Cat Johnson Braves Doll Lil’s Word Association Challenge!

Author: Michelle Gagnon
Title: Don’t Turn Around
Release: August 28, 2012
Series: PERSEF0NE Trilogy #1
Reviewer: Mona
Source: Edelweiss
Purchase: | Book Depository
Sixteen-year-old Noa has been a victim of the system ever since her parents died. Now living off the grid and trusting no one, she uses her computer-hacking skills to stay safely anonymous and alone. But when she wakes up on a table in an empty warehouse with an IV in her arm and no memory of how she got there, Noa starts to wish she had someone on her side.

Enter Peter Gregory. A rich kid and the leader of a hacker alliance, Peter needs people with Noa’s talents on his team. Especially after a shady corporation called AMRF threatens his life in no uncertain terms.

But what Noa and Peter don’t realize is that Noa holds the key to a terrible secret, and there are those who’d stop at nothing to silence her for good.

Fans of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” will devour the story of Noa, a teen soul mate to Lisbeth Salander.

Wow! What an incredible book! This fast paced and exciting YA kept me up reading long after I should have been in bed. But I couldn’t put it down. So many mysteries, so many coincidences, and so much like real life you’ll wonder if it’s actually fiction.

After waking up in a warehouse with an IV in her arm, Noa makes a daring escape. Meanwhile, across town, Peter indulges in his favorite pastime…hacking his dad’s files…only to end up on the floor with a bunch of gun toting thugs in suits stealing his laptop.

Peter wonders what the file he stumbled across has to do with the thugs accosting him, but no one will give him a straight answer. So he turns to one of the best hackers in the business, Rain, aka Noa.
Noa needs money so she can remain hidden and find out what the hell is going on and why she has an incision in her chest. Peter’s hacking request provides the money, and her research also provides some answers for her. But soon, she and Peter are on the run trying to stay a step ahead of the goons with guns and trying to stay alive. It’s not as easy as it would seem.

When friends start turning up dead simply for helping them, Peter and Noa realize whatever they’ve uncovered is bigger and more complex than they ever imagined. When all else fails, they still have their worldwide network of hackers ready and willing to help. Never underestimate the power of the technologically gifted.

An incredible story of intrigue that will keep you guessing and reading and biting your nails, Don’t Turn Around is fascinating. I can’t wait for the next book in the series to learn what happens with Noa and Peter.

The sad thing about it is, with so many children in the ‘system’ in real life, it’s not impossible to imagine something like this actually taking place. So many kids run away and end up living on the streets, how do we know some unscrupulous corporation isn’t abducting them and using them as guinea pigs? Farfetched? Maybe, but then again, maybe not.

Mona's first grade teacher, Mrs. Stanford, gifted her with the love of reading. For that, she'll always live in her heart. But reading took over Mona's life, eclipsing everything but playing sports, and has continued to be a huge part of her life. Although she has always written poetry and stories for her self, last year she decided to try her hand at writing fiction. She is currently editing her first urban fantasy and hopes to have it ready for the agent by summer's end. Besides reading, Mona loves speed in the form of fast cars. The faster, the better! In her next life, she plans to drive race cars (or whatever happens to be their replacement in the future) all while reading and writing. She has also taken up rune reading, and find it to be disturbingly accurate and exciting.

Doll Mona Leigh

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