The Keeper (Vega Jane Book 2)
Hardcover | Paperback | Kindle Edition | Audible
Written by David Baldacci
Scholastic Press
Release Date: September 8th, 2015
Cover Price: $17.99

When we last saw Vega Jane in The Finisher, she had left her very “Giver” life in Wormwood, for possible freedom (and death) in the Quag that surrounded it, with her canine Harry 2, and her gorgeous (former stutterer) best friend, Delph. That’s not all she has with her. She still has Destin, the chain that allows her to fly, the Adder Stone that can heal all wounds (cannot regrow limbs or bring back the dead – she tried), and the Elemental, when combined with the glove can change its shape, and seems to be what she needs at the time that she needs it (not fully explored yet). Vega Jane, et al., had just leapt off a cliff to escape the herd of garms and armarocs that had been chasing them – a literal cliffhanger. Now, in The Keeper, David Baldacci continues her story at that exact moment.

So obviously, she survived the cliff jump, or Book 2 would be two pages, and she just kept on running. The goal has been to get through the Quag and get to the “beyond Wormwood.” As Vega Jane goes deeper into the Quag and meets more than monsters, that simple goal becomes way more complicated. The family she thought she had known is more than she knew. What she is capable of is expanding, as she discovers more every day. The mystery surrounding Wormwood’s history is way more twisty and complicated than one could ever think of. And magic is weaved in and out and throughout.

The Keeper is even more exciting than The Finisher, because of the ever-expanding world, while still keeping the high-interest end of chapter cliffhangers:

“I don’t remember anything after that.”

And…

“I thought I must be dead. Because this must be what death looks like.
Nothing.”

David Baldacci probably doesn’t need any more praise for his consistently best-selling work, but he’s going to get it anyway. This YA fantasy novel is a delight for adults as well. I cannot wait for the next Vega Jane novel, and the movie that should surely come. Having read The Finisher, I already knew much of the made-up language — sessions (years) and slivers (seconds), for instance — and this gave way to complete enjoyment. Fast-paced and an easy read, it is one adults should read with their children, or be one that families are scrambling over to read next.

The Keeper cover caption is “Freedom begins with survival,” and that is exactly what you get. Vega Jane, Delph, and Harry 2 go through wild adventures in the name of freedom.

Read this!

The Keeper synopsis:

Vega Jane was always told no one could leave the town of Wormwood. She was told there was nothing outside but the Quag, a wilderness filled with danger and death. And she believed it – until the night she stumbled across a secret that proved that everything she knew was a lie.

Now just one thing stands between Vega Jane and freedom – the Quag. In order to leave Wormwood and discover the truth about her world, Vega and her best friend Delph must find a way to make it across a terrifying land of bloodthirsty creatures and sinister magic. But the Quag is worse than Vega Jane’s darkest imagining. It’s a living, breathing prison designed to keep enemies out and the villagers of Wormwood in.

The Quag will throw everything at Vega Jane. It will try to break her. It will try to kill her. And survival might come at a price not even Vega Jane is willing to pay.

Master storyteller David Baldacci unleashes a hurricane of action and adrenaline that takes readers to the breaking point.