Spark, by Rachael craw

Written by one of our wonderful Kiwi authors (although set in the US), this was a surprisingly good read. The first in a trilogy, the story is based on an interesting and unique concept: second and third generation descendants of participants in a DNA modification experiment are suddenly finding themselves 'sparking' - they have a sudden, overwhelming desire to kill a person; or becoming 'shields' - they develop an all-consuming need to protect that person and take down the 'spark' at all costs.  The shields are tracked and controlled by the Affinity Project - the sinister organisation responsible for the failed experiment.

Once you start reading, it is hard to put this book down.  The story is jam-packed full of twists and turns, and you may find yourself hanging on the edge of your seat, eager to find out what is going to happen next.  Thankfully, we have the full trilogy in the MRGS library so you don't have to wait to find out.  There are also three short story prequels to each book, available in digital format through Auckland Libraries:

Trilogy (available through MRGS and Auckland Libraries)
Spark
Stray
Shield

Prequels (available through Auckland Libraries in eBook format only)
Kill Switch
Black Room
Scar Tissue

Each book in the trilogy, and the short stories, are rated in the early-to-mid fours on Goodreads.  The only criticism would be the occasional slip in grammar, spelling and tense.  But what book doesn't these days?  The moral of the story here is, don't judge a book by its grammatical errors... unless they're really bad.  In this case, you're safe - they're only minor, and the riveting storyline makes up for it.

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