Z.REX

What little boy hasn’t played with model dinosaurs and dreamt of battling them in prehistoric times? For Adam Adlar, now 13, it isn’t a dream—it’s a nightmare. Stuck in an industrial complex out in New Mexico instead of being home in Edinburgh, Adam spends the majority of his time playing video games and testing a new software system his dad has created called Ultra Reality. But when his dad is kidnapped, it seems that the real world is literally falling apart, especially when a humongous—talking!—T. rex starts rampaging through the countryside, with Adam as its target. It soon becomes clear that this is no ordinary dinosaur—it has been engineered to think and act the way Adam would, just like in his dad’s program. This is Zed the Z. rex, and he is on a mission—and Adam has no choice but to go along for the ride. But is Zed a good guy or a bad guy, a friend or a foe? Is he here to save Adam or to eat him? This story is well told, with a fast pace, lots of action and plenty of unanswered questions at the end to justify the sequel. (Science fiction. 10-14)