The Rig

"All the elements of a great thriller are here—sinister villains, a stoic hero with a heart of gold, even mutated sharks"—from the author of Crystal Force (Kirkus Reviews).

Fifteen-year-old Will Drake has made a career of breaking out from high-security prisons. His talents have landed him at the Rig, a special juvenile holding facility in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. No one can escape from the Rig. After hatching some escape plans—and making the first real friends of his life—Drake quickly realizes that all is not as it seems on the Rig. The warden is obsessed with the mysterious Crystal-X, a blue glowing substance that appears to give superpowers to the teens exposed to it. Drake, Tristan, and Irene are banking on a bid for freedom—but can they survive long enough to make it?

Winner of the Guardian Hot Key Books Young Writers Prize

"Ducie skillfully builds tension and smears it with a liberal coat of blood and grime. Will's lurking suspicion that the Rig is hiding something leads to a supernatural reveal that will please dystopia and sci-fi lovers, ramping up the story's danger an excitement."—Booklist

"Full of suspense, action and foreshadowing . . . Readers will ponder issues of human behaviors and the motivations behind them . . . they will not want to put this book down."—VOYA, Teen Review

"A non-stop thrill ride from beginning to end . . . All the elements are there to make this a great book for boys (and many girls too). The action is unrelenting."—The Book Zone (For Boys)

© 2015 HMH Books for Young Readers (Ebook): 9780544633742

Release date

Ebook: 6 October 2015