It had a really interesting concept and story. The concept of the the book made me select this book. AHS/JH

Good read. Cool concept. AHS/AH

Narly, and really, really good. This thing is loaded with all kinds of wonderful little tweaks. For instance: If you've read Dante, you know that Virgil is Dante's guide in 'The Inferno.' The two-faced head is an obvious reference to Janus, the Roman god of endings and beginnings (hence January, the first month of the year). I am only halfway through this and already I like it better than Susan Cooper's novel 'The Dark is Rising,' and I really liked that. This is reminiscent of Charles Williams' seven famous fantasy novels. (You know Charles Williams - he was a friend of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, and one of the Inklings). Some don't like the ending. I give it: ( )

Submitted by Victoria...
I liked it, it kept you interested throughout the whole book.
A boy wakes up in the middle of a field and is brought to a grim town called Locus.
Once there, he wants to find out why he is there and why everybody has excepted that they are there and have no interest in escaping. Himself and two friends both try to escape and return to their normal lives.

When Jacob wakes up in the middle of a field, he realizes that the only thing he remembers is his name. A man named Virgil takes him to Locus, a town where everything is gray. He lives in a dorm with other teenage boys. By day they pick up rocks and at night tell each other about the bits of memories they have.

But Jacob refuses to go along and eventually runs aways with two other teens. It plods along before getting to an interesting ending that has to do with making better choices. ( )

Jacob is a young man who wakes up in a field and is brought to "Locus, " where everyone dresses in grey, eats tasteless food and is conscripted into doing monotonous manual labour. Interesting premise and satisfying conclusion are somewhat hampered by Keaney's plot padding and clumsy suspense building. I would be interested in reading other works by him, when he has a better editor or has matured a bit as a writer. (For ages 10-14) ( )