Numbers

NUM8ERS is Rachel Ward’s debut novel about a young girl named Jem, and a unique ability. When Jem looks into peoples’ eyes, she can see their number; that is, Jem can see the date of any person’s death. It’s a realization that Jem has made when she was seven after discovering her own mother dead of a heroin overdose. Now, at fifteen years old, Jem has been shuffled to different foster homes, labeled as a problem child for her taciturn behavior and disinterest in school and lack of direction. After cutting class from her latest school, she comes across one of her peers – a lanky, exuberant boy named Spider. And Jem notices immediately that Spider only has a few short weeks left to live. Against her instincts and her own strict rules, Jem begins to spend time with Spider, and the two become friends quickly, bonding in their shared differences. One afternoon on an attempt to impress Jem, Spider takes her on a trip to the London Eye – but Jem soon notices something bizarre and unsettling; everyone at the Eye has the same death date. Freaked out, she drags Spider running from the site, only to see the Eye get blown up a few minutes later. The police hear reports of the two teens fleeing the scene before the blast, and a nationwide search is on for them – and both Jem and Spider fear that they will be thrown into prison forever as scapegoats for the terrorist attack. Both of them know that no one could possibly believe that a screw-up foster kid and stereotyped black, drug dealing teen could have predicted the impossible. Together, Jem and Spider make their way across the English countryside, sleeping in the cold and avoiding towns at all costs. But as the authorities close in on them – and with Spider’s own death date looming – Jem must face a harsh reality.
The cover completely caught my eye, and despite the immense cheesiness of the blurb, I was hooked by the premise of the book. Num8ers easily demonstrates Ms. Ward’s extraordinary gift for storytelling. Ms. Ward...