Fade to Blue by Sean Beaudoin Book Review

Fade to Blue by Sean Beaudoin
(Little Brown, Hardcover, 2009)
Rating:

Sophie Blue is a sarcastic goth girl and Kenny Fade is a popular basketball player. The two have nothing in common, except that they both have needle marks on their arms and they are pretty sure they're losing their minds. Sophie is convinced that her condition is tied to her dad's disappearance a year ago. Will the unlikely duo be able to solve the mystery before they disappear, too?

Fade to Blue is a dark, twisty book that is part comic book and part science fiction thriller. A little too twisty for my tastes as I found it to be very confusing at times. I did enjoy the suspense aspect though. It reminded me a lot of the Cathy's Book series in that there is a mystery involving a lab and the main character is an artist. However, Cathy's Book incorporates drawings throughout the book, whereas Fade to Blue only has one small section of comics and a page of drawings at the end, almost as if they were added as an afterthought. While Cathy's Book seems stronger to me, I can see the merits in this book. It will appeal to teens that are interested in comics and computer programming as both of those things feature prominently in this book.