Acceleration

by Graham McNamee

It’s a hot, hot summer, and in the depths of the Toronto Transit Authority’s Lost and Found, 17-year-old Duncan is cataloging lost things and sifting through accumulated junk. And between Jacob, the cranky old man who runs the place, and the endless dusty boxes overflowing with stuff no one will ever claim, Duncan’s just about had enough. Then he finds a little leather book. It’s a diary filled with the dark and dirty secrets of a twisted mind, a serial killer stalking his prey in the subway. And Duncan can’t make himself stop reading.

What would you do with a book like that? How far would you go to catch a madman?

And what if time was running out. . . .


From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Teen, Suspense, Horror

210 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Graham McNamee. Male. Caucasian. 5'10". Brown hair. Brown eyes. Do not approach. Extremely shy.

Author of: HATE YOU, NOTHING WRONG WITH A THREE-LEGGED DOG, SPARKS, and ACCELERATION. HATE YOU was an ALA Best Book for young Adults and an ALA Quick Pick, won the Austrian Children's Book Award, and was nominated for the Governor General's Award. SPARKS won the PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship.

Born and raised in Toronto, McNamee has been sighted in Vancouver. Present whereabouts unknown.

Reviews

[karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay, we are going to get quick and dirty on these teen books because i am reading them more quickly than i can review them and the blank spaces next to them in my book list is likely to drive me maaaaad...

"so - just don't review them", you say.

and i wish i could be that guy.

but my untreated and probably inaccurately self-diagnosed ocd forbids this. everything must be tidy, everything must be remarked-upon, everything in its place now.

so - acceleration.

is a fine book. it takes place in toronto - one point for canadian setting. it has a great premise - one point for that. it takes place in some criminal-filled housing project (which i didn't think even existed in canada) and i just saw harry brown and it makes me happy to picture this place all badass like that, with a teenage version of michael caine skulking around - two points. two points because the killer in this book reminds me sooo much of someone here on goodreads.com, but you would have to torture me to get me to name names. but i will probably tell greg, because he gets best friend privileges. two points for the author's awesomely batshit q&a after the novel's end:

q: how much rewriting and revising do you do?

a: endless rewrites. sometimes the first draft is total garbage. i shred the pages, then burn them to ashes and bury them deep in the forest where nobody will ever find them.

points will be revoked if i later find out that this is figurative.

that's what, eight points??

yes. this book is exactly eight points.

as a personal aside - i was interested in the premise of this book mostly because the idea of finding a killer's journal and reading it and getting creeped out by it reminds me of more tales from the flagship store when - years ago and for nearly a year, we would find these black unlined hardcover notebooks shelved in the romance aisle and they were filled with the romantic frustrations and sexual fantasies (and also boring quotidian experiences) of this guy who was placing them there in the hopes that women would find them and fall in love with him and find him irresistible and i guess wait there for his next installation? that part i never understood, because they were never on a schedule, but they were always in the same spot on the shelves - what you think a lady is going to spend all day every day just waiting for one to turn up???

note: if you are going to do this, it is wayyy more likely a bookstore employee will find them and will show someone else who works there, and a cult of anticipation will form around "when will he leave the next one??" and "what does he look like?"

we know what he looks like.

and he still comes in, but sadly, the notebooks have stopped.

and i miss them.

let's give the book another 10 points for reminding me of "shadowjack".

we miss your words...

come to my blog!

[Jane Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

4 ½ stars. I was frequently smiling during this book - which is rare.

There’s mystery wondering if and how they will ever find the psychopath. There’s edge of your seat suspense toward the end. The ending was good for the good guys and bad for the bad guy. This is great for young adults and older. It’s about half the length of a regular novel.

What I found most entertaining were thoughts, dialogue, and actions of three 17-year-old boys. That is why I was smiling so much. One example: when Wayne and Duncan go to the local swimming pool their habit is: as soon as they enter, they cannonball jump into the water at the same time in a way to maximize splashing the sunbathers. When they come up and see angry looks glaring at them, they say “sorry.”

I had a few minor complaints.
The book is told in first person by Duncan. One time the author used second person which threw me. Duncan was talking about golf putting and said “I’m getting pretty good at it in case you’re wondering.” By saying “you’re” it added me to the story which did not belong. I did not like the feeling. I’m watching. I’m not supposed to be having a conversation with him.

Some months before the story begins, a girl Maya drowned. Duncan was nearby and felt guilt or something bad. What happened was not described. I wanted to know more.

The same thing with Duncan’s former girlfriend Kim. I wanted to know why they broke up. Just a little, a sentence or two would do.

NARRATOR:
This is a personal preference thing. I don’t enjoy Scott Brick as a narrator. He has an arrogance or too much self confidence that comes through when he reads. I prefer someone like Frank Muller who projects a sense of wonder about what’s going on.

DATA:
Narrative mode: 1st person Duncan. Unabridged audiobook length: 5 hrs and 38 mins. Swearing language: none that I recall. Sexual content: none. Setting: current day Toronto, Canada. Book copyright: 2003. Genre: mystery suspense, young adult mystery suspense.

OTHER BOOKS BY THIS AUTHOR:
I read Bonechiller after this. Gave it 3 stars. Teens would probably like it more than I.

[Alana Weafer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found that although this book has an amazing story line that can get a reader hooked really quickly, the end was much too rushed, leaving me with a bad last impression. Also, I found the character's weren't easily defined. I think the 3 boys were too much like each other and lacking in diversity. This may just be me, but I feel that I knew about the characters in this book, but I didn't know the characters in this book, which is something I love in a story. So all in all, it was good, but just not good enough.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Duncan works in a "lost and found" for the transit authority in Toronto. In a moment of boredom, he picks up a brown leather journal someone left on the train and starts to read. The journal describes acts of arson and other violence and shows newspaper clippings of the events. Reading further, Duncan discovers the author is planning a murder. He goes to the cops but is ignored and decides he must save the murderer's targets.

This book was a "read in one gulp" story. I could not put it down! The chapter endings literally drag you to the next lines. The show down with the killer is so well done I found my heart pounding. What a suspenseful and fabulous book!

[Samantha Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy, fast, entertaining read between my series lol. If you like mysteries/suspense and need something fast and easy, I would recommend!

[Linda DeYounge · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to admit, this book isn't really written with me in mind. I am not the demographic that this book is targeting, so the low score is partly reflective of this fact. I have many students, however, who would and do love this book, and I can understand their enthusiasm. The subject matter is exciting -- dark and gritty. The main character is sarcastic and flippant. The two main characters steal a toilet, which always goes over well with teen readers.

I felt that the most successful part of the book (which is also reflected in the author's statement at the end), was the climactic scene. The serial killer character is really gross and scary, and Duncan, our main, is fighting for his life as a subway train comes rumbling toward him. Graham McNamee admits that this was the scene that first inspired the rest of the book, and it shows. There were also powerful, surreal moments when we see Duncan struggling with trauma via nightmares and hallucinations, and those work well.

But there were other portions that were face-palm bad. At one point, Duncan tries to tell the cops about the serial killer. I have never seen cops painted in such a negligent, incompetent way. They don't take his information. They don't even care about the situation. Without giving too much away, I just remember thinking, "Yeah, right. The cops won't help you. Ooookayyyy." I understand that the novel hinges on the premise that Duncan, as the protagonist, has to find the serial killer himself, but that hinge is weak. It is also hard to like Duncan at points because he has such a hero-complex. He thinks it is his destiny to save the woman the serial killer is targeting, but this gets old so fast. There aren't really repercussions for his narcissistic want to be the hero; he is never humbled. He gets banged up a little and his life moves on, presumably towards other heroic acts. What a knight in shining armor.

TL;DR: I completely understand the TV drama appeal of his book, but I'm a little over it.

[The Local Spooky Hermit · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the idea of this book and having something of the soon to be serial killer to see how they think but that's just it.. SOON TO BE. nothing happened yet so you can't say serial killer. hell how would you know he would be? realistically it could be a one time thing. you gotta kill 2 people first to be labeled one. I like that the main guy didn't get back with his ex. you know not a happily ever after crap going on.
Worth the read sure. but nothing worth owning.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

Wanted to give it 5 stars so bad, yet alas, I can't! There just seemed to be this gap in logic on Duncan's part after the climax occured, and I suppose he has some reasoning for it, but I just don't get it. Won't discuss it yet for the sake of spoilers, but I'll get more into that when I expand my thoughts.

*After thinking thoughtfully about thoughts*

There is only one tiny little paragraph with spoilers. Everything else is SPOILER-FREE.

Now that I've had time to think about the roller coaster ride Acceleration took me on, I still feel similarly about what happens. I would highly reccomend it to just about anybody looking for something fast-paced, interesting, well written, rather original, on-the-edge-of-your-seat kind of read that can even be humourous! Not Deadly Cool kind of comedy (the murder is being taken more seriously in this book). Just the fact that the awesome characters have personality!

So, we follow our seventeen year old protagonist Duncan, who is working a summer job at the Toronto Transit Lost & Found, and when looking for a lost book to read, he stumbles across a diary containing the messed up psyche of a man who sets fires to buildings, and tortures animals, and later documents said atrocities. Then, Duncan comes across his later entries, where Duncan finds that he's stalking a woman on the train when he's heading home, and that he may be planning on killing her. Taking matters into his own hands along with his sidekick Vinny, they plan on figuring out who wrote the diary, and save the woman's life.

Now, said mystery above is well thought out, with great little facts about serial killers when *le gasp* our heroes use their brains and go the library! I loved learning more about the psyche of serial killers, so that alone was a plus. However, I also found my one complaint in this book during the mystery.

*SPOILERS* So, when Duncan finally stops our possible killer from killing the women he was stalking by almost dying and getting hit by a train, Duncan is in the hospital, recovering from his injuries. Then, he decides to keep the journal information between himself, Wayne, and Vinny. Um, I (kind of) get why you're not telling the police, but how about the women being stalked? If I had been the infatuation of a potential serial killer, I would've liked to know. END OF SPOILERS*

Everything else however, is fantastic. The plot is fast-paced and engaging, the characters are all vivid and 3-D, mystery is well paced and UNPREDICTABLE (a reoccuring problem I find in many YA mysteries - these killers are way too obvious), I couldn't put it down, and the entertainment value is so high!

With Blood Red Road, I gave it 5 stars, but not in the sense that it's amazing and life altering. It's amazing in terms of entertainment value, plotting, and interesting characters but it's not powerful or moving like THG. BBR is the equivalent to Acceleration to me, however I do like BBR more.

Seriously, go out and get this book. There's an e-book, your library and or bookstore - give it some love! Since it's a MUCH older book (October of 2003 - about 8 1/2 years ago!), it clearly doesn't get as much attention as it deserves.

[Ronda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Duncan's a 17-year old who lives in "the Jungle", the inner-city of Toronto. During the searing heat-wave of summer, his dead-end summer job in the Toronto Transit Authority's "morgue" (aka: Lost and Found) offers him some respite from the heat, but it doesn't offer him any relief from his nightmares. Or does it? Plagued with nightmares about the drowning girl he couldn't save, Duncan's world takes a CSI-type turn when he finds a journal amongst the "lost treasures" of the morgue--the things left on city buses or subway cars. This book is not just any journal--it's someone's chronicle of their descent into going from torturer of small animals, to arsonist, to a stalker of women--someone on the way to becoming a serial killer. The pictures and newspaper clippings in the journal are all too real, but the police don't seem willing to take Duncan's concerns seriously. Is the journal real or just someone's sick creative writing attempt? If the journal IS real, can Duncan find this man before he takes his first human victim? Read Acceleration by Graham McNamee to find out.

Duncan's voice rings true and it's almost as hard to put the book down as it is to find a copy at the high school library I worked at--yep, it was checked out THAT often. Recommended for Grades 8 and up.

[Ashleigh Wangler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I chose this book because as soon as I saw the cover it caught my attention. Acceleration is about a teenager named Duncan, who works at a lost and found, and finds a book written by a serial killer. He's conflicted about whether he should turn the book in to the police or do something about it himself.

This is the first book I've read start to finish in a while and I can happily say that this is easily in my top 5. It's hard to write a good suspense, mystery novel and McNamee did a perfect job of doing so. I knew I would read it in just one night so I had to prioritize to just reading the book when we had the time in class. This was exactly the book I've been looking for and I couldn't be happier with my choice. I could picture everything that was happening and could put myself in the position of Duncan. It was hard to put down. I would highly recommend the book to someone who watches shows such as Criminal Minds and Bones.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging, fast-paced, suspenseful - very quick read. Definitely one to remember as a recommendation for those reluctant male teen readers...

[Basma B · Rating 2 out of 5]

The ending felt pretty rushed, would’ve liked something more exciting. But it was ok

2.5/5

[Kelly Marsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

I'll make this short and sweet, just like the novel itself. Plot was introduced around page 7, and from there, the story accelerated to a breakneck pace. Never a dull moment. Story demanded my attention. The characters were great - very refreshing to read a male protagonist's voice for a change. I mean, a real male voice, not one that endlessly rambles about clothes and feelings and whatnot. So yeah, that was a plus. And let's see, a killer is on the loose and time is crunching down till he snuffs out his next victim.

The story begins with 17-year-old Duncan (MC). While clocking in at the Toronto Transit Authority's Lost and Found, he comes across a journal depicting acts of horror and terror and plans for more. So there you have the basics of this fun novel.

And I guess I should mention: This book would've been a solid 5 stars for me, for the simple reason that I blew through it in no time, didn't want to put it down, and all in all it held my prone-to-wandering attention. All said reasons are why I give books 5 stars. Nothing mystical about my grading scale. Okay, with that said, the ending literally felt like I crashed into a wall. Accelerating at a breakneck pace, excitement aplenty, then Bam! Pow! The End, sort of, or at least for the action. What? Huh? I wanted more to say the least. So yeah, aside from that, I would highly recommend Acceleration. It's a great escape book. And I will definitely be checking out more from this author. And if you get a chance, definitely read his Q&A session at the end of the book. He sounds hella cool!

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot of this book was very intriguing to me. I grabbed it off of my shelf because it’s a shorter read (240 pages) and it seemed like something that would be easy to get into. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

The Good:

The plot was very enticing…the serial killer angle is interesting and terrifying.
The story reminded me of an old-school mystery. It almost felt like an updated, grittier version of one of my Nancy Drew stories from back in the day. Duncan, the main character is a great amateur detective.
There are definitely some thrilling scenes in the book that caused my heart rate to go up.
The story is short but I didn’t feel like it wasn’t enough. The author must have been a good editor because it seemed like the perfect length for the story. It’s also a standalone novel, which seems to be rare in young adult fiction lately.

What I didn’t Like:

I felt disconnected from the characters. I liked the characters but I didn’t feel like I knew them.
There were some definite unrealistic parts to the book.

[Humayra Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A unique idea amongst teen books. Wish there was more by this author but this seems to be it. Loved it.

[Maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is just creepy but I couldn't put it down. The suspense and the mystery and just the way it was written. . . I loved it and would recommend it to all YA readers who love mystery!!!

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good hi-lo mystery with a slightly too-neat ending.

[Andrew Sharpe · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I read Acceleration, I learned a lot about the main character, Duncan. Duncan is a 17 year old boy from Toronto, Canada. You could say Duncan lives a pretty simple life. He wakes up every morning and goes to work as a “lost and found” attendant for the Transit Authority. Duncan doesn’t get to interact with many people while he is working because he is deep under the city in a tunnel. With that being said Duncan has a lot of time on his hands. As he tries to pass the time on his work days, he often searches through the lost in found in curiosity. On one particular day, Duncan comes across a brown leather notebook that isn’t an ordinary notebook. This notebook has spine chilling messages that describe violence and negative energy. It shows newspaper articles of violent events. As Duncan puts more attention into it he realizes the author of this notebook is planning a murder. At this point Duncan does an extensive amount of research on this subject. Should he try to save this future victim or not? This was the question that had me unable to set this thrilling book down. I noticed the author uses many different senses of imagery throughout the book. Personally, I really enjoyed reading this book, because unlike most books I have read I really haven’t had that “readers hook” to keep the reader motivated. I was introduced this book by my school librarian and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading mystery.

[Hella]

From the beginning to the end of Acceleration by Graham McNamee, the author has you hooked! Who doesn't love a great story filled with suspense, humor, and amazing characters? The book is about a boy who has an itch to save someones life due to past trauma. He works at the subway/train stations lost and found when he finds the ominous psychos journal. The story jumps right in and goes downhill from there. Its not all action from begging to end but the way that the author writes makes you feel like it is. I was hanging off his every word. The book left me with a completed feeling when the final scene between Roach and Duncan was over. The author went even further and satisfied the characters minds as well as mine. This book is a classical example of a heroic suspense filled plot. Not only was there quests, conflicts, and action but there was also a deep connection with the characters. Overall the book was great and I would definitely recommend this book to ages 14 and older, its a good read and I cant wait to read more from Graham.

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars.

Read this with my class, and it was fine I guess haha (I was REALLY hyping it up for them so they’d pay attention lol. 😭😭😭 Plus, Toronto author represent woo).

Honestly, not much to it—some of the dialogue suffers from “do teenagers really talk like this?” And no, they do not lol. But I guess it’s an okay one that can generate some discussion with students, besides the gore and grossness of it all 😵‍💫 (I still think Shattered by Eric Walters is more profound, but they’re also two different novels and this one accomplishes more of a shock-factor to keep audiences intrigued IMO.)

Not to be mean but there’s just not really that much to it??? The ending was good and the author seems kinda funny, plus the audiobook was pretty well done. 3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️🤷🏼‍♀️

[Jan Carlo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really intense because there's a guy who works on a lost and found and he founds this diary and that diary belongs to a criminal/murderer. The criminal is planning to kill this girl name "Cherry" and Duncan(the guy) is trying to stop roach(nickname because we don't know his real name yet) to kill Cherry.But is he gonna work alone with a guy who starts fire and kill people? Read the book to find out:))
I really like this book because I like how intense it is about a regular guy who works at a lost and found under the subway, and how he stops a criminal from killing their victim.

[Angel (Bookn.All.Night) · Rating 3 out of 5]

We are visiting family and took the grandbabies to the library and my husband found this for me in the library discard pile in Willamina, OR. I needed something to read for our mini road trip and this worked.

It started out pretty good and was easy to finish but I was disappointed by how rushed the ending was. Overall though, it was ok and helped pass the time while driving.

[Claire Berne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this book 5 stars because the author really pulled me in as a reader. I am usually a very slow reader but I finished this book within 3 days. This book is about a teenage boy, Duncan, who works in a lost and found at a train station. One day he finds a little leather book. He beings to read it and finds that whoever wrote this journal had been stalking women on the train. Duncan makes it his goal to find the girls being stalked in the hopes to find the owner of this twisted journal. I love the way that the writer takes you through the mystery with Duncan. I also love the way that Duncan named the character “Roach” before he even knew his name. It helped the reader see even more what kind of a person he was even more than what was in his journal. I highly recommend this book if you like crime and mystery books that keep you on the edge of your seat. There was never a dull moment in this book which is why it was so fast-paced and engaging. It really pulls the reader into the story and the crime aspect of it. Overall a great read.

[Brady McCabe · Rating 4 out of 5]

good i guess

[Abbey · Rating 4 out of 5]

glad I kept this book I begged my mom to buy me for $1 at the closeout sale of the redmond town center Borders Books in 2011!

[Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad YA read. The premise of the book fascinated me, and it had some genuinely suspenseful moments; however, the end was rushed and too neatly resolved.

[Hezekiah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is just as thrilling as when I read it as a teenager. The pacing is excellent.

[Dan P · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book had an incredibly ridiculous plot, absolutely boring delivery, and a horrible ending. I read this book in a day, and it was possibly the most boring 4 hours of my life. The book failed to interest me, and also failed to make me feel for any of the characters at all. One of the worst, if not THE worst, book I've ever read.

[George Zervo]

“I don’t know about this guy. He is one of the strangest people I know!!” Acceleration is about seventeen year old Duncan working in Toronto’s subway lost and found finding a psycho serial killer’s diary. Duncan is now on a wild goose chase trying to find “roach” as he calls him. Graham McNamee’s Acceleration was a seat gluer the whole way through.
McNamee’s style is a style that I personally enjoy very much. He has a style that I think is like Steven King and I really enjoy books that have that suspense and mystery. His style is expressed throughout the story and it gives it a good mood and is set beautifully. McNamee’s voice in this book is one that screams out to you to read this book and continue to read it. His style is a very unique and favored by many people including me. It is different from other books I have read.
Acceleration’s setting is a very interesting one. Toronto, Canada was an excellent choice because it a huge city, and it gives Duncan a challenge, as opposed to a smaller city with not as big of a challenge. The setting is a great example of a city in our world. The author also does a fantastic job of making me feel like I am a part of the story. If I close my eyes, I picture the book going through like a movie. The story takes place mostly in a gloomy, dark, and noisy subway station. The stench of rats and garbage fills the air, choking you. It is dark 90% of the time, not being able to see the light of day. I would really hate to be in Duncan’s place. In my opinion, that would be the worse job ever.
This book can be compared to another book I’ve read. The book is called Cirque du Freak. In that book too, the main character finds something unusual and is motivated to find out everything there is. Both characters are then messed up in crazy situations. If I were in Duncan’s place, I too would totally adventure out and get to the bottom of whatever is going on. I think finding the solution to things is one of the greatest feelings you can posses. Solving problems in general is a really good skill to have no matter what the situation may be. I can make many connections through his book.
Overall… I would give this book a 5 star rating. Acceleration really earned it. I think everything from the cover, to the last page was phenomenal!! Graham McNamee… I take my hat off to you. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes Steven King and mystery books. This is an excellent book overall. Well done Mr. McNamee.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are so many little bits of awesomeness in this book. Like when Duncan uses steam to take off the receipt, and the funny parts sprinkled in (Duncan works at the lost and found for a subway. It's underground.) "Smells like a tomb down here," he says-- his version of hello. "What happened to the old guy?" I point to the ceiling. "Dead?" he asks. "No. Lunch". (pg 29) (Vinny shows Duncan a map he made) "The red dots are for older incidents-- animal mutilations and fires-- the oldest going back about ten years. Green is for newer ones, anything in the past five years," "What about that yellow dot there?" "That's just some mustard." (pg 122) and the best one of all: (Duncan is working at the underground lost and found and talking to his boss, Jacob) I filled a cup at the cooler. "So you been down here long?" I asked. Jacob frowned, glancing at the clock. "I mean working here in the lost and found?" I added. "Three years." "Doesn't bother you? No windows, no air, no sun?" He sniffed but didn't brush me off, actually thought for a second. "Who needs a window? What's there to see?" "I don't know, anything. A tree, maybe?" "I'm going to sit and stare at a tree all day?" "Some sun," I tried. "Air. Some fresh air would be nice." He scratched one hairy ear, like my talking was irritating it. "Sun gives you cancer." (pg 113)

But all these awesome parts are nothing compared to the main story, which is mind blowingly awesome. This is one of the books I've seen around and thought, "hmm, I should read that sometime" but never really thought it would be that great. Kind of like House of the Scorpion. And now that I've got around to reading it, I know how wrong I was.