Bzrk

by Michael Grant
Hennepin County Library audiobook 9 discs
read by Nico Evers-Swindell
genre: YA technothriller

I did not like this book. It's too dark, violent, and immoral. I don't know why some of my students have liked it so well. There are a lot of characters and it's hard to identify "good guys" because everyone seems pretty awful. Sadie McClure and Noah (Plath and Keats) were my favorites, but not by much. Nanotechnology is being used to control people's thoughts and the Armstrong brothers want to control the leaders of major countries. The twitchers of Bzrk are trying to stop them, but they're not exactly "good guys" in the classic sense of the world. The wanton killing was disturbing. I didn't enjoy this book and will not read the rest of the series.

I found it very interesting that the author referenced A Clockwork Orange (in describing blood). I also find it interesting that Michael Grant is married to Katherine Applegate. I like her writing style. Her stories are so much more human and relateable.

7 May 2014 added:
I found a note I made when I was about one-third the way through this book. Positives: futuristic / potential reality in terms of nanotechnology. Negatives: dark, creepy, scary / too many characters, places, events to follow / who are the protagonists?!?! Sadie? Noah?