The daily Astorian., May 13, 2021, Page 10, Image 10

BOOKMONGER
Juvenile fantasy
novel combats
new pandemic
12-year-old gains special
power in ‘The Antidote’
Seattle author and doctor Susan McCor-
mick steps away from her “Fog Ladies”
cozy murder mystery series with her latest
release, “The Antidote.” Although McCor-
mick wrote this work of juvenile fan-
tasy fi ction prior to the coronavirus pan-
demic, the book is a timely entry into the
market because it deals with the threat of
an impending pandemic — and one boy’s
eff orts to stop that from happening.
This week’s book
‘The Antidote’ by Susan McCormick
Wild Rose Press — 300 pages — $16.99
paperback; $4.99 e-book
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Alex Revelstoke is a 12-year-old loner.
With two doctors as parents, he’s a brainy
kid, often left to his own devices. Alex
peruses the New England Journal of Med-
icine for entertainment. Consequently,
he knows a lot more than any of his mid-
dle school classmates, and probably most
of his teachers, about a variety of medical
conditions.
But in the school lunchroom one day,
when a classmate chokes on a hot dog, Alex’s
reactions go way beyond textbook learning.
He has an unnerving vision of seeing the kid
turn translucent — the boy’s skin melts away
so that Alex can clearly see the blockage in
his throat. The vision is fl eeting but it gives
Alex the information he needs to jump into
action and apply the Heimlich maneuver.
Over the next couple of weeks, this
unnerving phenomenon happens repeatedly:
if someone nearby experiences physical dis-
tress, Alex can see into the suff erer’s body to
identify the malady.
This turns out to be an hereditary trait.
Many of Alex’s paternal ancestors had the
same gift, to varying degrees: the psychic
ability to see through a body to pinpoint dis-
eases and injuries.
Alex’s parents had not mentioned this to
him. They hoped that he would not be one
of the Revelstoke’s to be endowed with the
gift because it is accompanied by an oner-
ous burden. Throughout time, those with the
gift have become powerful healers but they
also have found themselves pitted in battle
against an ancient evil: ILL, the creator of all
diseases.
Now that Alex’s powers are revealing
themselves, ILL will be on the hunt for him,
hoping to take the Revelstoke line down once
and for all so he can dominate the world with
a hideous new pandemic he created.
McCormick alternates the story between
ILL’s diabolical plotting and Alex’s growing
recognition of his own gift.
Along the way, Alex is assisted by the
counsel of his ailing Revelstoke grandfather.
He also acquires the company of a huge mutt
and a blue-haired girl.
McCormick creates interesting charac-
ters and tells this story in intense, cinematic
detail. As the site of a fi nal confrontation,
Mount Rainier assumes an iconic role remi-
niscent of the one Mount Rushmore played
in the Hitchcock fi lm, “North by Northwest.”
But the story does run rough in some
places. It could have used more editorial
guidance in tightening up the pacing, and
in providing ILL’s backstory and manifes-
tations. What is most concerning, is for all
of the truly fascinating medical details “The
Antidote” provides, it repeatedly suggests
that its 12-year-old hero needs to kill ILL.
This book is recommended but with
those reservations — you know your middle
schooler best.
The Bookmonger is Barbara Lloyd McMi-
chael, who writes this weekly column focus-
ing on the books, authors and publishers of
the Pacifi c Northwest. Contact her at bar-
baralmcm@gmail.com.