There have been years of shaking. The ground is eternally ruptured, still bleeding silt and taking buildings a wall at a time. People have learned to live with this shaking, at first hoping it will finally stop, and now hoping to survive each one.

A particularly bad area of Jonah’s city has been named the D Zone – short for demolition. Either by the quakes themselves or the authorities. Nobody is supposed to be living there. It’s been marked for destruction. But years after the first quakes, D Zone has it’s own population of families. Many have no official papers which are required for assistance of any kind. If you are found without the required documentation, you and your family vanish from D Zone never to be seen again. Your neighbours know where you’ve gone though. Into a prison far from home with no hope of release.

But D Zoners are tough, resilient and loyal, and have built a new life from the rubble. Law is also a fractured thing, and different for each gang that rules the separate parts of D Zone. The thriving market place is neutral however, and where Jonah and his friends work and meet.

Some people have developed a special skill. Jonah is one of them. He can feel when a quake is about to hit. This skill is called a Glimpse, and this internal warning system although taxing on the Glimpser, can save lives. This skill can also make you rich and famous and is sought after by many.

When Jonah sees signs of a group called PANN in the market, he is instantly wary and angry. Years before this group had come to D Zone, and left nothing but broken dreams and heartbreak behind. Jonah was one of the biggest losers. He tries to warn his fellow D Zoners and is surprised his best friend Bas is being sucked in by PANN, but nothing Jonah says seems to have any effect.

This time PANN is not on its own, and the battle to move them on almost impossible. It’s been seven years since the very first quakes. Seven years of struggle. PANN is promising a way out and too many people are listening.

Can Jonah save his friend, his family and his community before it is too late?

From the award winning author of the powerful The Bridge, Glimpse is penned from her own experiences in the Christchurch (NZ) earthquakes. Just like The Bridge, I was taken into a dystopian world, and gripped early by this story and the powerful writing that delivers it.

Several times I would stop and reread a brilliant sentence that captured the essence of the character’s lives. Glimpse is a scenario in a perfectly possible future of corporate greed and organisations willing to prey on the vulnerable, all with a fantastical element of seeing events just before they happen.

Fast moving, beautifully written and authentic. I could almost feel the ground shaking, the roar of wrenched steel and concrete, and the dust filling the air. Glimpse has been written in tribute to the many rebuilding the city of Christchurch.

Author – Jane Higgins

Age – 13+

See Jane Higgins website here for her other books.

(2023, Text Publishing, Future, Poverty, Dystopian, Earthquakes, Rubble, Religion, Cult, Corporate Greed, Betrayal, Loss, Friendship, Loyalty, Courage, Persuasion, Tech, Family, Award winning author, Action)