Contemporary Authors

• The Giant - 2016 EgmontUSA, New York, NY
• The Burnouts - 2014 EgmontUSA, New York, NY
• The Saints - 2013 EgmontUSA, New York, NY
• The Loners - 2012 EgmontUSA, New York, NY

• Writing Belle - http://www.writingbelle.com/2016/05/exclusive-interview-with-lex-thomas-co.html

  QUOTED: THOMAS: "I remember the initial excitement of the idea occurring to me, but I’m not sure what the inspiration was. My best guess is that I watched a high school movie I really liked and a horror movie I really I liked in the same week, and they mated in my head and popped out a kid. Wherever the spark came from, the idea of taking the world of high school, that everyone can relate to and has strong feelings toward, and making it into a nightmare, with life or death stakes, and no adult supervision-- that sounded really fun."

  Monday, May 23, 2016
  EXCLUSIVE Interview with LEX THOMAS, Co-Authors of QUARANTINE: THE LONERS
  Imagine that your high school has turned into a gladiator arena. Not only is every day a fight for survival...but it's a fight to maintain humanity, too. This is the fictional world that Lex Thomas has built, beginning with Quarantine: The Loners, the first installment in a series of post-apocalyptic thrillers for young adult readers. Lex Thomas is actually a writing team comprised of two men, Lex Hrabe and Thomas Voorhies. The Huffington Post says that Quarantine is "one of the best books I've ever read." Quarantine has been a top 10 contender in BookLists's sci-fi and fantasy books for teens. I was so excited to talk with the two men about their writing and upcoming projects; they have some interesting insight into the realm of survivalist fiction, as well as what it takes to co-write an entire book, and by extension...an entire series.

  First of all, I love the idea of your book, a "modern day Lord of the Flies," as it says on the back cover. Where did the idea come from, originally?

  LEX:
  Tom had the seed of the idea when he thought what if, instead of cliques in high school, there were gangs that fought to the death, so just walking down the hall would be an adventure. It kept developing and the more we talked about scenes and characters, the more we realized we could really make something fresh in the teen rebellion genre.

  THOMAS:
  I remember the initial excitement of the idea occurring to me, but I’m not sure what the inspiration was. My best guess is that I watched a high school movie I really liked and a horror movie I really I liked in the same week, and they mated in my head and popped out a kid. Wherever the spark came from, the idea of taking the world of high school, that everyone can relate to and has strong feelings toward, and making it into a nightmare, with life or death stakes, and no adult supervision-- that sounded really fun.

  How did you decide to co-write this novel? Did you think, at the time, that it would be a series (or is it a trilogy?)?

  LEX
  We’d been screenwriting partners for years before selling Quarantine as a series of novels. Initially, we thought of Quarantine as a single story, but as the world developed, so did its potential for more books. By pre-selling the trilogy, that really locked us in to seeing these characters through their initial arcs and into their series arcs. Try as you might, there’s really no predicting what your characters will become when you’re still two books away from the end. It’s such a different style of storytelling than what we’d been accustomed to because it requires you to leave strands of the story open-ended — and you need to find a way to repeat the premise while reinvigorating it. That took some getting used to, but now it’s become a big part of the way we conceive stories. The biggest reward of writing a series is that the characters and the world gain more dimension with every installment. They become real, and at a certain point those elements are guiding the story, not us.

  What is your process like for co-writing a novel? How do you decide which person writes each scene?

  THOMAS
  When we first started working together, we were writing screenplays, and we were almost always in the same room, figuring it out together, with one of us on the keyboard. When there aren’t that many words on the page to fight over, that works pretty well. If you tried to write a novel that way, I don’t know how you’d ever get anything done. And we have deadlines.

  So, for novels, we outline together and then write chapters separately. It can change as to who is doing the rough draft of a given chapter, or section of the story, and who’s revising. But either way, it’s a challenge. It’s hard to take a hatchet to the other person’s chapter, and it’s hard to be revised on something you just wrote, even when you think the revisions are sound. All that aside, working with someone else closely on a story allows you to problem-solve more effectively when you’re confronted with a problem (or millions of them) that feels un-crackable.

  I know firsthand that creative endeavors can be difficult! If you guys disagree on a plot point for your stories, how do you work it out?

  LEX:
  Like Tom said, we have deadlines, and if we want to see our books published, we have to find a way to keep moving. That’s usually enough incentive to find common ground, but generally the person who’s most passionate about a particular issue gets his way.

  What books or stories inspire you to write?

  LEX:
  When I was a kid, my dad would read me high adventure books like Treasure Island and The Hobbit. Both of those editions had tremendous illustrations that captivated my imagination, the first by NC Wyeth and the second by Michael Hague. I must have ranked books with amazing illustrators high, because one of the books I remember first reading on my own and carrying around with me everywhere was Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark by Alvin Schwartz. The black and white drawings by Stephen Gammell were nightmarish and gruesome, and I would study them intently as I read and re-read every short story inside. The book was a collection of horror-based folklore, ghost stories and urban legends that, I can see now, was a gateway to reading all the Stephen King and Ray Bradbury that followed.

  TOM:
  Bill the Galactic Hero by Harry Harrison. That was the first novel I remember reading for pleasure. My brother told me about the story and I had to read it. Bill was a space marine who had two left arms. He was tricked into enlisting, was always trying to get laid, and always making me laugh. I thought the book was fun and hilarious, and until then I had no idea that a book could take me into such an odd, funny, imaginative world like that.

  What is each of your guys' favorite character from Quarantine (Book 1)?
  LEX:
  I think I’d say David. I relate to his sense of responsibility. I have a family, and I can’t help but evaluate every decision I make with my wife and kids in mind. Life is a fine balance between selfish and selfless, and that’s the essence of David’s struggle. What I’m proud of is that characters in this book aren’t always awarded for doing the right thing (in fact, often they’re punished) but they still keep fighting.

  TOM:
  I’m more into Will. He isn’t necessarily heroic, but I have a soft spot for characters that are a little broken, the ones who try their best but can’t seem to stop making the wrong choices, and can’t seem to think before they act. I’m not like that, I tend to over-think things, so maybe that’s why I gravitate toward the misguided impulsive one.

  What's next for your series? Any more books planned?
  QUARANTINE: THE GIANT hits bookstores September 4th. It’s a spin-off featuring one of our favorite characters from Book 1 — Gonzalo, the ax-wielding Loner — on an epic journey outside McKinley High to find the girl he loves. You can find out more at lex-thomas.com.

  Thanks for visiting with Writing Belle. Best of luck in all of your future writing endeavors!

  About Lex

  Lex Hrabe received a BA in Drama and English from the University of Virginia. On the path to being a novelist, he’s been a farmhand, a bartender, a library assistant, an executive assistant, a personal assistant, an unwitting assistant at a thinly-veiled criminal enterprise, a very nervous waiter, a pizza delivery guy, a furniture mover, an actor in commercials you can YouTube, and a screenwriter. He lives in Virginia with his wife and two daughters.

  About Thomas

  Thomas Voorhies received a BFA in Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design. He currently lives in Los Angeles, where he paces around in a loft downtown, writing, painting, watching movies, and listening to comedy. He spends the rest of his time silently watching people or joking around.

• Hypable - http://www.hypable.com/lex-thomas-interview/

  QUOTED: LEX "before we started working on Quarantine, we were both at the respective ends of our ropes. We’d been working as a screenwriting team since 2005, and struggling separately as screenwriters before that. Right before Quarantine, we had worked hard for a year and a half on a project that just sort of fizzled out. It was really disappointing, and at that point, you start thinking about your plan B, and if you really even have one. We had this idea about gangs in high school, and a lot of people around us really thought it would be fantastic as a book. We were both wary of starting up a new project, especially in a new medium for us, but in our guts, we knew how cool we could make it. That’s all you really need to start a story. The potential for it to be awesome. This one just happened to be infused with our own life-or-death stakes. Thankfully, it was the best decision we’d ever made as a team."

  Hypable Exclusive Author Interview: Lex Thomas
  10:30 am EST, September 28, 2012

  Books

  Lex Thomas is the pen name for the writing team of Lex Hrabe and Thomas Voorhies. Their first novel, Quarantine: The Loners, earned a starred review from Booklist, and Huffington Post Books called it “one of the best books that I have ever read.” Check out the interview below to learn more about this writing team and Quarantine, their first novel.

  Tell us 5 random facts about yourself.

  LEX

  I drive a Volvo station wagon with two car seats in the back, but I make it look good because I wear driving gloves.
  I like soft rock.
  If it wouldn’t kill me, I’d eat a cheeseburger every day.
  In high school, I was student body president, like Dickie Bellman, McKinley High’s resident lunatic, so draw whatever conclusions you want from that.
  I used to live in a box factory.

  THOMAS

  I drink coffee and strong British tea all day.
  I once got surrounded by a moped gang in Tokyo.
  There are often cookie crumbs on my shirt.
  I write in the dark.
  I don’t like acrylic paint and I don’t get why anyone paints with it.

  What are the challenges you face writing together? How do you decide who writes what parts?

  THOMAS

  When we did screenwriting, we were almost always in the same room, figuring it out together, with one of us on the keyboard. That works pretty well for screenwriting, where there aren’t that many words on the page to fight over. If you tried to write a novel that way, I don’t know how you’d ever get anything done. Although, come to think of it, we’ve never tried. You never know.

  But we don’t do that, we write separately, and it changes as to who is doing the rough draft of a given chapter, or section of the story, and who’s revising. But it is hard either way. It’s hard to take a hatchet to the other’s chapter, and it’s hard to be revised on something you just wrote, even when you think the revisions are sound. All that aside, this approach has worked well for us.

  LEX

  To answer the last question first…. we both write all parts. In the second step of the writing process, after we’ve read the raw, rough draft and taken notes, we execute those notes together, in the same room, with a lot of discussion.

  The challenge is that there never seems to be enough time. A lot of people assume that the challenge of two people writing a novel is unifying our voices. I was worried about that very thing when we decided to write the first book. And while marrying two styles is not always an easy process, we’ve been working together long enough to see when something works and when it doesn’t. If we had all the time in the world, we’d use it to make each chapter as tight and effective as possible. Unfortunately, we’ve got deadlines. The best way we’ve found to manage the time crunch is to trust your gut and try to think at least two or three steps ahead.

  Why do you feel you had to tell this story?

  LEX

  If we hadn’t, we might not still be writing. We had everything riding on this story. We’ll talk about this on occasion with a sort of wonder at how things worked out, but the truth is, before we started working on Quarantine, we were both at the respective ends of our ropes. We’d been working as a screenwriting team since 2005, and struggling separately as screenwriters before that. Right before Quarantine, we had worked hard for a year and a half on a project that just sort of fizzled out. It was really disappointing, and at that point, you start thinking about your plan B, and if you really even have one. We had this idea about gangs in high school, and a lot of people around us really thought it would be fantastic as a book. We were both wary of starting up a new project, especially in a new medium for us, but in our guts, we knew how cool we could make it. That’s all you really need to start a story. The potential for it to be awesome. This one just happened to be infused with our own life-or-death stakes. Thankfully, it was the best decision we’d ever made as a team.

  THOMAS

  I didn’t feel I had to, I wanted to. The idea sounded fun — a heightened version of high school that you’re trapped inside, where you have to fight the other social groups to the death to survive. I didn’t feel that it’s message had to be heard, or that it was timely or anything. It was just that the idea made my mind light up with fun possibilities.

  What was your favorite chapter/scene to write and why?

  THOMAS

  I have a personal connection to a lot of the scenes, but most weren’t fun to write. I remember writing the first book in an anxiety haze, where there was never enough time, and feeling that writing a novel was an impossible feat, that we didn’t know what we were doing, and that we’d certainly never finish on time.

  That said, my favorite is probably Chapter 33. It’s dense, so much crazy stuff happens in it, and I remember really enjoying writing the descriptions of a mind-bending battle scene in a hallway full of trash.

  LEX

  Chapter 20 comes to mind. It’s Sam’s first chapter of three in the book. He’s the villain of the story. It comes about halfway through, and I think it gives a nice jolt to the story. It reminds the reader that Sam’s not licked yet and there’s big trouble on the horizon. I don’t think it was in our first draft, but I think our editor had the idea to give the reader a window into what motivates Sam to do the awful things he does. We liked that idea a lot. I remember, when I wrote the first pass of it, I was reading Stephen King, so I was in the mood to really go dark. I had a lot of fun shaping Sam’s internal monologue and delving into his childhood. It gets gnarly, and I love the first line of the chapter — “They think I’m weak.”

  What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?

  LEX

  Based on reviews I’ve read on the internet, the toughest criticism for me is that some people find the set-up implausible. It bothers me that’s a stumbling block for some readers and it prevents them from enjoying the rest of the story. I wonder if we could have remedied those issues with time, but I also think some of those people’s opinions might evolve with the sequels. What’s always excited us most about the idea was being trapped in a world where social cliques battled like armies to rule high school. In the sequels, we’ll be focusing more on how the world within McKinley grows to be its own epic landscape.

  As far as compliments go, it’s pretty simple. We’ve gotten fan letters that talk about how thrilling and entertaining the story is. Really, it’s the opposite of the criticism above. A lot of people have been completely swept away by our story, and that’s all we ever hoped for in writing it. Just that it works the way we wanted it to is an enormous gift.

  THOMAS

  We get some criticism for the amount of violence in the book, and the severity of it. I get that it’s not some people’s cup of tea, that’s fine. We knew if we wrote a story about teens sinking to acts of savagery to survive, that some people would be turned off right away. But if you don’t mind violence, read away!

  My favorite compliments come in the form of fan emails with lots of ALL CAPS!!!

  What is easier to write: The first line or the last line?

  THOMAS

  The last. When you write the first, you are forced to guess as to what it should be. You might have the story plotted out, but when you sit down to write on day one, you realize you have nothing. There is an endless void of white paper ahead of you. You don’t know what your book is yet because you haven’t written it.

  When you get to the last line, however, you know what you’ve got, you’ve already created it all. The last line is really important and needs to be chosen carefully, but you have hundreds of pages of story to help tell you decide what it should be.

  LEX

  The first line. It’s a springboard. It’s the starting pistol. I love our first line. It’s a doozy. But a final line has to do so much. It not only has to be apropos of everything that came before it, but also propel you onward. It has to give you a sense of completion, a sense of satisfaction, while keeping your mind still percolating after you’ve put down the book. For me, starting something is easy. Finishing it is the hard part.

  What one YA novel do you wish you had when you were a teen?

  LEX

  Rotters by Daniel Kraus. Kraus is the real deal. He’s an immensely talented writer who is genuinely fascinated by the horrors he’s writing about. He’s not selling you something, or packaging a story that’s teen-bait, the way the worst of YA can be. I mean, let’s face it… When the premise is graverobbing, you’re either in or you’re out. And I was in from the second I heard about it. Rotters revels in the dark side and the sloppy mess that pubescence can feel like. If I’d had it as a kid, my copy would have probably been pretty ragged with a lot of dog-eared, highlighted pages.

  THOMAS

  When I think about what I would’ve liked back then I can’t help but think of what I did like. The first book that really got me reading when I was around 12 was Twilight Eyes by Dean Koontz. It’s a coming of age story about a kid on the run with a traveling carnival. He had purple eyes and he could see that half the people around were horrible pig/lizard beasts in disguise, and of course he had to kill them in gruesome fashion, when he wasn’t losing his virginity or learning how to be a carny. After that book, I read every Dean Koontz paperback I could find.

  Quarantine was recently optioned by Kami Garcia and Mark Morgan. What was it like to get the phone call saying your book has been optioned? What do you hope for in a film?

  THOMAS

  That was a great phone call to get. At first I thought it was some joker claiming to be a producer, but then as I looked into it, I saw he had been a producer on Twilight. I got really excited, ‘call your parents and tell them it finally happened’ excited, to be exact. But, then our reps told me to get unexcited until they looked into it, told me it was probably nothing, and then I called my parents back and had to tell them it hadn’t finally happened. Lovely feeling. That was only a momentary slump, though. As of now, the movie is going well, all parties are completely on board, and things are moving forward. Still, I don’t think I’m going to believe it’s really happening until it really happens.

  LEX

  Usually, you hear from your reps first about interests in your project, but since they’re telling you second-hand, it’s hard to gauge how serious those interested parties are until someone actually pulls the trigger and says “yes.” What happened with Mark, calling out of the blue, before the book even came out, is sort of the writer’s Hollywood dream call. Kami tells the story of how, from the moment he finished the book, Mark couldn’t stop talking about Quarantine and specific battle scenes and how they blew his mind. He was an instant super-fan. So, imagine getting a call from that guy, plus he’s produced all these big movies. I think I was at dinner, and I look down and there’s all these psyched texts from Tom about a Quarantine movie. And I’m like, what?! Uh… ‘scuse me a second, I’m just going to go in the other room and freak out.

  We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs as screenwriters, so we’re acutely aware of how much it takes to actually get a movie to the big screen. It seems to be a series of good decisions, perfect timing and a little bit of luck. I think the best we can hope for is a smart team behind it. We’ve definitely got that with Kami and Mark, whose wheelhouse is YA film adaptations, and we’re hoping for the support of a studio that sees the huge potential in Quarantine that we all do. We’ve packed it full of exciting visuals and crazy story, and because of that we hope to inspire the right director, one that will know exactly how to translate that to the screen.
  More about Lex Thomas

  Lex received a BA in Drama and English from the University of Virginia and has worked as an actor, director and writer. Thomas graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design, and now writes and exhibits his realist oil paintings in Los Angeles.

  Lex and Thomas met in a writers’ group in Los Angeles. Their friendship developed as they tried to blow each other’s minds with clips from bizarre movies. In 2005, they became a screenwriting team, and found that writing with a friend is much more fun than doing it alone. Visit them at www.lex-thomas.com.

• Thomas Voorhies Home Page - http://www.thomasvoorhies.com/

  Thomas Voorhies received a BFA in Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design. He writes and paints out of a loft in downtown Los Angeles, and together with Lex Hrabe he has written the Quarantine novel trilogy, published by Egmont USA, under the pen name Lex Thomas.

• Lex Thomas Home Page - http://www.lex-thomas.com/

  Thomas Voorhies received a BFA in Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design. He currently lives in Los Angeles, where he paces around in a loft downtown, writing, painting, watching movies, and listening to comedy. He spends the rest of his time silently watching people or joking around.

• FantasticFiction -

  Series
  Quarantine
  1. The Loners (2012)
  2. The Saints (2013)
  3. The Burnouts (2014)
  4. The Giant (2016)

• LOC Authorities -

  LC control no.: n 2011082425

  Personal name heading:
  Thomas, Lex

  Variant(s): Hrabe, Lex
  Voorhies, Thomas

  Found in: Quaranteen, 2012: ECIP t.p. (Lex Thomas)
  Loners, 2012: flap p. 4 of dust jacket ("Lex Thomas is the
  pen name used by the writing team of Lex Hrabe and
  Thomas Voorhies. Lex and Thomas met in a writers' group
  in Los Angeles. ... in 2005, they became a screenwriting
  team")

  ================================================================================

  LIBRARY OF CONGRESS AUTHORITIES
  Library of Congress
  101 Independence Ave., SE
  Washington, DC 20540

  Questions? Contact: ils@loc.gov

QUOTED: "Implausible, poorly written trash that, most damningly, bores."

Thomas, Lex: THE SAINTS
Kirkus Reviews. (June 15, 2013):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2013 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:

Thomas, Lex THE SAINTS Egmont USA (Children's None) $17.99 7, 10 ISBN: 978-1-60684-336-9

A slapdash continuation of the story of a high school in quarantine that started in The Loners (2012). The infected, gun-wielding kids who broke into McKinley High keep the door open long enough for most of the Loners clique to escape before outside adults re-seal it, restarting the familiar plot. Now Lucy and Will struggle at the bottom of the social heat, and a group of parents has taken over responsibility for the school, food drops and "graduation." Besides the disbanding of the Loners, the other clique shake-up is Varsity's ouster of dictatorial Sam. Vulnerable Will stumbles into a party thrown by the heretofore-ignored newly trapped kids, nicknamed Saints after their school mascot, and joins. Soon Will and the Saints' unbalanced leader control the parents through extortion and throw wild parties featuring entrances on motorcycles and the riding of a live, wild hog (a transparent, clumsy link to Lord of the Flies); despite the flash, it's a slow-paced, tensionless storyline. Meanwhile, Lucy joins the Sluts, who welcome her with sexual bullying during "Naked Week," a hazing ritual introduced through writing on par with bad porn. This book never lets plausibility get in the way of objectification--one character plans a grandiose gentlemen's club in the war-torn high school, and female sexuality is constantly bartered. Near the end, Thomas (Lex Hrabe and Thomas Voorhies' collective pen name) finally remembers the first novel's only successful element: Gore. Implausible, poorly written trash that, most damningly, bores. (Science fiction. 16-18)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Thomas, Lex: THE SAINTS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 June 2013. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA333599319&it=r&asid=bc688c43ee371a254e8ef7ef9c6b020b. Accessed 25 Jan. 2017.

QUOTED: "Unpredictable, gory, and full of death and despair, this story is not for the light hearted."

Gale Document Number: GALE|A333599319
Thomas, Lex. Quaranteen: The Loners
Jane Gov
Voice of Youth Advocates. 35.1 (Apr. 2012): p84.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2012 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Full Text:

4Q * 4P * J * S

Thomas, Lex. Quaranteen: The Loners.

Egmont, 2012.416p. $17.99.978-1606843291.

A virus escapes into McKinley High, instantly killing all adults and postpubescent students, leaving everyone else--pubescent teens--alive, but fatally poisonous and contagious. As puberty recesses, the teens will not only lose immunity to the virus, but also the virus itself will leave the body. Therefore they can be released back into society, but until then they must survive. The school is quarantined by the military, forsaking the infected teenagers to their own devices. Gangs form, trades develop, and the battle for survival can be deadly. A year later, the school is unrecognizable. Seventeen-year-old David Thorpe is able to stay under the radar, surviving on small cleaning jobs and any scant provisions he can grab from the military's biweekly supply drop. Just a little longer and he will "graduate" and be released from the school--but McKinley High has been left alone for far too long. The students are unsettled and on the brink of civil war.

Lex Thomas, pen name for writing team Lex Hrabe and Thomas Voorhies, turns out a frightening and dark tale. Drawing from flawed yet likable characters, Quaranteen thrives on themes of human nature and an ultra-realistic tone. Unpredictable, gory, and full of death and despair, this story is not for the light hearted. Though far less societal driven than dystopian hits like Collins's The Hunger Games and Divergent, Quaranteen will still attract a similar readership and would be a great pick for a book discussion.--Jane Gov.

book review code

QUALITY

5Q Hard to imagine it being better witten

4Q Beter than most, marred only by occasional lapses.

3Q Readable, without serious defects.

2Q Hard to understand how it got published, except in relation to its P rating (and not even then sometimes).

POPULARITY

5P Every YA (who reads) was dying to read it yesterday.

4P Broad general or genre YA appeal.

3P Will appeal with pushing.

2P For the YA reader with the special interest in the subject.

1P No YA will read unless forced to for assignments.

GRADE LEVEL INTEREST

M Middle School (define as grades 6-8)

J Junior High (define as grades 7-9)

S Senior High (define as grades 10-12)

A/YA Adult-marketed book recommended for YAs.

** Highlightened Reviews

(G) Graphic Novel Format

Gov, Jane
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Gov, Jane. "Thomas, Lex. Quaranteen: The Loners." Voice of Youth Advocates, Apr. 2012, p. 84. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA286718387&it=r&asid=723cedc1840ca13694e1ac6e37372acd. Accessed 25 Jan. 2017.

QUOTED: "The fast and gory action ... should satisfy the core audience."

Gale Document Number: GALE|A286718387
Quarantine: The Loners
Publishers Weekly. 259.10 (Mar. 5, 2012): p75.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2012 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:

Quarantine: The Loners

Lex Thomas. Egmont USA, $17.99 (416p) ISBN 978-1-60684-329-1

First in the Quarantine trilogy, this debut novel from Thomas, a pseudonym for first-time writers Lex Hrabe and Thomas Voorhies, is a violent and somewhat campy high-concept mashup, tossing Walter Hill's The Warriors into a high school setting and seeding it with elements of Lord of the Flies. After a biotech disaster unleashes a weaponized disease that creates teenage carriers and kills adults exposed to them, McKinley High is quarantined. A year later, themed gangs--including Varsity, Freaks, Pretty Ones, and Sluts--have formed to fight over a once-a-week food drop from the government. David, an unaffiliated "Scrap," works with his epileptic younger brother, Will, to get by, and eventually ends up leading his own gang of outsiders after saving the life of an outcast Pretty One named Lucy. The battle between Varsity and the newly christened Loners occasionally gets muddled, and the authors are more interested in high-impact brutality than realism, but the fast and gory action (one trap-filled hallway sequence is particularly memorable) should satisfy the core audience. Ages 14--up. Agent: Mollie Glick, Foundry Literary + Media. (Apr.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Quarantine: The Loners." Publishers Weekly, 5 Mar. 2012, p. 75. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA282512609&it=r&asid=312542748b89123ec179cf5f66eaec09. Accessed 25 Jan. 2017.

Gale Document Number: GALE|A282512609

"Thomas, Lex: THE SAINTS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 June 2013. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA333599319&asid=bc688c43ee371a254e8ef7ef9c6b020b. Accessed 25 Jan. 2017. Gov, Jane. "Thomas, Lex. Quaranteen: The Loners." Voice of Youth Advocates, Apr. 2012, p. 84. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA286718387&asid=723cedc1840ca13694e1ac6e37372acd. Accessed 25 Jan. 2017. "Quarantine: The Loners." Publishers Weekly, 5 Mar. 2012, p. 75. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA282512609&asid=312542748b89123ec179cf5f66eaec09. Accessed 25 Jan. 2017.

• Booklist
  https://www.booklistonline.com/Quarantine-The-Giant-Lex-Thomas/pid=8186547
  Word count: 223

  QUOTED: "It’s a solid choice for mature readers seeking morally ambivalent, lawless dystopias."

  Quarantine: The Giant.
  Thomas, Lex (author).
  Sept. 2016. 352p. Carolrhoda/Lab, hardcover, $17.99 (9781512401035). Grades 10-12.
  REVIEW. First published July 21, 2016 (Booklist Online).

  This fourth book of the violent, virus-lit Quarantine series tells the story of Gonzalo, the ax-wielding, self-proclaimed “monster” of McKinley High School, and his girlfriend, Sasha. At 16, scrawny Gonzalo is barely able to fend for himself amid the savage gangs (the Varsities, the Skaters, the Nerds, the Sluts, etc.) that have developed in the school since its quarantine because of a virus that kills adults. Though adults oversee food and supply drops, kids like Gonzalo don’t have much chance of surviving long enough to age out of the infection and be released. When Gonzalo is rescued by Sasha, one of the Mice, who live in the ductwork, he falls for her and finally has something to live for. A parallel story follows Gonzalo a year after his graduation as he scours the infected zone for Sasha with his high-school enemy, Baxter, and uncovers a plot to destroy the infected underground. This edgy, explicit novel isn’t as hard-hitting or fast-paced as its predecessors, but it’s a solid choice for mature readers seeking morally ambivalent, lawless dystopias.
  — Krista Hutley

• Lisa, Love and Literature
  https://misclisa.blogspot.com/2014/07/review-burnouts-quarantine-3-by-lex.html
  Word count: 784

  Friday, July 11, 2014
  Review: The Burnouts (Quarantine #3) by Lex Thomas
  As with the 2nd book, thanks to Egmont and Edelweiss for allowing me to read an e-galley of this. Although when I thought I had downloaded it, I went to find it on my Nook, and I couldn't. So I was sad and thinking that maybe it had expired already, or like some other titles, I can't seem to get them to download for some reason. It's rare. And when it does happen, I just move on, because it's not as if I don't have many other e-galleys already downloaded to read. But, for some reason I noticed my Nook was doing a bunch of updating, so I went to my Bluefire Reader App, and searched the title, and I found it! So now I've been able to read it and finish this series. If you haven't read book 2, or books 1, you should probably not read much further in case I give away something.

  So we ended book 2 with Will graduating and getting out of the high school and all the gangs and violence. But what also happened is that he saw David, his brother, who Gates and the other Saints had told him was dead. We learn why people thought he was dead. And on the outside, David shows Will how he is helping the parents out, as they hang out around the school, protecting it from the adults who want to go in and just kill the rest of the kids to protect themselves. So Will decides to stay and help, and wait for Lucy to graduate.

  Lucy is still stuck inside, but things are not good for her. When she went after Gates in order to try to protect Will, she made a lot of enemies. The gang she belonged to, the Sluts, had to jump in when she did this, that's how the gangs work. But because of this, their leader, Violent, was fatally hurt. And while Violent lasts a few days, and even tells Lucy how much she admires her for what she did, once she dies, the Sluts end up kicking Lucy out. She's now on her own. And none of the other gangs will take her in because they all liked Gates. And some gangs would even kill her if they could. Then you have Hilary, who is not happy with Lucy for taking her tooth, and being the only one who knows that she is missing a tooth. Hilary is also getting close to graduation as her nose bleeds and hallucinations start. She finds a gun, and decides to take back the gangs that once belonged to her, as well as using it to command all the gangs to create a prom for her before she graduates. Lucy finds some unlikely protection with one of the burnouts, who she knows as Bile. After all the things she is going through, Lucy even tries out the different drugs the burnouts have figured out how to make in order to keep their highs going.

  Once Will finds out something is going on with Lucy, and the trouble she is in, he decides he is going back in to save her. Even though now that he's graduated the other students would kill him if he didn't wear a gas mask. So he takes his gas mask and goes. David has to follow, he refuses to lose his brother again now that they've been reunited. Once in, it will be a fight to save Lucy, let alone to get back out. The ending is pretty exciting, is there a cure? And who will get it, and will it work? You'll have to read this to find out.

  It was really interesting to me to get to learn about other gangs we hadn't really read about in the other books. To see what was going on from the outside, how the world was doing, and what the parents had to do to protect their children. We got to really be inside the mind of someone who was on the verge of graduating, Hilary, and see just how it all affected them. And then the tragedy of who would die, and who would live, and if the students would be able to survive outside the school if ever they needed to get out before they graduated. A good conclusion. My only issue is the way it ended. It kind of seems like we need another book. I need to know what happens next with the people and situation we're left with. I saw another person on Goodreads felt this same way.

• ARC Review
  https://abookvacation.com/2014/07/22/arc-review-quarantine-the-burnouts-by-lex-thomas-quarantine-3/
  Word count: 621

  {July 22, 2014} {ARC Review} Quarantine: The Burnouts by Lex Thomas (Quarantine #3)

  Quarantine The BurnoutsFrom Goodreads: Lord of the Flies in a 21st-century high school setting.Welcome to Quarantine 3: The Burnouts , where readers of The Maze Runner, Gone, and Divergent go when they’re hungry for more dark, compelling survival stories.

  When an explosion rocks David and Will’s suburban high school one morning, a deadly virus is unleashed on the school. After a year of quarantine, with no adults around, the students have created their own society. All of the social cliques have developed into gangs-The Nerds, The Geeks, The Freaks, The Sluts, The Skaters, The Burnouts, The Pretty Ones, and The Varsity-and each gang provides a service with which they can barter for provisions. Without a gang, it’s almost impossible to secure food, water, territory, or supplies. In the final installment in the Quarantine trilogy, the brothers are reunited on the Outside and it appears as if, for once everything is going right. But inside the school, Lucy is alone with no gang and no hope, until the Burnouts welcome her into their filthy arms.

  _____________________________________________________________________

  This is a series that, though gruesome and not for the faint of heart, I have thoroughly enjoyed. The characters are realistic, and over the course of three novels, we’ve really gotten to know them—all of them, both the good and bad. The novels have perfectly built on one another, and though they made my cringe more often than not, I can see events like this unfolding in any high school, mine included, should students be cut off from the adult world and locked in a school for years due to a deadly virus. And it’s scary, but Thomas does an amazing job portraying events.

  But while I really, really liked this third installment, I’m less than pleased with the entire ending. Truthfully, as I received an ARC from Netgalley, I’ve been wondering if perhaps I received an unfinished copy, doubtful as that is, but the hope remains the same as Thomas just sort of leaves readers hanging with a rather strange sentence. It took me unawares.

  As I’ve said, the novel itself is extremely well done, as are the two novels that come before it, The Loners and The Saints. I love David, and always have, and I’m glad he’s back in the picture in this novel. His good sense helps drive the plot, though he’s definitely in over his head in this one. Will has a tendency to get on my last nerve, but I love him anyway, and Lucy’s story made my heart bleed. I knew Thomas’ style certainly wouldn’t let these three main characters finally get out of the school and go unscathed, but, like, whoa. What Thomas does to them isn’t nice… not one bit, and a piece of my heart sort of died with this particular event. And, while I could see the other big revelation coming a mile away, it was still jarring when it occurred, and, true to Thomas’ style, filled me with horror. I sort of feel like it couldn’t have come about any other way—no clean breaks would have fit the story, but… I had to read it twice to really believe that Thomas has done it. But all that aside, it’s the epilogue that really stuns me. It jumps time, barely explains anything, and ends with a hanging sentence, as I mentioned, that just leaves the reader unsatisfied. Perhaps there will be a novella conclusion later—that would be nice. Four stars.

  4 stars

• Luxury Reading
  http://luxuryreading.com/quarantinethomas/
  Word count: 498

  QUOTED: "this novel is a fast-paced, in-your-face read" "anyone who enjoys action with a hint of mystery."

  Review: Quarantine: The Loners by Lex Thomas
  Rating:

  quarantine the loners book coverReviewed by Sarah Lelonek

  Sometimes we read a book that sticks with us for one reason or another. These reasons could be a great plot, a good twist, a relatable character or something not so great like horrible grammar or giant plot holes. Quarantine: The Loners by Lex Thomas sticks with me because of the original plot and somewhat horrible high school cliches.

  As a rule, I’m always interested in some sort of post-apocalyptic plot. Quarantine definitely fits the bill. After a virus that is carried by pubescents but deadly to adults is leaked from a local government facility, the teenager at large makes his way to high school. A few short minutes later, half the high school is blown up and the rest quarantined in an effort to contain the virus. David Thorpe is left to take care of his epileptic brother and fight his way through the new high school caste system through very violent means.

  I enjoyed the pace of the novel. Every page moved the story and plot forward. I liked that the novel took place over a period of time longer than a few days, like some young adult novels do. This way, all the action that takes place is more believable since there’s more time for everything to unfold.

  What I didn’t enjoy was the obviously cliché high school class system. Apparently, every student who was a jock before the quarantine was turned into a member of Varsity. Meaning, they were very violent and into hoarding food. The girls who were popular and pretty were then referred to as Pretty Ones. These girls were vain and only wanted to date those people in Varsity. Also, only guys were in Varsity. If you’re female, you’re stuck either as a Pretty One, Slut, Freak, or known as an unaffiliated student. I really didn’t enjoy the caste system. I thought someone somewhere would have thought outside the box within this high school, but sadly no one did.

  While I’ve read that this book is being compared to the Gone series by Michael Grant and the Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth, I found myself thinking that both of those authors handled the sense of a caged community with much more class. I also believe I saw almost too many similarities to the Gone series for my comfort. I understand there are only so many plots and ways to carry out those plots in the universe, but I wanted more from Quarantine than what was delivered. All that being said, this novel is a fast-paced, in-your-face read that I would recommend for anyone who enjoys action with a hint of mystery.

  Rating: ★★★☆☆

• SpoilerAlert
  http://janesspoileralert.blogspot.com/2015/03/quarantinethe-burnouts-by-lex-thomas.html
  Word count: 300

  Wednesday, March 4, 2015
  Quarantine:The Burnouts by Lex Thomas review
  What the heck was that? Seriously! Just....what?
  I finally finished this series today and I am so disappointed in this ending that I don't even know where to begin. They take a character I came to know and like and made him seem completely unimportant by the end of the book, while letting another who never would have actually survived on their own in this world and making them seem to be the whole reason for the series.
  Those last couple sentences will only make sense to others who have read the book, but those who have completely get what I'm talking about.
  Was it a memorable series? Absolutely, but with that ending I think it's definitely not going to be put on many must read lists anytime soon.
  Another Divergent-esque surprise ending, yet not nearly as thoughtfully planned out. Two babies? Really?
  Wasn't this trilogy entirely based on the world building and figuring out how the characters would make it knowing everything they were familiar with had been destroyed? If so, then why didn't the authors at least give us some kind of closure to the main players? Telling me Zachary now works at a theater store in New York in two sentences does not an ending make. What about Sasha??? What about these kids who were put to death by the government???
  Yet the others act like it didn't happen and go back to everyday life? Shouldn't there be a revolution against these ppl??? I just don't buy it.
  If there was to be another book I may feel differently, but if this is really the last then....just....no.
  Posted by Janie McMahan at 2:11 PM

• Blood, Sweat and Books
  http://www.bloodsweatandbooks.com/2016/10/review-giant-quarantine-4-by-lex-thomas.html
  Word count: 2157

  QUOTED: "The Giant really felt like filler vs. serving a purpose to further along the much more complicated and larger plot."
  "Rather than give this series the proper ending it and the characters deserved it instead read like the Authors were bored with the story and just wanted it over with as quickly as possible."

  Tuesday, October 11, 2016
  Review: The Giant (Quarantine #4) by Lex Thomas

  Publisher: Carolrhoda lab
  Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
  Publication Date: September 1, 2016

  In the violent early days of the quarantine, Gonzalo joins a gang of thieves who live in the ductwork of McKinley High School. There he falls in love with Sasha, but as he grows too big to fit, he is forced to leave without her.

  A year later, he scours the infected zone for her. No matter how many murderers, puncture wounds, or militia he has to survive, Gonzalo can't give up on Sasha.

  In the fourth installment of the Quarantine series, Lex Thomas delivers two intertwined stories about love and longing, which merge in a conclusion where the fate of the entire infected zone hangs in the balance.

  *Small Spoilers Below
  Review
  Quarantine: The Giant is the fourth book in the Quarantine series. As a person who felt less than fulfilled by the conclusion to the story in The Burnouts (the supposed last story in the series btw) I was really happy to learn that the story would continue in The Giant. However, that excitement quickly faded once I had the book in my hands and here's why:

  My first issue right off the bat with The Giant had to be the story. Now I feel like I should note that I love the world and most of the characters within it but I was really disappointed once it became obvious this was more a companion tale than an outright sequel to the main story. Had this been marketed as a companion maybe I'd feel differently but as far as I can tell this is supposed to be in the main line and help bridge the gap between Book 3 The Burnouts and the yet announced Book 5 in the series.

  Which brings me to issue Number 2. Did we really need a full length novel following Gonzalo? I'm sure many will disagree with me on this but I don't believe so. The Giant really felt like filler vs. serving a purpose to further along the much more complicated and larger plot. I say this because we still don't know many details about the epidemic. You know, the whole point of the series in the first place. Instead Gonzalo who is a fascinating character I should point out spends most of the story obsessing over a girl who he barely had time to form a real relationship with in the first place. In the grand scheme of things their relationship was just that of two kids crushing on each other because they were both available and damaged by the events at the school vs. having a deeply formed unbreakable bond like that of say Hermione and Ron from The Harry Potter series or Katniss & Gale or I suppose Peta from The Hunger Games. Both of those couples suffered intensely but still managed to make their relationships feel genuine.

  Now despite my many issues to the contrary The Giant wasn't all bad.

  First off, I appreciated that the Author at least mentioned characters from the first books. Sure, I'd rather have another full book following The Loners but at least they were mentioned as still being around and trying to resolve their situation now that they are "Free".

  Secondly, I really was happy to see some of the main scenes from the first two books from an outsiders perspective. The moment The Loners unite is a big one and it's cool seeing Gonzalo's part in that through his eyes.

  Lastly, even though I hated watching Gonzalo's obsession with Sasha it did at least allow us to see more of the world inside the quarantine zone. His travels also establish that the more things change the more they stay the same.

  Final Thoughts
  I hate wrapping up any review on a sour note but I truly wish the Author chose to continue on with the main story and characters outside of Quarantine instead of writing a full length novel following one of the many side characters throughout the series. Did this character have a story to tell? Absolutely! Did it need a full novel to tell it? No, it did not.

  With that being said, I'll be rating Quarantine: The Giants by Lex Thomas ★★★.

  *Copy reviewed won through publisher giveaway. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated in any which way for providing them.

  About the Author(s)
  Lex Thomas is the pen name for the writing team of Lex Hrabe and Thomas Voorhies. Their first novel, QUARANTINE: THE LONERS, earned a starred review from Booklist, and Huffington Post Books praised it, saying, "You will not be able to put this book down."

  Lex received a BA in Drama and English from the University of Virginia and has worked as an actor, director and writer. Thomas graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design, and now writes, and exhibits his realist oil paintings in Los Angeles.

  Lex and Thomas met in a writers' group in Los Angeles. Their friendship developed as they tried to blow each other's minds with clips from bizarre movies. In 2005, they became a screenwriting team, and found that writing with a friend is much more fun than doing it alone.

  Visit them at www.lex-thomas.com.

  Friday, June 13, 2014
  Early Review: The Burnouts (Quarantine #3) by Lex Thomas
  Author: Lex Thomas
  Series: Quarantine #3
  Genre: Survival, Young Adult, Horror
  Publisher: Egmont USA
  Expected Publication: July 22, 2014

  When an explosion rocks David and Will's suburban high school one morning, a deadly virus is unleashed on the school. After a year of quarantine, with no adults around, the students have created their own society. All of the social cliques have developed into gangs-The Nerds, The Geeks, The Freaks, The Sluts, The Skaters, The Burnouts, The Pretty Ones, and The Varsity-and each gang provides a service with which they can barter for provisions. Without a gang, it's almost impossible to secure food, water, territory, or supplies. In the final installment in the Quarantine trilogy, the brothers are reunited on the Outside and it appears as if, for once everything is going right. But inside the school, Lucy is alone with no gang and no hope, until the Burnouts welcome her into their filthy arms.

  Review
  Quarantine: The Burnouts is the third and final book in the Quarantine series. To say I was excited to see how it would all wrap up is an understatement. In fact, The Burnouts was one of my most anticipated books of the year. Yet, with great expectation great disappointment sometimes follows. It's not that I disliked The Burnouts it's just I expected so much more not only from the plot but the characters as well.

  My first issue right off the bat with The Burnouts had to be the story. For the first time I actually could tell this was written by two separate Authors and that was a problem for me. I felt like the plot was jumping all over the place instead of being presented as one cohesive whole.

  Which brings me to issue Number 2. I really was angry that some characters were disposed of so easily. I wanted to see Hilary suffer some for all the cruelty she rained down upon others. Sure she was “humiliated” some but that didn't really give the satisfaction level I was wanting after watching her torment her fellow peers for years. Then you have Violent. OK, sure, I really wasn't expecting her to survive the trauma she endured but her death felt like it only happened as a way to get Lucy back into the chaos of things and thus have the plot be about some daring rescue of a piece of ass to be fought over by David and Will (not sorry either as that is really all she became) instead of following through with the promise of finding a way to cure and rescue all those still trapped inside. Pretty much the entire last book became about Lucy and I didn't like that one bit. Don't get me wrong, I liked Lucy as a character and wanted her to survive but we were finally outside which is what I had been craving for so long and then boom Lucy is in trouble so nope got to head back inside that blasted school once again.

  Which brings me to my last and biggest issue with The Burnouts, the ending! Everything in the past two years was building up to this big climax and when it's revealed and then executed pretty much all that happened felt like a waste of time. In fact, it seemed that the entire story fell apart once they headed back inside. Rather than give this series the proper ending it and the characters deserved it instead read like the Authors were bored with the story and just wanted it over with as quickly as possible. Honestly, I really can't express how much I hated the ending of the story. Plus poor Will, he didn't deserve that send out. Especially not after everything he went through to save himself and the girl he loved. Oh and don't even get me started on the meaning of that last line of the story which basically screamed Will was never worthy of anything except being the catalyst to David and Lucy's eventual bliss.

  Now despite my many issues to the contrary The Burnouts wasn't all bad. It wasn't great, but I did enjoy some parts of the story at least enough to continue reading.

  First off, I really liked seeing the parents again. It might have been fleeting but we did at least see that they really were trying to do anything and everything to protect those kids from those who would want nothing more than to see them dead.

  Secondly, I really was happy that the story did at least show what happened to some of the kids who “Graduated”. Not all mind you but some and I guess that was better than the nothing I was expecting based on how things were going.

  Lastly, even though I hated being back inside it was at the very least nice to see that the Author didn't forget about those characters that we hadn't really seen much of in previous books. Seeing more of the person Bile was and meeting the other Burnouts and Crazies was interesting even if I wrinkled my nose in disgust at how exactly they were able to remain high without conventional methods of doing so.

  Final Thoughts
  In all honesty, I am sad to see this series end. I just wish it was with as much praise and excitement as the previous books garnered instead of the less than stellar review I'm having to write today. Do I recommend reading The Burnouts? Yes, however unless you're buying to finish a collection stick to borrowing this one from a friend or library before purchasing.

  With that being said, I'll be rating Quarantine: The Burnouts by Lex Thomas ★★★.

  *Copy reviewed provided by Edelweiss. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated in any which way for providing them.

  About the Author(s)
  Lex Thomas is the pen name for the writing team of Lex Hrabe and Thomas Voorhies. Their first novel, QUARANTINE: THE LONERS, earned a starred review from Booklist, and Huffington Post Books praised it, saying, "You will not be able to put this book down."

  Lex received a BA in Drama and English from the University of Virginia and has worked as an actor, director and writer. Thomas graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design, and now writes, and exhibits his realist oil paintings in Los Angeles.

  Lex and Thomas met in a writers' group in Los Angeles. Their friendship developed as they tried to blow each other's minds with clips from bizarre movies. In 2005, they became a screenwriting team, and found that writing with a friend is much more fun than doing it alone.

  Visit them at www.lex-thomas.com.

• Bittersweet Enchantment
  http://www.bittersweet-enchantment.com/2013/08/arc-review-quarantine-saints-quarantine.html
  Word count: 996

  Tuesday, August 6, 2013
  ARC Review: Quarantine: The Saints (Quarantine # 2) by Lex Thomas + Giveaway: Win Book 1 & 2!
  Title: Quarantine: The Saints (Quarantine #2)
  Author: Lex Thomas
  Published July 9th 2013 by EgmontUSA
  Hardcover, 400 pages
  Source: Print ARC via Publisher
  Genre: Apocalyptic > Thriller > Horror
  Reading Level: Young Adult

  A cross between the Gone series and Lord of the Flies, Quarantine #2: The Saints contunues this frenetically paced and scary young adult series that illustrates just how deadly high school can be.

  Nothing was worse than being locked in—until they opened the door...
  McKinley High has been a battle ground for eighteen months since a virus outbreak led to a military quarantine of the school. When the doors finally open, Will and Lucy will think their nightmare is finished. But they are gravely mistaken.

  As a new group of teens enters the school and gains popularity, Will and Lucy join new gangs. An epic party on the quad full of real food and drinks, where kids hookup and actually interact with members of other gangs seemed to signal a new, easier existence. Soom after though, the world inside McKinley takes a startling turn for the worse, and Will and Lucy will have to fight harder than ever to survive.

  The Saints brings readers back to the dark and deadly halls of McKinley High and the QUARANTINE series.

  Purchase @ Amazon | B&N | IndieBound | The Book Depository

  For the last two years I have been a huge fan of Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic books. I love seeing different author's takes on what would happen if something were to cause the world as we know it to end or change dramatically. I have been toying with the idea to read Quarantine: The Lones for sometime now. I would see it at B&N or my local library often. I would pick it up, peek inside, but never gave it a chance. "Maybe later" I would tell myself. So when I was offered by Egmont USA & mmpublicity to read both books for review I jumped at the chance. Let me tell you I now literally shake my head disappointment for not reading this series sooner.

  Quarantine: The Saints is the second book in the series so if you haven't read the first novel I advise you there may be some slight spoilers but nothing to big. I promise.

  Quarantine: The Saints picks up directly after Quarantine: The Loners ended. The kids at McKinley High have been trapped inside their school for many, many months. An outbreak of a deadly virus has killed most all adults leaving teens who have yet to hit puberty carrying the virus within them. Deadly and Dangerous, the kids at McKinley High have been forbidden to leave. Until finally the door is now open and EVERYONE is more than ready to escape the living hell that is the school. This does not come easy, of course. As Will and Lucy (two of the main characters) attempt to walk out to freedom a bus comes plowing towards them blocking the way. At this event a new group of kids are introduced into the story. They call themselves THE SAINTS. The name comes from a different school who also contracted the virus but was able to escape only to find there way to McKinley High. After the kids at McKinley High come to realise that the virus has spread further than just their school, two adults wearing protective gear come into the picture. A woman and a man, both claiming life outside the school is more deadly than inside. The goverment wants to kill every last kid affected by the virus. Having no way out the "school gangs" continue to fight for survival once again only this time things are different. Sam is no longer the head of Varsity. David is free, and hopefully alive, "the loners" are no more. This new group of kids, The Saints will come to chance everything. Will Lucy and Will ever escape to freedom or be trapped forever?

  I know I was kind of vague about the happening in book 2 but only because if I said anymore I would be spoiling the first book for those who haven't read it. There was so much going on in this story. So many new characters and things happening all at once really gave the story so much more depth and excitement. A definite page turner. One of many expects I loved about the book was the slow-building romance between Will and Lucy. At times they showed such hatred for each other and then others they were madly in love. The events leading up to Will and Lucy finally coming together towards the end makes the story much more charismatic. I also really loved how action packed the book is. There was fighting (or course), hazing, and much more in depth detail of the characters lives within the walls of McKinley High.

  The only reason I did not give the book a solid 5 stars is because there were a few very rather graphic part in the book (turned my stomach). Younger children or Tweens should read this series at your own risk.

  Author Lex Thomas (Lex Hrabe and Thomas Voorhies) has yet again written a read worthy novel. This team of authors works perfect together. Their writing style is flawless and super fast-paced. The Quarantine series just keeps getting better and better with each book. I CANNOT wait until book 3 come out in Summer of 2014 (...sooooo far away....*cries*...) The ending will leave the readers at a "OMG" cliffhanger.

  I am so happy that I decide to read these books. To anyone who enjoys a great thriller set in a Apocalyptic setting then Quarantine: The Saints & Quarantine: The Loners would be perfect for you. I highly recommend them.

• School Library Journal
  http://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2013/07/book-review-quarantine-2-the-saints-by-lex-thomas-reviewed-by-chris-dahl/
  Word count: 700

  QUOTED: "The story starts off well and then the action tapers off considerably in the middle as characters reassess their loyalties and despots are overthrown. The last third of the book is where the action is and the ending is well-executed, though perhaps slightly foreseeable."

  Book Review: Quarantine 2: The Saints by Lex Thomas (reviewed by Chris Dahl)
  July 16, 2013 by Karen Jensen, TLT Leave a Comment
  “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss,” is a line from The Who’s Won’t Get Fooled Again. If we are inexplicably trying to find the right lyric from a Who song to describe the new Quarantine book, it’s either that or “It’s only teenage wasteland,” from Baba O’Riley. I kept recalling both of those songs while reading Quarantine: The Saints, book 2 in the Quarantine series by Lex Thomas. Or as I like to call it, “Teens Behaving Badly.”
  I’ll freely admit that I could barely recollect anything that took place in the first book and therefore I spent some time trying to re-familiarize myself with the characters. I did, however, remember that brothers David and Will had managed to form a formidable gang out of dozens of rag-tag, unwanted, ill-fitted students, called The Loners. With the protection and camaraderie of the gang, The Loners were able to claim food, supplies, and living space in the very nearly destroyed hallways of McKinley High School.

  For those of you who may need or want to be caught up to speed, allow me to give you a quick recap. On Will’s first day of his freshman year at McKinley High School, he and older brother David, quarterback of the football team, witness the deaths of all teachers and faculty on campus and are soon quarantined in the school by military forces. The explanation being that all teens going through puberty carry a virus that is deadly to all pre- and post-pubescent people and in the hopes of research and possibly curing this virus, the teens will be locked in the school until “graduation”, a day when the student’s puberty is nearing completion and they are no longer a threat to the outside world. The students soon form gangs, alliances, enemies, etc. Needless to say, it becomes a debauched mess of sex and violence. Read our 5 star The Loners book review for more information.
  The story pretty much remains the same throughout The Saints. However, David is gone and, lacking his leadership, The Loners begin to defect to other gangs, despite Will’s best efforts to rally the troops. Soon Will finds himself without a gang and, with no way to protect himself or fight for supplies, he becomes an easy target. This is a fight for survival and superiority inside the walls of a high school in a way you have never seen before.
  The second book closely resembles the first book, with new characters added and the menacing roles taken over by new faces. It’s a PG-13 book, but only just. The language, sex, and violence is unlike anything I’ve read in a YA novel before. Think of a modern day Lord of the Flies. And hey, there is even a wild pig!

  The story starts off well and then the action tapers off considerably in the middle as characters reassess their loyalties and despots are overthrown. The last third of the book is where the action is and the ending is well-executed, though perhaps slightly foreseeable. Overall, the second installment didn’t grip me the way the first did but if you’ve read the first book in the series and are familiar with the characters, the situation they find themselves in, and are ready to live with them in the dingy halls of McKinley High School again for a little while, then go for it. You will certainly be shocked by what people are are capable of, and like Lords of the Flies, that really is the one of the points of the series.

  Daniel Kraus calls this “the darkest series going” in a starred review. (Booklist May 1, 2013).

• My Shelf Confessions
  http://www.myshelfconfessions.com/posts/review-quarantine-the-loners-by-lex-thomas/
  Word count: 1512

  Review: Quarantine: The Loners by Lex Thomas
  July 11, 2013 by April • 13 Comments

  Quarantine The Loners

  It was just another ordinary day at McKinley High—until a massive explosion devastated the school. When loner David Thorpe tried to help his English teacher to safety, the teacher convulsed and died right in front of him. And that was just the beginning.

  A year later, McKinley has descended into chaos. All the students are infected with a virus that makes them deadly to adults. The school is under military quarantine. The teachers are gone. Violent gangs have formed based on high school social cliques. Without a gang, you’re as good as dead. And David has no gang. It’s just him and his little brother, Will, against the whole school.

  In this frighteningly dark and captivating novel, Lex Thomas locks readers inside a school where kids don’t fight to be popular, they fight to stay alive.

  I went into Quarantine with really high expectations. We’re talking The Hunger Games type expectations. Maybe that was a bit unfair to set my sights so high – but do I regret it ? No, no I don’t. Not one iota. Because you know what? Quarantine met them all!

  For those comparisons I’ve seen of Quarantine to The Lord of the Flies, I get that, I totally do. However, I enjoyed reading Quarantine much more. Maybe it’s because I’m not having a zillion homework assignments due where I have to squeeze every ounce of symbolism out of the book and put it on paper. Maybe because it’s more modern – taking place inside an ordinary high school instead of a faraway island in the middle of nowhere. Hell, maybe I just like the fact that the gangs in Quarantine were very much like the cliques we encounter in schools all over – you know, the Freaks, the Geeks, the Nerds, the Skaters, the Varsity, the Pretty Ones, and the Loners.

  I loved every second of the Quarantine because it was one hell of an emotional ride. There is carnage and death and brutality. It’s more than a dog-eat-dog world, this is kill or be killed. Quarantine is a very fast read, action packed and suspenseful. Sometimes the tension was so thick I found myself holding my breath as I read one more page, waiting to see what would happen.

  I think what makes Quarantine great is that it’s relatable. We can recognize the gangs and why they group together. We can understand and ponder – what would I do if I was in that situation? There’s the people with power and those without.

  Quarantine grabs at your insides and doesn’t let go. I found myself fascinated with the various characters and their transformations as their predicament became more clear – years of isolation in their wreck of a high school with food and supplies dropped from the sky by helicopter. No going outside to bask in the sun. Pretty soon the only thing in abundance is hungry, dirty and desperate people. It’s just too easy to see how a situation like this could lead to such chaos. And yet I can’t say it was complete chaos. There’s a hierarchy formed among the gangs, and a marketplace to trade goods and services.

  Every moment is a fight for survival, whether it’s mental or physical. It’s also the usual high school drama magnified – girls and guys hooking up and trying to date. Trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy when nothing is remotely as it should be.

  I feel like even though this is a high school setting and not a remote island, Quarantine has that timeless quality about it. I loved the details, for instance how every gang except The Loners dyed their hair to show off their particular affiliation. This book is technically a young adult novel based on the age group of the characters, but there’s such explicit violence and graphic brutality around every corner. I was OK reading it as a book but I don’t know if I could handle watching it on screen. Those images would just be burned into my brain forever, I think. At least when I read my brain automatically puts the images in my brain that I can handle. Sometimes there’s just things you can’t unsee. I can see ths being made into a movie easily though. It’s such a roller coaster ride of emotions and, never knowing when the ride will and add where things will land when it does.

  I highly recommend this for fans of Lord of the Flies because it has the same tone, also for those who love action-packed and yet emotional grab-you-by-the-guts-and-don’t- let-go books. And hey, it’s a little different for the dystopian and post-apocalyptic lovers too, it doesn’t quite fit into those categories but has that same visceral feel of the world changing forever.
  Quarantine: The Loners

  Review: Quarantine: The Saints by Lex Thomas
  July 25, 2013 by April • 3 Comments

  Don’t forget to check out the giveaway we have going for US Residents for books 1 & 2 in the Quarantine series on the sidebar!
  Quarantine

  A cross between the Gone series and Lord of the Flies, Quarantine #2: The Saints contunues this frenetically paced and scary young adult series that illustrates just how deadly high school can be.

  Nothing was worse than being locked in—until they opened the door…
  McKinley High has been a battle ground for eighteen months since a virus outbreak led to a military quarantine of the school. When the doors finally open, Will and Lucy will think their nightmare is finished. But they are gravely mistaken.

  As a new group of teens enters the school and gains popularity, Will and Lucy join new gangs. An epic party on the quad full of real food and drinks, where kids hookup and actually interact with members of other gangs seemed to signal a new, easier existence. Soom after though, the world inside McKinley takes a startling turn for the worse, and Will and Lucy will have to fight harder than ever to survive.
  The Saints brings readers back to the dark and deadly halls of McKinley High and the QUARANTINE series

  This review for Quarantine: The Saints is hard for me to right – because I feel like I’m repeating everything I said for book 1 (Quarantine: The Loners)! Once again, I raced through the pages fast and furiously, eager to learn what was in store for my favorite (and least favorite) characters around every turn.

  I can say for sure that Quarantine: The Saints has some twists that totally change the game from book 1! Let’s just say those that used to be on “top” of the food chain.. well they might have some new competition for that spot now. We’re introduced to a new “gang” and their leader is either a genius or a nutjob or both.

  I can’t believe I have to wait an entire year to find out what happens next! *whine* Quarantine: The Saints does end off on a cliffhanger, but in the best way, so I was satisfied with that.. even though I’m dying to know what is next in store for these characters!

  I really liked that even after the changes that take place to rock these people’s world in book 1, Quarantine: The Saints proved that there’s still room for character development, and I liked that! One of my favorite characters in particular Lucy, really comes into her own in this book and I was rooting for her. Same as Will, after not knowing David’s fate in book 1, Will is left on his own and he’s got to find his place in this world, all over again without David. I was proud of Will in a lot of aspects.

  So, let’s recap: Quarantine: The Saints is just as awesome as the first book, Quarantine: The Loners. We’re introduced to a new gang, and basically everything shifts based on the introduction of this new element to the school. You’re going to be up well into the night reading this puppy – so you might want to get into your bed a bit early or leave plenty of extra reading time when you pick up the book! You’re in for another helping of life in McKinley High School and all that it has become. With some new surprises. 😉

  Really? What are you waiting for? If you haven’t read Quarantine: The Loners yet, the Kindle Edition is still $1.99 so go and grab it! Just be warned, you’ll be buying Quarantine: The Saints right after.. mwuahaha 😀
  Quarantine: The Saints

• Kirkus Reviews
  https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/lex-thomas/loners/
  Word count: 980

  QUOTED: "The major characters' voices are indistinguishable and the villain cartoonishly evil. ...At least this battle for survival has gore going for it."
  "The tensionless wild goose chase is marked by gross-out gore in lieu of suspense, which matches the faux-edgy tone."
  "By far, the fastest and funniest of the series."

  THE LONERS
  From the "Quarantine" series, volume 1
  by Lex Thomas
  Age Range: 14 & up
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  KIRKUS REVIEW

  Lawlessness and violence erupt in a quarantined high school.

  David Thorpe can't ditch school and his ex-friends on the football team because it's his epileptic younger brother's first day. That's the day a weapons manufacturer's biologically improbable virus reaches the school—a suspension-of-disbelief–necessary germ that infects teenagers but kills everyone else. However, the virus leaves teens as they leave puberty, taking their resistance but allowing them a chance to escape. Government technology tells the exact date a student will leave puberty and quarantine, just from a thumb on a scanner. Knowledge of this "escape date" undermines the novel's potential for claustrophobic tension. The breakdown into chaos and establishment of new orders (fierce fighting for resources dropped every two weeks) are mostly skipped over. The virus causes white hair, enabling cliques (Varsity, Geeks, Nerds, Freaks, Skaters, the Pretty Ones and Sluts) to dye their hair uniform colors for identification. David and the other outsiders must fight the strict caste system by forming their own clique. The female-dominated groups—Pretty Ones and Sluts—reflect a tiresome woman-as-commodity approach. The female lead and love-triangle anchor (fought over by David and his brother) only occasionally shows signs of personality and is offended but also "excited" by unwanted groping. Additionally, the major characters' voices are indistinguishable and the villain cartoonishly evil—characterization is generally ignored in favor of more gore.

  At least this battle for survival has gore going for it. (Science fiction. 14-18)
  Pub Date: April 24th, 2012
  ISBN: 978-1-60684-329-1
  Page count: 406pp
  Publisher: Egmont USA
  Review Posted Online: Feb. 5th, 2012
  Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1st, 2012

  THE GIANT
  From the "Quarantine" series, volume 4
  by Lex Thomas
  Age Range: 16 - 18
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  KIRKUS REVIEW

  The story of a supporting character from the first novel in the Quarantine series adds a fourth book to the trilogy.

  Gonzalo (whose ambiguous racial markers might read as Latino) was the muscle for the Loners clique, leaving it only to return to the infected zone for his girlfriend, Sasha. The bulk of the novel uses a rigid alternating-chapter structure that switches between his search in the present and his experiences during the events of The Loners (2012). The past storyline reveals that, before a three-month growth spurt turned Gonzalo into a hulk, he was small enough that he fell in with a secret clique, the Mice, who stole from the others. Besides that, it effectively retreads the previous book, treating a barely seen romance based on physical attraction like an epic love. In the present, Gonzalo’s struggles to find Sasha force him to team up with a treacherous old enemy, who frequently calls Gonzalo dumb (the text supports the antagonist’s interpretation of Gonzalo’s intelligence). The tensionless wild goose chase is marked by gross-out gore in lieu of suspense, which matches the faux-edgy tone evoked by a fetishization of nonconsensual sexuality (which receives just as much attention as the lovers’ relationship). Only one twist near the end works, and only then because the worldbuilding is so sketchy.

  Quarantine this pointless book. (Science fiction. 16-18)
  Pub Date: Sept. 1st, 2016
  ISBN: 978-1-5124-0103-5
  Page count: 352pp
  Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab
  Review Posted Online: June 1st, 2016
  Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15th, 2016

  THE BURNOUTS
  From the "Quarantine" series, volume 3
  by Lex Thomas
  Age Range: 16 - 18
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  KIRKUS REVIEW

  The final installment of Thomas’ gross-out Quarantine series.

  Will has escaped the school and reunited with his brother, David. After a short, solitary quarantine, Will’s pronounced virus-free and brought into the parent-run operation that feeds and protects the school. Back inside the school, Lucy’s clique, the Sluts, blames her for the disastrous fight between the Sluts and Saints. They kick her out, and once again, the plot centers on the difficulties faced by a character who is clique-less, at the social ladder’s bottom rung. Lucy’s complication, however, is an unplanned pregnancy. When word about Lucy’s hardships comes to Will and David, Will sneaks back in to rescue her, equipped with a gas mask whose filter is nearly used up. David chases after to save him from the virus, and the love triangle is re-established. Their race against clogged filters keeps the plot moving quickly. Meanwhile, Lucy’s found a new clique, the Burnouts. Seeking a renewable drug source, Burnouts ferment their own waste to get high on the fumes and masturbate. So shocking it’s funny, poop’s refreshing for readers numbed by the edgy-for-the-sake-of-edgy previous violence and rampant prostitution. Meanwhile, David’s ex, Hilary (a cardboard evil-lunatic villain), finds a gun. The ending, of course, offers enough death to appease the fan base.

  By far, the fastest and funniest of the series. (Science fiction. 16-18)
  Pub Date: July 22nd, 2014
  ISBN: 978-1-60684-338-3
  Page count: 272pp
  Publisher: Egmont USA
  Review Posted Online: May 19th, 2014
  Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1st, 2014

• Dark Faerie Tales
  http://darkfaerietales.com/review-quarantine-loners-lex-thomas.html
  Word count: 1114

  QUOTED: "From the first page you are thrown into chaos and things never slow down. The amazing cast of characters are engaging and written very well. The plot was intriguing."
  "Overall, this was a good book that was hard to put down once you got into the story."

  November 20th, 2013
  Posted in Review | Comments Off on Review: Quarantine: The Loners by Lex Thomas

  Title: Quarantine: The Loners

  Author: Lex Thomas

  Genre: YA Post-Apocalyptic

  Series: Quarantine (Book 1)

  Publication Date: July 10, 2012

  Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages

  ISBN-10: 160684329X (EgmontUSA)

  ISBN-13: 978-1606843291 (EgmontUSA)

  Reviewed by: Bridget

  Synopsis:

  It was just another ordinary day at McKinley High—until a massive explosion devastated the school. When loner David Thorpe tried to help his English teacher to safety, the teacher convulsed and died right in front of him. And that was just the beginning.

  A year later, McKinley has descended into chaos. All the students are infected with a virus that makes them deadly to adults. The school is under military quarantine. The teachers are gone. Violent gangs have formed based on high school social cliques. Without a gang, you’re as good as dead. And David has no gang. It’s just him and his little brother, Will, against the whole school.

  In this frighteningly dark and captivating novel, Lex Thomas locks readers inside a school where kids don’t fight to be popular, they fight to stay alive.

  Quick & Dirty: This was an action packed book full of interesting characters, survival and violence. It was a little bit to unrealistic and gruesome for me, but overall it was a good read.

  Opening Sentence: Someone must have bitten off her nose.

  Excerpt: No

  The Review:

  In just one day the world turned upside down for all the students attending McKinley High. There was a massive outbreak of a deadly virus, but it only seems to affect adults. All the teachers die quickly and the students are left to fend for themselves. Since they are all carriers of the virus and the vaccine won’t work until they become adults, the government has put the school under military quarantine to avoid spreading the disease. When the students turn 18 they are allowed to leave through a guarded exit and are given a vaccine for the virus.

  It has been a whole year since that fateful day and McKinley has become a very dangerous war zone. Gangs have formed based on high school cliques and things have turned deadly. There is a struggle for power and food going on constantly and anyone without a gang is as good as dead. David has avoided being part of a gang, but things are starting to get even more out of hand. He decides that it is time to form a new game made up of all the loners that have managed to survive. Everyone just wants to make it out alive, but with the stakes higher than ever there are no guarantees.

  David is the main voice you get to hear throughout the book. Life before the quarantine for David was hard. He lost his mother in a terrible accident and his life fell apart after that. He left the football team, stopped hanging out with his friends and his girlfriend cheated on him. Now that he is stuck in the school, he just wants to stay unnoticed and keep an eye on his younger brother. Then things start to escalate and the other kids need a leader they can trust. David finally steps up and tries to make a difference. At first I didn’t really like David, I felt that he was a coward, but as the book goes on he earned my loyalty. He grew so much as a character and I found that by the end I really liked him.

  There is a really large cast of secondary characters in the book and you get to see most of their POV’s at one point or another. Thomas does an amazing job vilifying a lot of the characters. Sam is the leader of the jocks and he is basically a dictator. He is violent, creepy, and feared by all the students. Hillary is the leader of the Pretty ones and she is also dating Sam. She is beautiful, and cunning, but she also is very scared. Will is David’s little brother and he has always felt inferior. He wants to prove that he belongs and can survive on his own. Lucy got kicked out of the Pretty Ones and has now become a loner. She is beautiful and both David and Will find themselves falling for her. The whole cast of characters were very interesting and Thomas did a great job making them all feel important to the story.

  From the first page you are thrown into chaos and things never slow down. The amazing cast of characters are engaging and written very well. The plot was intriguing and kept me guessing for most of the book. On the down side of things, the story was pretty gruesome and gory. There is a lot of violence, which for the situation is understandable, but I didn’t really enjoy it. Also, I felt that the idea was slightly unrealistic, and I had a hard time connecting fully with the story because of that. Overall, this was a good book that was hard to put down once you got into the story. I would recommend this to anyone that likes a good action packed book, as long as you don’t mind some violence and a lot of gore.

  Notable Scene:

  Will hurried into the foyer, “What’s going on?” He dashed over to the girl, who was still on the floor, and grabbed her by the shoulder. “Lucy, are you okay?” Will said.

  Will shook her when she didn’t answer.

  “Lucy?”

  The girl wasn’t listening. She was staring right through Will, up at David. Tears were swelling in her eyes.

  David floundered, trying to catch his breath. A voice floated in from what seemed like an ocean away. He couldn’t hear the words exactly. David turned to see one of the Freaks who had been hiding in the shadows. He was kneeling over Brad.

  “What’d you say?” David asked.

  “Brad’s dead.”

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