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Book Review: The Band From Another World (Alien Survival Guide #3) by Kevin Garone

cover art for The Band from Another World by Kevin Garone

The Band From Another World (Alien Survival Guide #3), by Kevin Garone

Temor Press, 2026 (pre-order out September 8)

ISBN: 9798991328470

Available: Hardcover, paperback, ebook edition

Buy: Amazon.com | Bookshop.org

 

 

The teenaged scallywags of Kevin Garone’s Alien Survival Guide series return for their third (and unfortunately, final) adventure, and like the last two, this doesn’t disappoint. This series should not be missed by young readers (and young-at-heart adults), and it deserves recognition in its genre for how good it is.

 

The team of Marv, Jace, Kenji, Nora, and their new member, Liv (code name: Alien Lover) manage to get into trouble in the first few pages while investigating an abandoned cabin in the woods. There they find instruments that somehow enable them to play better than the band Dream Theatre, which leads to possession and a homing signal, which leads to a school battle of the bands… and in the end, finally resolves whether Marv’s unshaking belief in alien invaders was justified, or a delusional waste of time.

 

As with the previous volumes, these work so well because, as much as they are adventure stories for young readers, Garone manages to throw in some pretty heartfelt material from time to time that adult readers are sure to appreciate. The conversation between Marv and Liv later in the book is a prime example. It’s about finding your big interest when young, and how kids just want something that makes them stand out and be unique from the other kids, even if it is something silly, such as preparing for alien invasions. The conversation is a good example of using simple, straightforward writing to convey some pretty heady ideas. Young readers will relate, and it will certainly make adult readers think back. Didn’t we all have something we wanted to be our own thing, that no one else had?

 

Although there is some touching material, at heart this is a thrill ride of aliens vs. humans, and the author keeps the story moving at a quick pace, right up to the final page of the story, as mankind will finally be saved, or ended. It’s worth noting that the author has always shown an ability to introduce new characters as good as the originals in each book, which helps keep the story from getting predictable, and this is no exception. In the last book it was Kenji, the flame-wielding maniac; this time it’s alien-obsessed Liz, an utterly charming character. Where Marv’s take on potential aliens resembles the mentality of Independence Day or Mars Attacks, Liv is from the Close Encounters of the Third Kind school of thought, that aliens must be benevolent. Her character is an excellent contrast to Marv, and together they learn something important: you can be friends, even if some of your ideas are diametrically opposed, a lesson adults in this day would do well to remember.

 

Bottom line is, this series is a fantastic trilogy of YA fiction, and the final volume proves to be a fitting capstone to the series. Keep an eye out for what the author writes next, he’s very good and worth noticing. Definitely recommended!

 

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

 

 

Posted on August 18, 2026 by , Reply

Book Review: The Last Days of Salton Academy by Jennifer Brozek

Cover art for The Last Days of Salton Academy by Jennifer Brozek

The Last Days of Salton Academy  by Jennifer Brozek.

Speaking Volumes, 2022

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1645406822

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition ( Bookshop.org | Amazon.com )

 

I at first thought this might be dark academia, and it technically qualifies, but really it’s zombie survival horror that happens to take place mostly at an isolated boarding school. The premise is that 26 people were trapped at the school when a zombie outbreak hit (it’s unclear exactly when that was, but the novel starts after they’ve had a first freeze, and need to go on a second supply run before it snows, so it starts in mid-to-late October).

 

The book has been praised for character development, but it is fairly short and with so many characters it would be difficult to fully develop them all. Jeff, the boy in charge of guarding, rationing, and distributing food, is an interesting character to watch. Another memorable character is Evan, who keeps a zombie dog (nothing can go wrong with that, right?) and is running out of the medicine that keeps his JRA at bay (it’s not specifically mentioned, just described). Mr. Leeds, a predatory, hebephilic teacher who takes advantage of the isolation and vulnerability of the girls at the school, and Mrs. Hood, a teacher interested in protecting them, are also important to the plot. A few others worth mentioning are Shin, who doesn’t get a lot of page space but is very strategic, Maya, who is secretly stashing supplies in her room, and Nurse Krenshaw. (spoilers below)

 

Jeff decides residents will have to be eliminated in order for the food to last through the winter, and carefully plots to make it happen. He and  his fellow student Ron, a psychopathic killer, plan to kill off the weakest. They plan to send four students out on a supply run, then off the principal, Evan and his dog, and the teachers. They don’t count on Evan letting the dog loose and turning into a zombie, taking a couple of other kids with them.

 

In the meantime Mrs. Hood and the nurse conspire successfully to kill Mr. Leeds for his predatory behavior. In the end only Shin and Maya survive. Of the four on the supply run, two are infected and kill themselves, but the others encounter friends with a map to a well stocked bunker where they stay until spring.

 

This is what I’d expect from an old-school zombie novel– short and fast-paced. Despite its characters mainly being teenagers, this doesn’t read as a YA book to me. A similar YA title I can highly recommend is Marieke Nijkamp’s At The End of Everything, which is better developed and has a more hopeful ending.

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

Posted on February 13, 2023 by , Reply

Book Review: Killing November by Adriana Mather

cover of Killing November by Adriana Mather

Killing November by Adriana Mather (  Bookshop.org | Amazon.com  )

Ember, 2020

ISBN-13 : 978-0525579113

Available: Library binding, paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook.

 

November Adley was told she was being sent to boarding school for her own safety, but on her arrival, she discovers it is full of intrigues she knows nothing about but is expected to rise to the challenge and survive deceptions, strategies, and attempts on her life from both students and teachers. The classes are like nothing she’s ever had to take before: knife throwing, poisons, deception, and tree climbing, among others. Deadly midnight challenges lead to shifting allegiances, every word and action has the potential to put her life at risk… and, while everyone assumes she knows exactly what’s going on, she has no idea why her father would send her to this school (I also question why her father would send her to a school filled with enemies she knows nothing about for safety. It would be a spoiler to reveal what she has in common with the other students, and that doesn’t make me question his judgment less).

November does have some survival skills she learned from her parents, mostly as games: she’s not unfamiliar with knife-throwing or tree climbing, she is good at observation and memorization, and she’s learned to think outside the box (her parents have kept a LOT of family secrets, and uncovering these is essential to her understanding of events and relationships at the school). But she has never learned to disguise her emotions or hide the truth, a disadvantage in the dangerous games of the school. She has to earn the trust of her prickly roommate, Layla, and decide whether she can trust Layla’s brother Ashai, an expert in deception, to survive.

Killing November rockets along from start to finish, and even the most unbelievable aspects of the story get caught up in the rush. It is the first in a series, and with November scrambling to figure out what’s going on, whose loyalties she can depend on, and who she is supposed to be, trapped in the claustrophobic boarding school environment, it is a really fun read. With much of this settled in the second book, while there’s still plenty of action, it’s less engaging. Both Killing November and its sequel, Hunting November, are enjoyable thrillers that have the potential to appeal to teen lovers of action, murder, mystery, and romance. Recommended.

 

 

Posted on September 14, 2020 by , Reply
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