Alex Unlimited: The Vosarak Code

Jolley, penning the first original novel for Tokyopop's Pop Fiction prose imprint, starts things off with a bang. Eighteen-year-old Alexandra Benno, a naïve and emotionally immature teenager, has grown up under the protection of the Bureau of General Operations, a clandestine organization based in the nation's capital. Despite outward appearances, Alexandra is exceptionally gifted—she possesses the ability, through intense concentration, to summon versions of herself from alternate realities. These replicas are specialists in a vast array of arenas, from hostage negotiation to theoretical physics. Additionally, they are—invariably—gorgeous, worldly and the center of attention once they arrive, leaving Alex to stew on the sidelines. The latest replica Alex summons is Rachel (duplicates Alexes are referred to by their middle names), an expert on a dead language known as Vosarak. An artifact containing both Vosarak and Aramaic—a Rosetta stone of sorts—has been stolen, and Alex convinces her superiors to let her actively participate in this mission. Alex and Rachel soon discover that Vosarak has the ability to affect machinery and the human mind, and SKAR, the criminal organization behind the theft, plans to use the relic to control the human race telepathically. The breakneck pace and the cinematic quality of Jolley's writing should keep action fans turning the pages of this first installment in a planned series. Ages 13-up. (May)