Melinda Friesen

"One world. One currency. One bright future." That is what the world has become. Now people have a chip in their hands and there is no physical cash. You walk into a store, select what you want and walk out. As you walk out the chip records what you purchased. Some people have resisted getting the chip like Rielle's parents. Without the chip there are no longer jobs to have and no money for food and supplies. But as resistors, Rielle's parents are taken and she is separated from her big brother and little sister. She is soon sold into slavery and sent from Minneapolis to Texas where she is abused by the "Banker," her owner. She now has a chip but it's a tracker chip that will alert the Banker if she tries to escape.

This is an interesting way to think about how our future world could become. Melinda does a great job with the characters and making the reader care for some and not others. She made me late back to work from lunch because I didn't want to put the book away. She made me care about the characters when I wasn't reading. This is an interesting take on what would happen if one government or organization controlled everything about our lives. This is really worth the time. I can't wait to read the next book in this series.… (mais)

Reille James' parents have put her and her siblings in a very awkward position by refusing to take the implant the one earth bank says is mandatory to live within the real world. When the bank comes to take her and her family away for not refusing the chip her life is changed forever. She is no longer a teenager, just trying to get through high school, she is now a slave of the banker and her family is gone to unknown places in unknown condition. The banker a short fat man with a temper keeps his slaves working with meager meals and no time off. When the bankers nephew and then his brother visit things start to change but for Reille all that matters is getting free to find her family. Reille finds that silence is her only freedom and uses it to keep the banker from seizing everything she is. She also uses it to accidentally learn all the secrets she will need but who can she trust if anyone? Life has changed and no one is who they seem so where can she turn to get free? cant wait to read the next in this series.… (mais)