Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Fox Forever
Fiction
For ages 12
Unabridged audiobook (CD)
Performed/read by: Matt Brown
Macmillan Young Listeners, 2013 ISBN: 978-1427215178
Locke has had an extremely bizarre life. When he was seventeen he was in an accident and his thoughts, memories, and personality were extracted from his dying body and placed in a black box for safekeeping. The box was forgotten for two hundred and sixty years and then a scientist brought Locke back to the land of the living by building a new flesh and bone body for him and uploading the contents of the black box into the body’s brain.
The scientist, Dr. Gatsboro, was not the man he seemed and Locke was forced to escape from the place where he was being kept and to flee from Boston, the town where he grew up so long ago. With the help of the Network, Locke was able to find his old friend Jenna, who is now living in California. Jenna was in the crash with Locke, and she too has a body that is at least partially manufactured. Jenna has been alive all this time, kept going by the biotechnology that has given both Locke and Jenna a second chance.
Now the Network needs Locke’s help and since he owes them a Favor, he agrees to do what he can. He is brought back to Boston and is asked to make friends with Raine, the daughter of the Secretary of Security. It is believed that the Secretary has imprisoned Karden, a former leader of the Resistance. For sixteen years the Secretary has kept Karden hidden so that he can force the man to tell him where Karden stashed eighty billion duros. Karden stole the money for the Resistance and now the Network, which picked up where the Resistance left off, wants Karden back, and they could certainly use the missing money to fund their cause.
Very soon the bank account containing the missing funds will be “absorbed” by the country where the account is located, which means that Karden is running out of time. The Network needs Locke to find Karden soon, and Raine is Locke’s only way to gain access to the Secretary’s personal records.
Locke soon realizes that getting close to Raine is going to be a challenge. She is a reserved and private person who does not often let her guard down. Locke’s job is made harder still because the Secretary keeps a very close eye on his adoptive daughter, controlling almost every aspect of her life. However, despite the Secretary’s efforts, Locke manages to get close to Raine, becoming a member of her exclusive study group. Locke is eager to get the necessary information and move on, but then he makes a big mistake. He falls in love with Raine and everything changes.
This third Jenna Fox title will delight listeners who enjoyed the first two books in the series: The Adoration of Jenna Fox and The Fox Inheritance. This time we once again focus on Locke’s story and we see how he struggles to figure who he is and where he belongs. When you are more than two hundred years old and when your body is made of a manufactured substance, it is hard to understand where you fit in.
Full of surprises, revelations, and powerful moments, this extraordinary audiobook is compelling from start to finish. Matt Brown’s narrative perfectly captures the personalities of the characters in the story.
