Storm by D. J. MacHale (review)

You can almost imagine a TV trailer: “Previously, on SYLO . . . ” with rapid-fire clips of Tucker Pierce and his posse on the lam from intra-U.S. military attacks, trying to alert the East Coast about the devious cabal that just been revealed on Pemberwick Island. This installment picks up about two heartbeats and half a breath after the close of Volume One, as the teens discover that the mainland has been virtually wiped out by the mysterious Air Force aircraft that can target people, buildings, or both at will. In light of these massive attacks, it’s no longer clear that SYLO, which wrought havoc on Pemberwick, is the villain after all, and until Tucker’s crew can get some solid indication of who the bad guys are and what this war is about, a perilous cross-country race against time will ensue. As if nonstop action isn’t enough of a draw, MacHale ramps up the interest with a sort of nod to disaster tourism, setting epic showdowns in Fenway Park (the intended site for a cryptic Gate to Hell), Fort Knox (a SYLO redoubt commanded by the kids’ Pemberwick Island nemesis), and the Venetian in Las Vegas (from which plucky survivors launch a sneak attack on the Air Force drones). Interaction among the teens is a tad cheesy, with narrator Tucker apt to carry his Rambo self-image a little too far, but that hardly matters when there are so many fast vehicles to drive, so much technology to fear, so many villains to take down, and so much to blow up along the way. Bring on Book Three.