Undercurrent

By Paul Blackwell

A blisteringly paced novel full of thrills, twists, and surprises, Undercurrent unfolds with possibilities that are both gripping and unsettling.

Sixteen-year-old Callum Harris never wanted to move to Crystal Falls. Neither did Cole, his brawny and fearless older brother. With the recent separation of their parents, the brothers have had quite enough change of late.

But the move turns out to be only the first of many changes in Callum's life. After he plunges headlong over the falls, he wakes up in the hospital to find that life is no longer what it once was: his squabbling parents appear to have reconciled; his brother, an unrepentant jock and serial dater, is paralyzed and bed-ridden in a makeshift hospital room at home; and even Callum himself, always studious and unpopular, is now the object of desire for the two hottest girls in school.

As he adjusts to this surreal new life--a life both exhilarating and terrifying--Callum struggles to reconcile his past memories with a dangerous and uncertain present. Who is he? Where is he? And what, exactly, has he become?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: Jul 23, 2013
• ISBN: 9780385676991

Paul Blackwell

Paul BLackwell never went over a waterfall himself, but he has jumped off a sixty-foot cliff. Once was enough. This is his first book for teens. He lives in Montreal, Quebec.

Reviews for Undercurrent

[mrso822 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I received a copy of this from the publisher for review via Edelweiss.

This is another HarperTeen book, so it’s safe to say I heard of it on Tea Time (not that I remember for sure). I’m slightly obsessed with all things HarperTeen, so when I see a book of theirs on Edelweiss, I request it, and I was lucky enough to be approved to read and review an e-ARC of Undercurrent.

I’m having a hard time even collecting my thoughts on Undercurrent, and I finished it two days ago. I really liked the beginning, and how it jumped right into the story. The very first page talks about Callum going over the Crystal Falls and waking up in the hospital. It doesn’t take him long after waking up to realize that things have changed for him, though. People he thought were his friends aren’t around, and people he barely knows are buddying up to him.

From there, though, I kind of felt like I failed to connect to it. I don’t know exactly what it was about it that made me feel that way. I think part of it was probably a mood thing. You see, Undercurrent is a bit darker of a story than the other alternate reality books that I’ve read and loved, and I’m just not sure that’s what I was in the mood to read. I gathered from the description that it would be a bit of a thriller, but I felt like everything in Callum’s new world was twisted and dark. Also, I found myself very confused. We don’t find out until close to the end of the book how or why Callum is in this new reality or a lot of what is going on around him, so I just found myself often confused. One other thing that bothered me, but not to the extent of what I’ve already mentioned, was that there was a bit of predictability in the ending of Undercurrent. Not the full thing, but from the very beginning, there is a mysterious character that Callum sees, and I quickly predicted who he was.

Also, I wasn’t a huge fan of any of the characters. Callum specifically grated on my nerves. He very quickly realizes that things aren’t as he remembers them, but he almost seems to spend most of the story in denial, rather than trying to figure out what was going on. Also, I felt like he was really isolated a lot of the time. Unlike other stories I’ve read, he didn’t really have a confidante or that one person that was always by his side, and it was kind of depressing.

I actually really liked the ending. Finding out the full story of how and why Callum ended up going after the falls was pretty surprising. That was one thing that I definitely didn’t predict. However, I did feel like it ended kind of abruptly. I can’t find anything to know for sure whether Undercurrent is going to be part of a series or not, but I feel like the ending left it so that it could really go either way. I felt like we got a decent resolution to the events of this story, but it also left an opening for a future book, if Blackwell decides to go that way. If there were to be a sequel, I would probably read it, since I enjoyed the ending, though the story as a whole didn’t really do it for me.

Overall, I don’t think that Undercurrent was a bad book. If you’re in the mood for an alternate reality story with a lot of mystery and a bit of a dark, creepy story line, you would probably really enjoy this book. Honestly, I think it was more of a case of the wrong book at the wrong time for me, so I can’t really recommend whether to read or avoid it. I guess read the description, think about the things I didn’t like about it, and make the decision for yourself. I really wish I could be of more help and give a definitive answer, but I’m still just not really sure how to rate this book. I guess because I enjoyed the very beginning and the very end but felt mostly detached throughout most of it, I’m going to just say that it’s okay.

This review is also posted on my blog, Mommy's Reading Break.

[bookswithbite · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Dimensional stories are a new genre that I'm really loving. It a mix of moving action along with a mysterious force, pulling the reader into different worlds. I, for one, loved this story.Plot: What would you do if you plunged into water and woke up in a different world? First, I freak out and then I think what do to. The plot moved well gathering the reader for great world building and characters. On the surface, the reader see and feels the gaps in the world. It's a daring experience trying to put everything together at once. I let the story guide me, putting myself in the thoughts of Callum, I let everything seeped into my mind slowly they way he did. He was smart and after thinking things through bit by bit, he slowly began to understand what is happening. It does move slow in the beginning, but it does have a lot of information to divulge, so give the book time to unfold.Characters: There are some minor character that put the final piece of the puzzle and helped Callum. I felt like these guys (especially the end) was the comedy relief guys. No one understood their weird comments or actions. I knew to pay attention more to these guys cause they knew more than what they led on. Callum himself, did a big change in taking a role he didn't want to play and well played it perfectly. He did act strange at first but he got it. Callum questioned why he was so different in this world and what happen to change it. I always wondered myself what I would be like in another dimensional world. *shrugs*Dimensional: This is the main part of the story and yes I loved it. It played out well from beginning to end, giving the reader an impressive experience. For me, dimensional stories are hard to pull off since they can be confusing. Blackwell doesn't confuse the reader at all, instead giving the reader a steady and exciting story to read.Undercurrent is a dark, impressive story. With the perfect ingredients of action, mystery and dimensions, Blackwell excellent story telling moves the reader. With a vivid execution from start to finish, Undercurrent is an entertaining ride.

[darkfaerietales_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.Quick & Dirty: Cal Harris was only trying to set an example and make a point, instead he ends up in a three day coma and finally waking up is just the beginning of his nightmare.Opening Sentence: A hundred and twenty gallons of water roar over Crystal Falls every second, it says on the plaques and in every pamphlet in town.Review:I enjoy reading thrillers like this one. The ending might be just a tad predictable and the plot may be just a smidge over done, but even with played out plots like this one, I enjoy finding just the few little things that make it stand out. Unfortunately, I couldn’t really find anything to really stand out in Undercurrent.Cal, or Callum, as he prefers to be called, goes through a near-death experience that leaves him feeling completely out of sorts when he wakes up from a coma. It begins with subtle things like strangers acting more aggressively than necessary, his brother not visiting him in the hospital, his once best friend trying to kill him, that sort of thing. Literally, as soon as these first few scenes played out I pretty much knew exactly what I was in for throughout the rest of the book. Now, I said I like finding the unique things in common stories but Undercurrent pretty much had everything I would expect when characters are trying to “re-discover” their world. The sceevy guy is having an affair with an important town figure. The good kid becomes a bully. The hot chick wants the dork who used to be horrible at sports but now finds himself the star of the football team. Yeah. Seen it. Know it. Don’t need it again.As predictable as it all was, I will credit Blackwell with keeping certain events just elusive enough that I wanted to keep reading. What’s up with the science teacher? Will the guy get the girl? Who is this dude in the sweatshirt that keeps popping up everywhere? Will Cal ever get his dog to love him the way she did before his accident?I had my strong suspicions, most of which ended up right, but I had to keep reading to know for sure. I think that’s where Blackwell did the best work. There was just enough happening that I wanted and needed to see all the loose strings come together. However, with all that enticement, I felt like some of the questions were never answered at all. It isn’t a situation where he gives something of an ending to a situation and the rest is left for our imaginations. No, there are some blatant gaping loose ends.On the other hand, Blackwell did a really great job with the back stories of some of the characters which he presented as flash-backs. I really like when a story goes smoothly from a really important memory back to the present without giving away why the memory was important at that moment or breaking the forward flow of the story. It’s an added bonus when more of the memory is added as the story progresses, something Blackwell did quite well.Overall, I enjoyed the idea of the story. It needs some depth added to a few of the characters and maybe a less predictable twist. But, I will say it was well written and likeable enough. I just felt like I’d read it at least a dozen times before which was very disappointing.Notable Scene:“On the bridge,” I say, not that it could be any more obvious. “Just now. What did you just drop into the falls?”Mr. Schroeder looks at me while the rain bounces off his jacket- and I am probably as wet and cold as when they pulled me out of the river. “It was a message,” he tells me wearily. “saying I was on my way.” He pulls the little black box out again, which now has a solid green light on it. “And according to this, the message was delivered.”FTC Advisory: Harper Collins provided me with a copy of Undercurrent. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.

[jeneaw-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Undercurrent is one of those book that when you start reading, it seem like it will be pretty good. But as you keep reading it begins to become just okay. This is that book for me. It starts off with Callum, who has went over the waterfall, and now that he has woken up, everything is different than he remembers, from his family’home life to school, to girls. So, I was curious as to what what was really going on.

Callum was confused, but seemed to be genreally a nice guy. Well, this Callum is, the “other”, not so much. Sometimes, I wanted to shake him and tell him that the answers are right in front of him. I still can’t put my finger on what is was exactly about Callum, but I did like him, and wanted him to figure out what was going on. There isn’t a whole of secondary character that really caught my attention, they were just part of the story.

The plot itself was entertaining. Callum’s world has been turned upside down. Those he remembers as friends all hate him. The girl he loves, thinks they something wrong with him for talking to her because he “never” has talked to her. His home life is completely effed up too. The alternate reality aspect was my favorite part, and the mystery of what happened and who was great. I was hoping that would have been a little more development from the plot itself and learned more about the other world. there seemed to be a lot of questions along the way, and for the most part the mystery was resolved, but the ending felt like it was rushed. But I enjoyed it none the less. I am wondering if there will be a sequel with the way it ended, it certainly left room for more story.

Undercurrent, was a great thrill ride, with the alternate realities and the mystery to go with it. I would definitely say pick this one.