Dusk - Hardcover

Gates, Susan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399243437 ISBN 13: 9780399243431

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile, 2005

Synopsis

Having had her genes fused with the DNA of a hawk at a government lab, thirteen-year-old Dusk has had enough of the experiments and escapes the only home she has ever known in order to attempt to live a new life in an abandoned town amongst the other mutant lab escapees.

About this title

Reviews

Grade 7-10–SERU (Sensory Enhancement Research Unit) is a secret facility devoted to enhancing military capabilities. Among its genetically mutated experiments are extremely clever and dangerous rats; a killer guard dog; and Dusk, a human girl who possesses hawk genes, the result of a failed attempt to create perfect night vision. When a fire erupts and destroys SERU, all of the specimens escape to a nearby deserted town. The military pulls out to cover its illegal operations, and the escapees live there under a strict, and very tense, state of peace. Two years later, a boy enters the village and disrupts that truce. It is then that Dusk has to take sides: is she human or animal? Gates creates an interesting science-fiction story, weaving in elements of survival and family dynamics. The mutated animals are just plain scary (the dogs are slightly reminiscent of Stephen King's Cujo [Penguin, 1981]), and the genetic mutation issue makes readers wonder if this could really happen. At times a bit confusing (there's a lot going on in the first chapter), this is a decent novel that leaves readers still concerned about the future of the title character. Will she ever really be free? But, perhaps, that's just an excuse for a sequel.–Carly B. Wiskoff, Great Neck Library, NY
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Edition details

• Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0399243437
• ISBN 13: 9780399243431
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 196