The Loners (Quarantine)

High school is a prison. At least it feels that way when you are there. But what our slightly melodramatic youngsters can't imagine is actually being trapped in your high school, under a quarantine that literally makes your high school into a prison. In Lex Thomas's Quarantine: The Loners, you get to see just how ugly high school can be.David knew punching Sam, the star of the football team, was going to have repercussions, but he had no idea they would be so long-lasting. In a normal time, he would have had to watch his back and life would have been difficult until he graduated, but when half the school exploded and the rest was put under a mandatory, isolating quarantine, he was left to survive the insane wrath of Sam with no adults to supervise. When a kid infected with an insane virus that kills all adults instantly runs into the high school, there is no other option but to try to contain the disease by bombing the school. Unfortunately, nothing was contained and all the adults died anyway. Now hundreds of kids are left to fend for themselves with no answers, and no way to feed themselves. The military starts dropping food, but as the seniors age, they start to die the same way, by coughing up their own lungs. In order to avoid the inevitable massacre, the military creates the "graduation booth" where kids who have lost the virus from their systems can safely leave the toxic school and rejoin the rest of society. But that means there are a lot of kids stuck in the school who face years before they can leave. And we all know what happens when kids are left to their own devices for years on end... we have all read Lord of the Flies. It doesn't end well.After a year in the school, gangs have formed so kids can have some fighting chance of staying alive. Without a gang like Varsity, Pretty Ones, Nerds, Freaks, or Sluts, you can pretty much count on starving and looking over your shoulder with every move you make. Thanks to David's impulsive decision to punch Sam for fooling around with David's girlfriend, he is a wanted and shunned man, and his brother Will is guilty by association. They make do, cleaning laundry to trade since they have no chance of actually getting food in the military drops, but Will resents his lot in life. As Scraps (gang-less kids), they barely get by. But when David tries to protect a newly shunned Pretty One from being raped by a Varsity, he accidentally kills the guy and becomes more than just shunned... now he is a wanted man. When he is saved by a bunch of Scraps and Will, the Scraps have an interesting proposition. They want to form their own gang. David finally agrees when the Scraps come together an stand up to Sam for the next drop, but just because they have a gang, it doesn't mean they are safe. Because no one is safe in Quarantine.So, this was quite the story. Two man writing team Lex Hrabe and Thomas Voorhies (pen name: Lex Thomas) created a realistic, terrifying, brutal place that is exactly what you would expect. There is violence and rape and starvation and insanity and even forced "prostitution" where the Pretty Ones are forced to date Varsity in order to get their protection and food and resources. This book is ugly because this situation is ugly. A world where bullies and beasts are strongest is just survival of the fittest. And everyone else is forced to survive on the fringes. But we all know a revolution is imminent when people are scared and starving. Starving people will do anything to eat, even stand up to someone who has all the power when they are essentially powerless as one individual. But together, they can show the powers that be that there is power in numbers. This story felt so real and accurate it was incredibly disturbing. I found myself cringing with each descriptive sentence and action scene. Not because it was gratuitous. Because it was exactly what would happen if this wasn't fiction.There is an amazing depiction of the relationship between brothers, David and Will, that will ring true to any sibling relationship. They hate each other, but love one another, they want to kill each other, but won't let anyone hurt the other, they forgive but don't forget, and most of all, they compete. It was a really well executed relationship for Lex Thomas, and it will ring true for anyone with siblings. But the other characters were just as dynamic and well executed. The boy, Smudge, who preferred being a Scrap, and Dorothy, who abandoned the Scraps out of fear when they faced Sam, and even Hilary, the leader of the Pretty Ones who did what she had to in order to stay alive, but who could barely live with herself anymore. They were executed brilliantly.Since the story is so disturbing, it would probably be best for older young adults, maybe grades 10 and up. But this would be a perfect story for any reluctant reader, boys in particular. Like I said, the story is mature, so be aware of who you give it to. I can't imagine anyone with delicate sensibilities will make it more than 10 pages in this story. My one biggest critique was the difficulty keeping up with the ever-changing point of view. It switched so often it felt a little schizophrenic at times. I never really got used to it. But otherwise, you will enjoy this story if you can stomach the terrifying reality of it all! And you will walk down the halls of your school a little differently once you are finished!

Great product

4.5 STARS! First I must admit that this is one of those books I read the "free sample" for and then turned away from purchasing it and going any further. It's not that it wasnt intriguing, but I thought, "Here we go again, another catastrophic virus forces teens to be locked inside a high school and all hell breaks loose during the quarantine". In fact, I contemplated naming a book shelf HS Quarantine because this theme has been done again and again, BUT I decided to give this book one more try after reading some trusted reviews. I have to say, I'm so glad I did because this book was an absolute thrill ride! I forced myself to put it down this morning at 2:00 am out of necessity, but devoured it again the minute I could.For those with weak stomachs and sensitive ears, this book is not for you! There is gritty language, sexual themes and an abundance of graphic violence. This book is a dash of The Lord of the Flies, The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner (without order, total chaos prevails), but with a stiff R rating. With that being said, I loved the colorful narrative, the realistic teen relationships and the high school social hierarchy with stereotypical cliche names and identity branding ie hair color, clothing, residence within the school, etc. All of these elements thrown together in brilliant disarray makes for an exciting, page-turning, totally believable and original story that I didn't want to ever end...I'm so glad Lex Thomas cleverly wove the makings for several sequels. It's going to be hard to wait for the next book coming out this Summer 2013.The main character in this book is David a typical HS jock that has given up on life since his mother's tragic death a year previous; he has given up on everything except for his younger brother Will, a feisty, rebellious, epileptic who is starting his freshman year of high school. David has alienated his former football team and gets in a fight with the new star football player at a party over his cheating girlfriend. Thus David starts the first day of high school a "dead man walking." However, before the first period bell can even ring on the first day of school an explosion tears away a wing of the school and the teachers suddenly die. The students soon discover the windows are covered and all exits sealed with a quarantine tent canvassing the entire school. Military enters the school to inform the students that they have been infected by a virus that won't leave their body until puberty has runs it's course. The students are deadly to the entire outside world, although a few students did escape. When the virus begins to leave their body, they are eligible for release through a sealed booth and graduate to the outside world. The military drops food and supplies once a week by helicopter, but that creates a dog eat dog environment of gross proportions.Great unique supporting characters and strong, moral main characters make for a great story. Thomas creates a crazy world that you can envision, hear and even smell and its a world that is full of terror and triumph. This is one of those books that is absolutely unforgettable!

verry good

MY REVIEWI purchased this paperback from Amazon.co.uk for myself as a birthday treat. It has been on my wishlist for quite a while, from before it came out in paperback. So I finally bought it for myself.The cover shows a wrecked section of a school, which depicts the book well. The cover fits the post-apocalyptic/dystopian style of the book well. On the cover of my paperback is a quote from another well known author, which is one of my pet hates as I think such quotes belong on the back cover or inside sleeve of the book. On the book pictured above is the totally relevant byline "Graduate . . . . Or die trying". So would I pick this book up form a store shelf? Yes I would, the cover would do it's job in making me pick up the book, then the byline of "Graduate . . .or die trying" would intrigue me with the blurb finally selling the book to me.So the two main characters are brother David and Will Thorpe. It will be Will's first day at the high school, and David is determined to look out for his younger brother. David used to be one of the popular sports guys. Until their mother died, then he just lost interest. Just as David is thinking of going back and re-joining the team, he commits an unforgivable act and fights with the new team leader Sam. Now there's no way he'll get back on the team.There's a loud explosion at the school and a whole wing of the school blows up. The teachers start to collapse and die, soon there's only the teenagers left. There's some sort of virus that teen's carry, one such infected teen has run into the school and infected them all. The only thing the teens have to look forward to is graduation. The army has installed a booth, with a fingerprint scanner within it. When it's your turn to graduate you enter the booth, put your thumb on the scanner, a sign tells you if you have graduated and a small compartment open for the graduate to enter, he/she then is removed from the school and taken to a medical station and later released into the community. You see once you leave your teens and graduate the virus leaves your body. If you don't graduate and leave then the teens surrounding you that have the virus will infect you and you'll die.Of course there's lots of teens that won't graduate for sometime there's also the problem of food and survival. The army drop a large package of food and other items needed for survival onto the football quad on a fortnightly basis. Obviously the food is literally grabbed and definitely not shared out! It really is survival of the fittest. The school splits up into groups. there's The Pretty One's - all the popular pretty girls are in this gang, and they only date and are therefore protected by The Varsity - The Athletic Boys. Then there's The Sluts - the not so pretty girls who can look after themselves. Then The Nerds, The Freaks, The SkaterBoys and anyone that's left is on their own and termed a "scrap".Life would have been so much easier for David if he had made it back onto the team, then he would have been part of The Varsity group . . . but he hadn't got back on the team, and he had Will to look after so that made them Scraps. Obviously there's fights between gangs and people. Petty arguments before the explosion become the difference between being in a team and being a scrap. So David and Will are basically up against Varsity. Varsity are the strongest group, so no one wants to cross them at all. David finds himself up against Varsity with just his brother for help . . . and then before long the scraps begin to from their own "club/gang", they want David as their leader. There's an incident involving a girl thrown out of The Pretty One's and David ends up with the whole of Varsity wanting a piece of him, and its the fortnightly struggle for food and supplies. David can't afford not to do the run for food but he can't afford a broken leg either what is he going to do? Let's just say that help comes from an unlikely source.I could go on and on there's so much more to the book than what I have given you a taster of above, but you really should read it and discover it for yourselves.So did I enjoy the book? Yes, initially the book seemed a little slower paced than I liked and I began doubting my book choice, but once the pace picked up and after the explosion and the gangs were formed I became more drawn into what was happening and started caring about the characters. I loved all the different personalities and character traits of the Scraps. Would I recommend the book? Despite thinking perhaps I'd chosen a not so great book at the beginning yes I'd recommend it and tell you the slower paced part is all about setting the scene and learning about the teens before the explosion. So Yes I'd recommend it! Would I read the next book in the series? Yes and luckily I have just had a request for Bk#2 Quarantine: The Saints accepted so I will be reading and reviewing Bk2 for my blog etc. Would I read other books by Lex Thomas? I would certainly take a closer look at anything by Lex Thomas after reading Quarantine: The Loners so I guess that means yes!

Un virus che si impossessa dei teenager e uccide qualunque maggiorenne si avvicini loro. La premessa è buona e originale, la storia davvero scorrevole. Consigliato a tutti gli amanti del genere che vogliono anche assaporare una storyline diversa dal solito.