I was fortunate enough to get one of the first copies of Girl Missing, the debut novel by Sophie McKenzie when it launched a couple of years back. It was no surprise to me that it went on to win several prestigious awards, as it was wonderfully written. I didn’t get around to reading her second book Blood Ties, but everyone I’ve spoken to who has read it tells me it is another superb book. Now Sophie has started a new series which is very much my sort of thing.

The Medusa Project Book 1: The Set Up is a fantastic read. The premise is that some years ago, a secret scientific project discovered a way of promoting the development of mental powers: telepathy, telekinesis etc by injecting an infant before birth with a special genetic formula. The unfortunate side effect of this was that the mothers of those injected all died shortly after the child’s birth. After four such deaths, the project was halted, and the four children have grown up with no knowledge of their potential. Now in their teens, the powers are emerging …

The first book is seen through the eyes of Nico a rather naive teenage boy, who is just discovering he has the ability to move physical objects with his mind. He is easily led into believing he can use his special gift to make money and impress girls without consequence. As always with McKenzie’s stories, the characterisations are superb and the plot rattles along at such pace that you hardly notice the pages turning. Each of the four special children (two girls and two boys) have developed different powers. Some appear more immediately useful than others, though I suspect each will be explored fully by the end of the series.

Sophie McKenzie is undoubtedly one of THE YA authors of our time. If you haven’t ready anything by her before, then I strongly recommend you give her writing a try. The Medusa Project looks set to be a fantastic series and I’ll be following it avidly as the rest of the books are released.

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