Terry Overton

A group of teens try to take back control of their lives, when their freedoms are removed by military force.

Set in 2031, the World Force military controls everything across the United States of America, from food to fuel, and even books. Since the totalitarian military regime was introduced, many adults and young people were sent away or vanished without trace. Many others died of disease. Children were left to fend for themselves, in a hostile environment where everything is tightly controlled. It has been seven years since the schools closed, and five years since books were banned. No one is allowed to read, and no one is allowed to teach anything that isn’t approved by the World Force. In the mountains and valleys of Virginia, a group of orphaned teens find an underground cave in the countryside and join together to rediscover the joy of reading. Kahn, Jairus, Casey, and Asher meet every day in the cave to eat and talk, pray and read the Bible, and devour a book in their illegal collection. For seven years, the teens have met in secret, avoiding the military, and amassing a collection of over three hundred books. Until one day, a young girl named Leena follows Kahn to the cave and is introduced to their secret society. Can Leena be trusted? Will she be accepted into the secret society? And how long can the group evade the World Force military?

The Underground Book Readers: The Secret Society (Book 1) by author Terry Overton is a dystopian fiction novel for young adults, set in the not-too-distant future. The book follows five young people as they battle for survival under a new world order, where everything is controlled by the military.  As the teens struggle to navigate a world where curiosity is suppressed and intellectual freedoms and creativity are under siege, their friendships are tested to the limit. Brilliantly told, with rich and vivid detail, Overton does a great job at building a hostile, futuristic world where a generation of teens are prohibited from accessing the many things, we take for granted in life.

Readers who enjoy mystery and dystopian novels will enjoy this thought-provoking tale of humanity’s battle against a new world order.  

Star rating: 5 Stars

Summary: A vivid and chilling exploration of a future world, where books and learning are prohibited.