Module 9: Acceleration

Acceleration
by Graham McNamee

Book Summary:

Duncan is working a summer job in the lost and found department for the Toronto subway system. He is hoping it will at least help him forget about the girl who died at the beach; the girl he tried to save. What he thinks is going to be the most boring summer of his life, quickly becomes anything but dull when Duncan finds a beat up leather journal that holds the key to the mind of a killer. Inside he finds detailed accounts of an anonymous person’s sick activities like starting fires and torturing and killing animals. As Duncan continues to read he realizes that the person with the twisted mind has moved away from animals and is focusing in on human targets, specifically women he stalks on the subway, with plans to attack. Duncan tries taking the information to the police, but they don’t believe him. Eventually Duncan decides to use the clues in the journal to track down the dangerous person. Will Duncan find the serial killer before it’s too late? Will he become the next victim when he steps into the mind of a serial killer?

McNamee, G. (2003). Acceleration. New York, NY: Wendy Lamb Books.

My impressions:

This is a great suspenseful mystery that I will be recommending for middle and high school boys.  The story line of Duncan tracking down the potential serial killer is well written and filled with just the right amount of tension to keep the pages turning. However, the accompanying story line concerning Duncan's intense guilt over the accidental drowning of a girl he tried to save, seems to get lost in the bigger picture and the relation to the main story line is vague at best. I think that teens will enjoy this story and get caught up trying to solve the mystery of the next victim and catching the serial killer, and will enjoy that Duncan gets to be the hero without having to involve the police or other adults.

Professional review:

Gr 8 Up-- Seventeen-year-old Duncan is haunted by the fact that he was unable to save a drowning girl a few yards away one fateful afternoon the previous September. This summer he has a job working underground at the Toronto subway lost and found where he uncovers, amid the piles of forgotten junk, an opportunity to exorcise his own guilty demons. When business is slow, Duncan spends his time rummaging through dusty shelves and boxes of unclaimed items. During one of these sessions, he uncovers a strange, leather-bound book that turns out to be the diary of a would-be serial killer. Unable to tear himself from the gory descriptions of tortured animals and arson, he discovers that the writer has started to stalk women on the subway. When the police seem disinterested, the teen takes matters into his own hands, and with the aid of his two best friends, tries to track and trap the murderer before he can strike. This chilling page-turner is all thrills, and the author cleverly manipulates readers' sense of disbelief by eliminating the possibility of police help or parental understanding. What results is one teen's self-conscious yet fast-paced journey into the mind of a cold-blooded killer, and the resulting manhunt will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

Martin, H. (2003, Nov. 1). [Review of the book Acceleration, by G. McNamee]. School
         Library Journal, 49(11), 142. Retrieved from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com

Gr. 9–12. “Acceleration: escalation of increasingly destructive aberrant behavior,” the stuff that serial killers are made of. That’s what teenage Duncan finds out after he begins investigating a shocking journal that turns up in the Toronto subway lost-and found where he works. When the police refuse to take it seriously, Duncan enlists the aid of two very different friends to help him find out the identity of the diary’s author, who has apparently graduated from eviscerating animals and setting fires to tracking human prey. McNamee smoothly integrates snapshots from Duncan’s escapades with a new buddy and his wild best friend, who lives teetering on the edge of the law, with information plucked from the diary. He never overexploits the sensational potential of the subject and builds suspense layer upon layer, while injecting some surprising comedy relief that springs from the boys’ friendship. Less convincing is Duncan’s guilt for a death not of his making, which is presented as the raison d’être for his need to find the sick killer. Characters are more than stereotypes here, though it’s the mystery and the boys’ repartee that give the novel its page-turning punch.

Zvirin, S. (2003, Sept. 15). [Review of the book Acceleration, by G. McNamee].
        Booklist, 100(2), 232. Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com

Library Uses:

A library mystery scavenger hunt could tie in the clues from the novel to learning the different parts of the library. Students could be placed in groups and given a journal with questions about the book in it (preferable each group would have a different set of clues, so they couldn’t follow each other around). The students would have to answer questions from the book correctly to help them figure out where in the library the next clue was located. At each section in the library the team would perform a task, for example at the online catalog, the team might have to search for a specific book and record the call number. The first team to answer all the questions correctly and correctly complete all activities in each section of the library would win a prize.