Countdown - Michelle Rowen

Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Author: Michelle Rowan
Publish Date: 2008* (Adult fiction under pen name Michelle Maddox and then revamped for YA audience in 2013 under own name)
Pages: 327

Synopsis:

3 seconds left to live. Once the countdown starts, it cannot be stopped.

2 pawns thrown into a brutal underground reality game.

Kira Jordan survived her family's murder and months on plague-devastated city streets with hard-won savvy and a low-level psi ability. She figures she can handle anything. Until she wakes up in a barren room, chained next to the notorious Rogan Ellis.

1 reason Kira will never, ever trust Rogan. Even though both their lives depend on it.

Their every move is controlled and televised for a vicious exclusive audience. And as Kira's psi skill unexpectedly grows and Rogan's secrets prove evermore deadly, Kira's only chance of survival is to risk trusting him as much as her instincts. Even if that means running head-on into the one trap she can't escape.

GAME 0VER 

Review:

Alright, if you've read thus far then you already know to expect comparisons to The Hunger Games. Maybe even Running Man.

The important thing to remember is that this book came after Running Man but before Hunger Games.

The book itself has enough difference to make it interesting and there are some good bits in it but I did think it was let down by a few serious flaws that are a bit more than just being a 'tropey' dystopian book. 

Firstly, our protagonist Kira (sixteen year old orphan with low level psychic abilities and a penchant for thieving) has a tragic backstory involving her family being murdered by a botched robbery but there never seems to be an emotional connection there but more of an excuse to get family out of the way so that Kira can go and do her thing and occasionally flash back to it so she can have a sad moment. She also reveals she's afraid of the dark ever since that which makes it hard for her living on the streets. 

My main issue is that this universe does not feel like a universe. It's not immersive. For example, in Katniss Everdeen's world we get an idea of what an average day for her is like, struggling to survive and take care of her family. You are told about her district, the people there, rumours about the other districts that live better off.... 

Here though, there are about four or so settings. One, the city where the levels take place (which are mostly uninhabited apparently), St Augustine's and Saradone  (the juvenile detention and maximum security prison respectively) the Colony (a dream city Kira longs to go to) and the Boss HQ - Ellis Enterprises. We are only told about the prisons and the Colony in passing. For all intents and purposes, it seems like there are about ten people living in this world. 

I want to know more about Kira's life.. where is she sleeping? How did she learn to pick pocket so well? Does she have friends? Has she ever tried to get a job? Is there no precedent for child care in this world? I mean, her family died and she's just.. out on the street? It briefly mentions the courts wanting to put her in foster care but that she ran away because someone she knew once had been put in there and then vanished. That's suitably creepy but needs elaboration. 

I liked the start of the book a lot - it throws you into Kira and Rogan's (seventeen year old accused of mass murder and apparently super hotness) situation and you get a taste of what danger they are in. The book doesn't seem to explain the danger very well so it feels like there's immediate danger like a roof about to come down on them but then the contestants just sort of... wander around for a bit until the next stage? 

How involved the 'behind the scenes' staff are varies as well. It does feel like there really is no danger to be concerned about because the pair are patched up and sent on their way frequently with super high tech medicine. The "levels" seem short which is weird for a 'televised show'. Again, similarities with the Hunger Games but this show is more exclusive and of course, illegal. It flits between telling us that the Subscribers want to watch (and pay to watch) contestants die - and that they enjoy seeing people humiliated and emotional but then whenever the floating cameras ask Kira for an interview, they cut off what she says and replaces it with a generic "Kira thanks you for supporting her!" 

I mean, if the viewers are getting off on people being forced to compete for their amusement, why pretend it's all sunshine and daisies?

Four other issues that immediately crop up for me is one: the whole 'plague happened now we're in this mess' background that we have no information on. True, Hunger Games and even Divergent didn't go into that much detail either about their apocalyptic nightmare reasons and that's fine, honestly I don't care too much but when you make a huge plot point that people with Psionic powers have only come about AFTER the plague, I think we need to go deeper. 

Then, hmm. This is could be the most annoying thing in the book.. how often Kira is sexualised and semi-slut shamed. She mentions very early on that one of the ways she had to survive was to seduce men, but instead of going all the way she'd rob them blind and then scarper. Whenever the cameras introduce or interview her they make a point of saying how she 'uses her body to get what she wants'. 

This immediately makes her ashamed in front of Rogan even though she hasn't done anything wrong except rob paedophiles and beat people who try to rape her. 

Some intensely awkward scenes show Kira being told to strip at gun point, being given an incredibly detailed super skimpy costume, then Kira and Rogan about to do it but change their mind once they realise cameras are filming them, and have probably filmed her in the bathroom after eating the drugged food. Just.. creepy. It doesn't drop it though, interviews keep bringing up how quickly Kira was about to sleep with a dude she'd only known a short while and then other contestants/show runners keep eyeing her up, sexually harassing her, continually saying how they'd never had a girl on the show before and just being gross. 

Third issue - turns out Kira does have a friend named Oliver. He conveniently turns up during a level of the game and is shown to be in love with her. His plot arc is pretty predictable and I wanted to punch Kira and Rogan in the face for being too stupid to realise what was obviously going on when they've been so much smarter than everyone else for the entirety of the game. 

My last major issue is that it's so vague on everything and there's no build up or explanation. 

For example, two contestants are put into Kira and Rogan's level as opponents.. now, I would assume that since these two were in a simultaneous game that they would be on the same playing field but these two have apparently been given the full brief on Kira (they already know Rogan) and remark that she's prettier than she looks on TV. So.. they've been allowed to watch Kira/Rogan's game? While they were presumably playing their own levels at the same time? What?

Verdict:

The good things about the book is that for the most part it was pretty interesting. I liked the death traps, I thought the whole partner with someone who you can't trust was pretty neat. The snuff-film subscribers was a neat angle as well, the tech they used like the implants that prevented the pairs from separating too far was cool. I liked how Kira and Rogan were (for the most part) smarter than the game makers. 

I might try and check out the adult version one day. I feel like if you change an adult book to suit a younger audience you're naturally going to lose some of the original story and the dialogue can only be better surely than what we got in this book. With more depth into the surrounding world and more character build-up it would be a lot better. Kira and Rogan did seem to mesh a bit quick which is fine, but it was based on hotness and bad boy factor. Even when she was told he was a murderer and possibly the murderer of her family it didn't even seem to shake her trust in him. 

Overall it wasn't a bad read. I picked it up at a book sale and it held my interest for the most part. The twists involving Ellis was great but it was a bit too much lacking in "show, don't tell" but for the audience it's aimed at that's probably fine.