Wildcard

How it reads

Wildcard is science fiction (young adult cyberpunk, specifically), and its dominant mood is tense. The suspense is the kind you feel in your shoulders. It moves fast: plot-driven and hard to put down, the kind of book that carries you along even when you're tired.

It's set in several locations, in the future, told in the first person by several narrators. Its central concerns are identity, friendship and survival. In weight it's light and escapist — easy to fall into.

It's a later book in a series — you'll usually want to start earlier. The ending resolves happily. At 352 pages it's an ordinary novel's length. It's a mega-bestseller — the book everyone seems to have read.