By Kim McCullough
This Town is Not All Right by Thunder Bay author M.K. Krys is a middle-grade sci-fi novel that blends fast-moving action and sympathetic, captivating characters with a dark, moody setting and surprising plot twists.
Beacon and his twin sister Everleigh are not thrilled when their father uproots them from their home in Los Angeles to make a new start in the small coastal town of Driftwood Harbor. After the death of the twins’ older brother Jasper, a fresh start may be just what the family needs. Despite his sadness at leaving his friends behind, Beacon hopes the move will shake his sister from the grief and guilt she feels over the tragedy.
The family has barely arrived when strange events start to occur. The twins meet the too-perfect, mannequin-like Jane, leader of the Gold Stars, a “youth group that aims to promote social responsibility in kids.”
Beacon, Everleigh and their father settle into a local inn until they find a house of their own. The owner, Donna, is fierce and angry for no reason that Beacon can see. Unable to sleep his first night under her roof, Beacon is staring out his window at the ocean when he sees Jane disappear into the waves. When the local sheriff arrives, he is unconcerned about the drowning girl. Beacon is later shocked to find out that Jane was home, safe in her bed all along.
The next day, Everleigh heads off to the local auto shop. She is a genius at fixing cars—her brother Jasper taught her everything she knows. Beacon, left on his own, heads out on his skateboard to explore. Before long, he finds himself in a dark forest, where he meets Arthur, a science nerd who studies aliens. He tells Beacon about the rumoured UFO that crash-landed in Driftwood Harbor years before. Strange things have been happening ever since.
Once the twins start at their new school, Beacon’s suspicion of the innkeeper and sheriff grows to include the school nurse, and the exceptionally well-behaved students. When Everleigh undergoes an inexplicable personality change and shows up to dinner in a skirt, Beacon knows something is really wrong.
Beacon and Arthur team up to solve the mystery. Their investigation takes them from the nurse’s office to church basements and beyond as they try to outrun danger at every turn.
Krys keeps the plot rollicking along with enough character detail and plot development to keep a middle-schooler engaged, but not so much that the story gets bogged down in wordy descriptions. She’s crafted a mystery where everyone in the town seems to be hiding a dark secret—Jane, the owner of the inn, the sheriff, and even the twins’ father.
What is going on with Jane? What is the twins’ father really doing in Driftwood Harbor? Will Beacon’s sister ever go back to normal? And will they survive the coming battle? Just when it seems these questions will be answered, the twist ending leaves the reader hanging, wanting more.