A Riveting Action Adventure Novel: Start Reading The Undercurrent by Paula Weston

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Electrifying and intense, The Undercurrent by Paula Weston is a prophetic glimpse into a near-future that seems more and more possible everyday. It’s a futuristic thriller written by an up-and-coming Aussie author, an essential inclusion to every dystopian fan’s TBR list.

The Undercurrent is set in a 1984-style world where corporations rule, and eighteen-year-old Julianne De Marchi draws us into a world full of lies, deceit, and action-packed drama.

Julianne has an electrical undercurrent surging fiercely beneath her skin. She doesn’t know how it got there or how to control it, which makes her dangerous. So dangerous that a private military unit has her tailed by Ryan Walsh, hot ex-footy star, who innocuously inserts himself into her life.

But when an explosion leaves them trapped in an elevator together, Julianne and Ryan are drawn into a race against corporations, the military, and the clock.

Amid this chaos, Julianne is trying to find out how the current got under her skin in the first place. Was it a lab experiment or something even more sinister? After the explosion in the elevator, Julianne and Ryan must team up with his military unit and Julianne’s mother Angie, an investigative journalist, but then there’s the question of whether they can trust Ryan’s unit in the first place…

This is not your average dystopian adventure book. Weston has managed to weave in romance and family drama that fits in comfortably with the explosive action that fills the pages of The Undercurrent. It never feels forced, and the characters themselves – beside their young ages – are three-dimensional and interesting. With each page they reveal more of themselves and you are left looking back at your first impressions and wondering how they could have been so wrong.

The Undercurrent is suitable for young adult readers, but the nuanced characters and gripping plot will appeal to anyone with a love for fast-paced books filled with action and drama. It’s like watching a blockbuster action film; you can’t stop, you can’t slow down, you just have to keep reading as Julianne races to understand her powers, her growing feelings for Ryan, and the secrets of her past that start to come to light.

Set in South Australia, The Undercurrent also manages to expose what corporate greed is doing to local farmers, and it serves as a cautionary tale. While fantastical and action-packed, Weston sends out a warning to us all – this dystopia might become reality if we don’t fight for the rights of the small-scale farmers and workers that make up an essential part of the Australian identity.

About the author

Paula Weston is a Brisbane-based author. She has more than twenty years’ experience as a professional writer—first as a print journalist and then as a government communication and media specialist. She co-owns a writing/design consultancy.

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Synopsis

As in- she has an electrical undercurrent beneath her skin that stings and surges like a live wire. She can use it-to spark a fire, maybe even end a life - but she doesn't understand what it is. And she can barely control it, especially when she's anxious.Ryan Walsh was on track for a stellar football career when his knee blew out. Now he's a soldier - part of an experimental privatised military unit that has identified Jules De Marchi as a threat. Is it because of the weird undercurrent she's tried so hard to hide? Or because of her mother Angie's history as an activist against bio-engineering and big business? It's no coincidence that Ryan and Jules are in the same place at the same time - he's under orders to follow her, after all.But then an explosive attack on a city building by an unknown enemy throws them together in the most violent and unexpected way. Paula Weston, author of the much-admired Rephaim series, returns with a standalone work- a near futuristic thriller that is utterly and undeniably thrilling.Great writing, heart-burning characters, probing questions about where technology is taking us - and a plot that zips and zings like an electrical current itself. This is a great young-adult writer at the peak of her powers.

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