Crash! Boom! Bang!: McMann's Visions Series Just Keeps Getting Better

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

(Note:  Although this review will not contain spoilers for Bang, it may inadvertently reveal plot surprises from its predecessor, Crash.  As always, I recommend reading books in a series in order.)

Now that things have gotten back to normal (whatever that is) for 16-year-old Jules Demarco, she should be happy.  Especially since her new normal includes being Sawyer Angotti's girlfriend.  He's the guy she's been dreaming about forever, the guy who helped her make sense of her terrifying visions and stop a deadly car crash.  So what if both the Demarcos and the Angottis are dead-set against their relationship?  Romeo and Juliet made it work.  Um, yeah.  

If only that were the only complication facing the new couple.  It's not. Not by a long shot.  Through some cruel twist of fate, Jules has passed her psycho vision-seeing powers on to Sawyer.  Now he's wracked with terrible glimpses of a shooting so horrific he can barely talk about it.  Jules knows there's only one way to make Sawyer's waking nightmares, which are reaching a fever pitch, go away—they have to use the clues in the visions to stop the tragedy from happening.  But making sense out of the confusing scenes isn't easy, especially when the constant examination of them is taking such a heavy toll on Sawyer's psyche.  Jules hates to torture the boy she loves, but if they don't solve the puzzle soon eleven people are going to die.  They can't let that happen.  They won't.  No matter what the cost.   

Lisa McMann knows how to write action-packed, addicting novels.  That's an undisputed truth.  Her skill's especially apparent, though, in her Visions series.  Crash kept me thoroughly engrossed and salivating for a sequel.  I'm happy to report that Bang does not disappoint.  Not at all.  It's just as compelling, just as exciting, just as pulse-pounding as its predecessor.  Jules' pitch-perfect voice makes the series all the more enjoyable, as she manages to be funny, endearing and sympathetic all at the same time.  Is it too early to start begging for another sequel?  I think not.

(Readalikes:  Crash by Lisa McMann; also her Wake series [Wake; Fade; Gone]; and a bit like The Body Finder series [The Body Finder; Desires of the Dead; The Last Echo; Dead Silence] by Kimberly Derting)

Grade: 

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for strong language, sexual innuendo/content and violence

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find