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Monday, February 2, 2015

14) Atlanta Burns by Chuck Wendig

The Blurb :

You don’t mess with Atlanta Burns.

Everyone knows that. And that’s kinda how she likes it—until the day Atlanta is drawn into a battle against two groups of bullies and saves a pair of new, unexpected friends. But actions have consequences, and when another teen turns up dead—by an apparent suicide—Atlanta knows foul play is involved. And worse: she knows it’s her fault.

You go poking rattlesnakes, maybe you get bit.

Afraid of stirring up the snakes further by investigating, Atlanta turns her focus to the killing of a neighborhood dog. All paths lead to a rural dogfighting ring, and once more Atlanta finds herself face-to-face with bullies of the worst sort. Atlanta cannot abide letting bad men do awful things to those who don’t deserve it. So she sets out to unleash her own brand of teenage justice.

Will Atlanta triumph? Or is fighting back just asking for a face full of bad news?

My Thoughts :

My previous experience with this author was very good so when I saw Atlanta Burns up for grabs I couldn't resist taking the chance.  Atlanta Burns was exactly what I expected in terms of cursing, wildness and craziness but strangely enough it was only slightly toned down.  As a Young Adult novel I expected this one to be more tame than the Miriam Black series but if this was a film it would definitely earn an adult rating.

The Miriam Black books were all amazing and Atlanta Burns is the younger cousin of that potty mouthed hell raiser.  Atlanta wants to be left alone and just get on with her life after taking care of some trouble which gets her sent off for a short vacation.  However she is one of the good ones, one of the ones who can't just walk by and see an innocent kid get beat up by bullies.  So she gets involved and ends up gets mixed up in a whole lot of crazy.

Back to the Young Adult aspect.  Atlanta is still in school but her world is full of things that shouldn't be a part of a kids life.  The topics that come to light in this book range from rape, animal abuse, bigotry, drugs, parental neglect, under-aged drinking, murder, assault and much more.  You can't turn a page without some law being broken whether it is legally or morally wrong.  As an adult I have to admit there times I wondered if I could read on.  So I have to say that this is definitely not one for younger eyes.

So I may have had a hard time reading about some of the topics dealt with in this book but I have to also admit it was an addictive read and there was no way I could have stopped.  The courage and strength of Atlanta Burns is inspiring and dark, edgy and completely crazy plot is too good to walk away from.  I loved this messed up over the top story and would happily read more about Atlanta if she has more tales to tell.

Not for the weak at heart, this is real life stuff that happens, doesn't get talked about or gets swept under the carpet.  This is in your face police corruption and white supremacists getting evil on innocent people and acting like they own the place.  The is blood, sweat and hardly any tears.  This is tough and cruel but it isn't trying to be anything but honest.

Read this book and you will be rooting for Atlanta all the way and whatever happens you will love her.  There is nothing else out there that I can even compare this to but if you have read Chuck's Miriam Black books you will have a slight idea of what to expect.  I loved this but others will hate it but at the end of the day Atlanta Burns shows off some amazing writing skills.





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