Jack is snatched from his home by a dwarf and a mountain of a man. But 18-year-old Jack is just an orphan living with his sister, so what could these men want with him? The answer lies in Jack’s unusual dreams. Thousands of humans globally are suddenly dying in their sleep due to the nefarious activities of the Red Queen in the Traumwelt – a world created by people’s dreams. So to thwart the Red Queen’s devious plans and save humanity, a secret organization abducts and makes soldiers out of children and teenagers like Jack who can travel into the Traumwelt through lucid dreams. But Jack is extra special, and his ability could be the key to humans winning this war.

Morgan Quaid’s Whiplash is the first of the Rust Chronicles series, and I believe the series couldn’t have begun on a better note. You’re looking at a tasty mixture of fantasy and science fiction that teases what you might have if the commando version of what goes on at Hogwarts collides with Dr. Frankenstein’s tinkering.

I love how Quaid delivers his plot with laid-back, free-flowing writing that makes the story read like the regular comedic “clueless guy gets recruited to save the world” story, but with more imagination. The humor is topnotch, unforced, and rides on witty turns of phrase. But I guess you can expect a man with Quaid’s talent for words to be humorous. There’s this particular inversion of a popular expression he did that I can’t get out of my head. The phrase is “to have one’s heart in one’s mouth,” and here’s Quaid’s inversion to suit his context: “my heart climbed back down from my throat and continued beating.” Really neat.

With these things going for the book, it’s no wonder it’s a delightfully breezy read, very hooky too since Quaid manages to pack enough suspense and weirdness into it to keep you on edge. And in a very on-brand way, Quaid ends the book with a tantalizing cliffhanger. This just further proves that Whiplash 1 absolutely deserves all the praise it gets.

Pages: 273 | ASIN: B09H3MDV2L