Rachel Rambles About Harken

Harken by Kaleb Nation
From Goodreads:

After surviving an assassination attempt, teenager Michael Asher discovers that he is at the center of a worldwide conspiracy reaching higher than any earthly power. A supernatural organization desperately wants him dead. He doesn't know why. Everyone who might have the answers has already been killed.

Tumbling into a web of international secrets, Michael is forced to fight back and dig up the truth. He begins to question how much of the world is truly as people are led to believe it is. Are there things that humanity is not being told? Who is the puppet master? And how far into the maze can he venture before he is lost forever?

There was an insane amount of hype surrounding this book, which made me incredibly nervous. I mean, not nervous enough that I didn't buy it at midnight along with the rest of Kaleb's army of devoted fans, but still a little bit unsure about whether or not I would like it.

Luckily, I discovered early on that yes, the hype was totally justified. Harken is filled with awesome. The plot is intense and action-packed, and it had me constantly flipping the pages (er, pressing the button on my kindle) to find out what would happen next. The conspiracy elements and the supernatural elements combined a lot better than I expected them to, and the whole story was so complex. I was so impressed by how perfectly all the different pieces of the story fit together.

The main character, Michael, is someone that you can't help but root for. He makes a lot of mistakes, and there were several times that I just wanted to shake him and make him stop doing stupid things, but that just made him feel more realistic. No matter what he did, I just wanted him to win. I wanted him to outsmart the bad guys, and I was cheering him along the whole time I was reading. Thad and Callista are awesome companions, and the trio deserves a place right up there with other famous book trios like Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Harken reminded me a bit of all the things I love about the Maximum Ride series--kids with supernatural abilities on the run from the bad guys--which was a pleasant surprise. The stakes were high throughout the entire book, and Michael was constantly on the move. There were no dull moments to sit and ponder about why all this weird stuff was happening to him. He just had to keep going, keep running from the people who were chasing him.

This book makes me really paranoid that maybe the world is secretly being run by people more powerful than we can ever imagine. This supernatural conspiracy was written in such a way that it is not hard to believe at all, which is both awesome and terrifying.

I predict that Harken is going to be A Huge Freaking Deal in the next few weeks/months/years. I'm talking a fandom with a movie adaptation and everything. I'm so excited to see how far this little book will go, and I especially cannot wait to read the sequel!

-Rachel