Title: Thirteen Days to Midnight
Author: Patrick Carman [website] [twitter]
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: Provided by Publisher
Parental Warning: teenage sexuality, daredevil activity, discussion of death

“Every time I slipped someone the diamond, it was harder to let it go.  The clawing and scratching I felt increased the longer I left the power out, and sometimes I didn’t think I could hold on a along as I needed to.  This thing — whatever the hell it was — felt like a living, breathing monster of some kind.  It would go out, save a life, then return angrier than ever, like it was pissed off at me for making it do its job.  It was like a lion ripping at the door, totally enraged until it got in.  I started to actually imagine it as a real lion like it had been somehow forced into my consciousness.”

Summary (from publisher):
You are indestructible.

These words transfer an astonishing power to Jacob Fielding, changing everything.  there’s something addictive about testing the limits of fear, experiencing the thrill of walking through fire, or saving your friend from a beating in front of the whole school.

Then Ophelia James, the beautiful and daring new girl in town, suggests that they use the power to do good, to save others at risk of death.  But with every heroic act, the power grows into the specter of a curse.  How to decide who lives and who dies?  And why does darkness seem to be chasing them?  Jacob has only thirteen days to figure out how to harness a power that even the world’s greatest escape artist could not outrun…and the answer is chilling: What if he has to kill the one he loves to save her?

In this nail-biting novel of mystery and dark intrigue, Jacob must walk the razor-thin line between right and wrong, good and evil, and life and death.  And time is running out.

Opinion:
Not an entirely new concept for a book Carman has taken it, made it his own, and done so with heart and depth.  In his version of being indestructible, of being superhuman, Carman sets an eery tone without inching into what could be the makings of a true horror story.  Demonstrating the use of such power for primarily benevolent purpose (again not a new twist) as compared to personal gain is what made the story.   I don’t want to spoil the twists and turns but I will say that the battle between good and evil is prevalent in this story and it is written a muted but strong tone that I found added to the ambiance.  It is creepy and dark but not overwhelmingly so.

Indestructibility is strong in it’s presence — a character unto itself, which makes the story all the more compelling as it progresses.  Further, I liked how Carman wrote the intricacies of how the power worked, what it’s motivations were and how Jacob, Ohphelia and their friend Milo interacted with it.

Speaking of which, Carman has built in Jacob a loving and tender boy whose goodness threads through each of his relationships to build the most solid foundation.  As the owner of indestructibility he is also flawed and tortured, often times fighting with his own morality as he tries to do right by those closest to him.  Most specifically he falls in love with the new girl in town Ophelia James, the same girl who encourages him to use his power of indestructibility to save strangers from death.  This is where the majority of the conflict in the story stems from and it’s very good as it relates to the individuality of Jacob’s character, his relationships as well as the superpower he’s entrusted with.

I wouldn’t say that this novel is a good first foray into young adult literature for the youngest of middle schoolers but certainly teen, young adult and adult audiences will enjoy it.  I’d also go out on a limb and say that fans of science fiction and fantasy might enjoy it as well.  The glory of Thirteen Days to Midnight is that it has strength of character and story in addition to the other worldly element of indestructibility.  It is that aspect that makes this book worthy of picking up.