Review--Gone

   In honor of yesterday's anti-climactic Rapture, I thought I would review Gone, by Michael Grant. This is a romp through a world where a rapture of sorts has taken place in the blink of an eye, just like many people imagined loopy Harold Camping's Rapture would be. In the world of Gone, though, only those 15 years old and above disappear, leaving the young ones behind to deal with a world where nothing is normal.
   Part apocalyptic, part mini-X-Men, Gone is tawdry and disjointed. Immediately and predictably, the children left behind fall into the categories of the good guys and the bad guys, many with weird special powers that threaten to topple the world that the Chosen One will have to reassemble. There is a definite religious undercurrent throughout, with not-so-subtle hints in the names of many of the character: Caine, Mother Mary and Brother John, and the hero, Sam Temple, not to mention twins separated at birth--one good, one bad.
   I would have found the concept of the world-without-adults more interesting without the addition of talking animals and some weird cave-dwelling Darkness, reminiscent of LOST's Smoke Monster confusing things. Too many tangents makes the character development weak, and I found myself not caring what would become of those left to fend for themselves and each-other. LOST this most definitely is not.... nor is it rapturous reading.
--Karina