In the swampy outskirts, Todd and Manchee discover something completely and wholly alien to them–they notice a “hole” in the Noise. Only a month away from his thirteenth year of thirteen months marking his welcome to Manhood, Todd plays on the outskirts of Prentisstown with his loyal dog Manchee, trying to avoid the never ending torrent of Noise in the town. Todd Hewitt is the last boy in a world of Men. Though Men won the war, the Noise remains and has become an everyday part of Man’s life.Īs there are no women left in the world, there is only one child. In a long ago war between the Spackle and humans, the aliens unleashed a Noise Germ as a biological weapon, causing the thoughts of all humans and animals to be heard, and also killed all human women. Every man’s and animal’s thoughts are laid bare, and there is no escape from the constant cacophony. Who is she? Why wasn’t she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd’s gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.Įvery thought, every feeling, every inner fantasy, lie and mumbling is projected outward in a barrage of sound.

With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him - something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Then I saw it show up on the “Best of 2008” Young Adult novel list, and I had to have it.Ī dystopian thriller follows a boy and girl on the run from a town where all thoughts can be heard - and the passage to manhood embodies a horrible secret.

Why did I read this book: I had seen this book pop up on my Amazon suggestions, and the pretty cover matched its intriguing description. Stand alone or series: Book one of the Chaos Walking trilogy. Genre: Speculative Fiction (Horror/Science Fiction), Young Adult Title: The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking 1)

The new world patrick ness