Velocity

As a big fan of The Fade and the Ketty Jay quartet, I picked up Velocity on a whim. However, I didn't notice the publisher, or Amazon's categories for the novel until after I had bought it.In essence, Velocity does to Death Race what the Hunger Games did to Battle Royale. It's all about teenagers in fast cars racing for life and death, and the seedy organisations profiting from them.It is very much a young adult novel. I would say it's a very good young adult novel (though I'm perhaps not best qualified to judge) but that does mean it adheres to the traits of the genre. The plot is strong and well paced, but fairly predictable. The narrative themes take centre stage - the relationship between the protagonists follows a tried and tested formula, but the exploration of celebrity status is more interesting. Wooding's parody of the media - particularly the current fascination with reality TV - is entertaining and often witty.Unfortunately, neither the plot, the setting, nor the characters have quite the same richness that made the Ketty Jay novels a real joy. In many ways, this is to be expected - Velocity is well under half the length of The Ace of Skulls.On a personal note, as an engineer, I did find some of descriptions of car mechanics raised an eyebrow, but it was never a deal breaker.Overall, Velocity was certainly not what I was expecting, but I don't regret buying it as a quick, enjoyable read.

I really wasn't able to get into this, not really my cup of tea.

good book

Everything fine

In a bombed out future, two teenage girls in a home made car compete in qualifier races to win a place in the big event, the Widowmaker. The characters were engaging and memorable and the world building was solid. The story was sometimes funny, sometimes sad and had the satisfying ending that I wanted.