Extreme Makeover

by Henry Melton

High school senior Deena Brooke struggled to make sense of the impossible changes to her body, grateful for the interest Luther Jennings had in her puzzling insights and quirky urges, until she discovered that he was hiding a deadly secret of his own. What could she do about this unseen influence that was changing her into something else, and was Luther helping her or dragging her into his criminal scam? Henry Melton, who brought you the award-winning Emperor Dad, crafts a tale of invasive nanobots with an alien agenda in the the dark towering redwood forests of far northern California.

336 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2008

About the author

Henry Melton is often on the road with his wife Mary Ann, a nature photographer and frequently captivated by the places he visits. This has inspired his latest series of novels; Small Towns, Big Ideas. Formerly a programmer specializing in database work and web design, he pioneered Internet use for a Fortune 500 company until the tech bubble collapse. In the early days of home computers, he created one of the earliest commercial word processing programs, and built his own computers back when that meant wiring the chips together by hand to his own schematics.
Henry's short fiction has been published in many magazines and anthologies, most frequently in ANALOG. Catacomb, published in DRAGON magazine, is considered a classic, and by the continuing fan mail twenty years later, a formative influence among modern computer gaming programmers. Many of these are available for free on his website.
Other than an occasional short story, most of his time is spent writing science fiction YA novels. Currently being published by Wire Rim Books are the Small Towns, Big Ideas series of books, where high school aged heroes of the here and now are confronted with classic science fiction themes. The first, Emperor Dad, was the winner of the 2008 Darrell Award for Best Novel.
Sharing what he's learned about the art, craft, and business of writing has been an on-going part of his life, from grade school readings to teaching formal classes and veranda coaching for the students of George Benson Christian College in Zambia during his 2007 trip to Africa.

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Reviews

[John Loyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

On a class field trip Deena gets infected by nanobots. I don't want to spoil that origin story. When one of her classmates wants to revisit the site she asks to tag along and gets to know Luther. Luther has his own history which is making him want to keep a low profile, but he is so intrigued by some of the things Deena can do that he gets more involved than he wants. Throw in Deena's overprotective mother who suspects the worst when Deena changes and the plot thickens.

Fast fun read. It hooked me right away, starting with nanobots. Finding out about and dealing with Luther's past was great. Then a finish with a bigger threat. 4.9 stars. I loved the Deena character and how she was forced to grow when pushed out from her mother's overprotective care. Luther was great, too.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the fourth of Henry Melton's books I have read and this one may be even more enchanting that the others. I could not put it down. It is another one of those books that I'm sorry to have finished. Excellent inventive story.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story. The whole nanobot idea was brilliant.