cover image Swept Away: Swept Away

Swept Away: Swept Away

Dafydd Ab Hugh. HarperPrism, $4.5 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-06-106289-6

Though five teenage hikers are caught in a flash flood, nothing else happens quickly in this plodding novel, first in a projected trilogy. The teens include narrator Jet; her best friend, Neil, and his Australian-born girlfriend; Dwayne, Jet's ""wannabe boyfriend,"" a big-hearted but oafish fellow who can't even remember her correct name; and Bill, a creepy ex-schoolmate with a tendency to display ""feral"" facial expressions. As luck would have it, Jet is reunited first with the diabolical Bill after they are all separated by the flood. The novel takes a turn for the crass as Bill, whom Jet suspects is a schizophrenic serial killer, begins making sexual advances which even the reappearance of Dwayne doesn't quash (""`I'm inside your head. I may as well be inside your panties, too, right?'""). Though long in arriving, the abrupt ending is as incredible as the rest of this slight drama. Ages 12-up. (Feb.)