friends was playing a joke on him the whole time but when he finds out the truth he accepts the fact that life is like a game in the fact that how people can trick each other.I liked this book because the main character is around my age. This book is great if your a reader that likes to read teen books with a action filled mix.
November 19, 2011
After Nick Herrera bravely saves a little girl from a speeding train, this average, run-of-the-mill 16 year-old starts to change. He feels a confidence he never knew before and other rescue attempts 'magically' appear. He finds favor with Linda Lanko, New York City's richest teenager and soon the two become inseparable. He takes risks, knowing he will come out on top. His best friend, Marco, idolizes him and believes he has the power to heal.
But, when reality hits Nick, his world spins out of control and everything he believed, whether right or wrong, changes. Another world opens up for him. Is Nick a superhero? or is luck just on his side? Not Shusterman's best work, but a story with food-for-thought.
But, when reality hits Nick, his world spins out of control and everything he believed, whether right or wrong, changes. Another world opens up for him. Is Nick a superhero? or is luck just on his side? Not Shusterman's best work, but a story with food-for-thought.
December 28, 2012
This realistic fiction book was good. In the book the main character begins to experience a weird time in his life where the life of other people is put in his hands. He begins this change and decides that his job is to to save lives thinking that if he keeps flipping his coin and getting heads he must save people. He keeps doing this until he figures out that his coin trick was phony and that one of his closest friends was playing a joke on him the whole time.When he finds out the truth he accepts the fact that life is like a game in the fact that how people can trick each other. I thought the book was okay but I really didn't like the ending.
October 19, 2012
Pretty good book. It is different than Neal Shusterman's other books, but it is good. It was a little bit like a fantasy, which I wasn't expecting, but it came as a pleasant surprise. After Nick, the main character, rescues a little girl from being run over by a train, whenever he is around, someone is in need of help, and he rescues them. As he gets more and more famous, he realizes that these rescues may not be just coincidences...
This is a good book for people who like thrillers, fiction, realistic fiction, and YA.
This is a good book for people who like thrillers, fiction, realistic fiction, and YA.
March 9, 2011
This book is about a kid who is about average and wishes he could do something better with his time, and when he got his chance in the subway to save a little girls life he dove headfirst into what he thought to be the life of a hero. After a meeting the daughter of the cities largerst contruction site owner he comes up with the idea that he is here to save people. Read this book to figure out how his best and only friend reacts and how his family feels about his heroism.
November 14, 2007
Nick just wants to be famous. He believes his whole purpose in life is to save people from deadly situations. Linda, young lady whose father is VERY rich, comes into his life and things really start to happen. A story with some great characters - of course Shusterman always throws in a "twist" just when you think you have everything figured out!
November 15, 2012
This book was kind of meh, in my opinion. Maybe it's because I'm so used to Mr. Shusterman's twists and turns and spooky moments throughout his novels, but I felt this one was lacking in much of the suspense that makes his books so un-put-downable. That said, it was a decent story, with a couple of interesting characters.
November 23, 2012
This is one of the best books. It is a great book.It is full of adventure and action. This book can be read by all ages. The adventure starts out at the beginning and it gets better as the book goes on. If you have ever dreamed of being a hero, if you have ever dreamed of tempting fate, or leaving a decision to the flip of a coin, then here is the perfect book for you.
October 20, 2011
I mildly enjoyed this book... it was pretty good. It's almost like I expected a bit more and got let down. I never actually understood the coin thing... which might seem dumb because it was really important. Did it ever mention why it did what it did? o.o
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 28, 2012
Very different. Not sure what the supposed "parable" is. I think there's supposed to be some relation to Christ, since the main character gets shot through both hands. Still not sure, but I liked it. Has a lot to think about.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 18, 2013
Nick rescues a young girl from being run over by a train, he feels he can turn his life around by continuing to be a hero.
I love Neal Shusterman's works (and I've read several) but I don't think I really got this one.
I love Neal Shusterman's works (and I've read several) but I don't think I really got this one.
November 13, 2012
this book is realistic fiction. i think this book was great.i liked that the main character had an oposite obvious and subtle trait. i also liked how the secondary characters didnt realy have traits until the middle of the book. but i hated how meal shusterman ended the book.
April 19, 2013
I Think this book had an interesting plot that could of turned out nicely but the book ended without really closing out. This is a pretty classic fiction book and it will be a good read for any fiction lover.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews