BOUNTY HUNTERS, BLACK COWBOYS, NORDIC ZOMBIES, TRICKSTER GODS

A group of nerdy teenage misfits battles gods and social injustices in this fourth installment of a YA supernatural series.

Liam Reilly and his friends at Grand Old Republic University are much more than normal students, as evidenced by their adventures fighting demons and zombies in previous volumes. But as this entry opens, it’s Tater Tot Tuesday at the cafeteria and Liam’s biggest issue is trying to figure out a way to ask his crush, Jeanie Winskell, out without making a fool of himself. Things quickly become complicated when Liam finds a mysterious virtual-reality headset in a package with his name on it and no return address and, imprudently, activates the gear. He’s immediately transported to a mythical version of the American dream, specifically the Manifest Destiny—replete with a Wild West landscape and gunslinging cowboys as well as characters like Darth Maul, Slender Man, and Krampus. Realizing that he is trapped in the twisted dreamscape, Liam must use his wits to understand the purpose of the “game.” When his friend Esmeralda Gichuru, a “dreamwalker,” shows up to help, they discover that everything revolves around a god who needs to find a missing part of herself in order to become whole again. Powered by nonstop action and relentless pacing, Neill’s tale follows Liam and company as they uncover profound revelations about the country they live in, which is suffering from a sickness of the soul: “America was natural beauty cheek to jowl with a gaudy, tacky, profit-seeking spirit. Commerce attempting to subdue everything in its path like a steamroller making way for a parking lot.” Complementing the deep thematic exploration (racism, discrimination, greed) are numerous pop-culture references, many of which are laugh-out-loud funny—like a nod to the Kelis song “Milkshake” in a particularly intense sequence.

Subtle but powerful social commentary that’s skillfully mixed with pop-culture irreverence.