Overview
A group of teens sign up for an assassination game on the streets of a big city. Their weapons: pressurized water guns. It’s meant to be a game, a sport. But for some, it’s more than harmless fun. To win, they’ll use any means necessary.
Two hundred players. Three weeks of tense cat-and-mouse action. Every stalker is being stalked and only one player will be left standing. No one will be the same.
Through multiple points of view, Harry Edge puts readers right in the middle of the action—watch your back!
Synopsis
A group of teens sign up for an assassination game on the streets of a big city. Their weapons: pressurized water guns. It’s meant to be a game, a sport. But for some, it’s more than harmless fun. To win, they’ll use any means necessary.
Two hundred players. Three weeks of tense cat-and-mouse action. Every stalker is being stalked and only one player will be left standing. No one will be the same.
Through multiple points of view, Harry Edge puts readers right in the middle of the action—watch your back!
Publishers Weekly
Edge's debut is an entertaining twist on the oft-used "assassination game" trope. In this case, the game is played with squirt pistols, with hundreds of players ages 15 and older attempting to hunt down--and soak--their respective targets, like laser tag on a citywide scale. Among the players Edge rotates between are university students Maiko, Cliff, and Shell; overweight and geeky Green; and underage Han. As the number of competitors dwindles, some eliminated within minutes of the start of the game, characters rapidly grow paranoid, caught up in each other's intrigues and unsure of who to trust. Edge juggles a large cast and assorted points of view with tiny, often page-long chapters, keeping the story moving along briskly without sacrificing character development. There are some well-choreographed action and strategy sequences (including a particularly ingenious one in which Green lures a reclusive executive into the open), and some romantic twists along the way. Little that happens in the game (including the winner) will likely surprise readers, but the fun cast and fast-paced adventure should keep them entertained. Ages 11 up. (Dec.)
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Edge's debut is an entertaining twist on the oft-used "assassination game" trope. In this case, the game is played with squirt pistols, with hundreds of players ages 15 and older attempting to hunt down--and soak--their respective targets, like laser tag on a citywide scale. Among the players Edge rotates between are university students Maiko, Cliff, and Shell; overweight and geeky Green; and underage Han. As the number of competitors dwindles, some eliminated within minutes of the start of the game, characters rapidly grow paranoid, caught up in each other's intrigues and unsure of who to trust. Edge juggles a large cast and assorted points of view with tiny, often page-long chapters, keeping the story moving along briskly without sacrificing character development. There are some well-choreographed action and strategy sequences (including a particularly ingenious one in which Green lures a reclusive executive into the open), and some romantic twists along the way. Little that happens in the game (including the winner) will likely surprise readers, but the fun cast and fast-paced adventure should keep them entertained. Ages 11–up. (Dec.)VOYA -
Spray is a book of the "slow to start, but great once you get going" ilk. A great idea for an awesome game is the backbone of this book. Unfortunately, character development and other story necessities are sidelined. Still, it is an awesome book, if a little unrealistic because, although all the characters are in their teens, their actions make them seem much older. The setting also seems very different from what I know of the USA and I spent quite a bit of the book wishing I knew more about the locations. All in all, I'd recommend this book to any of my friends. Its fast-paced plot and exciting theme outweigh its few problems by far. 3Q, 3P. Reviewer: Alexander Cranford, Teen ReviewerVOYA -
Water pistols are the weapons in this elaborately organized game of cat-and-mouse held in cities all over the world. A mysterious Gamekeeper decides who, out of hundreds of applicants, will be allowed to play. Each participant receives a laminated card with information on their assigned victim, whom they must hunt while evading the "assassin" who is out to spray them. Once you are sprayed, you are out. The game continues until there is one winner. There are quite a few characters to meet within the first dozen pages of the book as Edge establishes the strategies and alliances of participants. Fortunately, Edge provides a brief cast of characters in the front of the book. The action is fast and moves quickly from the viewpoint of one person to another. This swift sense of movement, as well as the unraveling of the game's intrigue, are what give the book its appeal. Character development is hazy (perhaps to veil the players' ulterior motives), and relationships have a cliched twang. There's an underlying hint of darkness that never quite materializes, making it a safe choice for sensitive readers. Teen readers who like encounters with the truly sinister may find the docile resolution to the game somewhat disappointing. Offer this book to teens who are not quite ready for the raw subject matter of Ellen Hopkins's books but like the fast-paced, multiple-narrative format. Reviewer: Diane ColsonChildren's Literature -
I had a lot of trouble finishing this book. At first it sounds like fun—a computer hunting game is presented, in which participants are given assignments to shoot each other, not with guns, but with water pistols. The game will last for weeks, and eventually everyone will be shot (and soaking wet) except for the winner. The narrative jumps from player to player. This reader found the characters difficult to get into, as many of them use game names (Shell, Shed, Mac, Green) and none of them is telling the truth about his/her own life. The result was that I didn't care about any of them, but I have never played a role-playing game, and I have a feeling that a reader who is used to them and likes them might find the book more fun than I did. Reviewer: Judy SilvermanSchool Library Journal
Gr 7 Up—During a time of worldwide water shortage, a role-playing action game, Spray, begins. Appealing to teen and young adult players, the gamekeeper assigns each player someone to assassinate by soaking them with water pistols or balloons. Players who are soaked must give up their laminated card to the assassin. Participants create alliances, and, as the action proceeds, readers learn a bit more about the characters but never enough to really care about any of them or understand what would motivate them to play the game. What might have been a story line as exciting as Cory Doctorow's Little Brother (Tor, 2008) ends up being superficial and plodding. The book may appeal to gaming fans, but readers expecting more depth of plot and action will either give up early on the book or be disappointed at the end.—Suanne Roush, Osceola High School, Seminole, FLKirkus Reviews
A group of British teens join a shooter alternate-reality game (ARG) in which assassins pursue their prey with super-soaker water guns. Edge's story twists between five to six major characters, including Green, an information-technology university student, Han, a 15-year-old girl bent on victory, and Mac, a 17-year-old boy who works in a burger bar. The author obviously knows the ins and outs of alternate-reality gaming, and he pens fast-paced action sequences that should have readers pounding through the more exciting portions of the novel. However, he also introduces and pursues too many side characters, which, although truthful to the ARG experience, distracts from the work's central arc. What's more, the novel's authentic-feeling, ARG-based framework may excite readers at first, but it eventually loses momentum as page after page builds upon one character's pursuit by another and the resulting soaking. Also important to note is that readers may be taken aback by the lack of any real consequences other than said soaking. What results is a fast-paced, one-trick pony of an action novel.(Thriller. 12 & up)