The Hit

The Hit

by Melvin Burgess

Synopsis:

Live the ultimate high. Pay the ultimate price. The shocking return to YA by the author of Smack.

A new drug is on the street. Everyone''s buzzing about it. Take the hit. Live the most intense week of your life. Then die. It''s the ultimate high at the ultimate price. Adam thinks it over. He''s poor, and doesn''t see that changing. Lizzie, his girlfriend, can''t make up her mind about sleeping with him, so he can''t get laid. His brother Jess is missing. And Manchester is in chaos, with the cops in the pockets of the dealers and with a group of homegrown terrorists, the Zealots, battling to overthrow the banks. Wouldn''t one amazing week be better than this endless misery? After Adam downs one of the Death pills, he''s about to find out.

My thoughts:

There is a new drug in town.  Everyone is talking about.  It is called Death.  Those who take it, have one amazing week.  But the price of this amazing week is death.  Adam, the protagonist,  decides to join in. Adam's life is going nowhere: his brother is dead and his girlfriend doesn't love him. He doesn't feel like he has anything to lose The book tells the story of how his amazing week suddenly isn't so perfect after all. Adam falls for Lizzie, an upbeat teenager with no intention of dying.  She decides to make Adam’s last week a good one but nothing seems to work out.  The pair get caught between a terrifying criminal gang and the shadowy revolutionary group, the Zealots.  The new drug, 'Death', is such a simple concept that is genius in so many ways. In the story, it starts out as a form of euthanasia but turns into something much greater. This action, violent  filled story will engage both the avid and reluctant reader. The surprise ending will leave readers shocked.