ROSWELL on PLANET-SF

The eighth book in the ROSWELL HIGH series, THE REBEL picks up sometime after THE VANISHED, and it's obvious that the attempt to rescue Alex has been a failure.

Some of the more peripheral characters from previous books return, and some play a larger role than others. Kyle Valenti, still suspicious about his father's death appears to be spying on the group, and irritating cheerleader Stacey Scheinin pops up to annoy Isabel.

It's not long before Alex is returned, along with another newcomer - Michael's brother, Trevor. Naturally, Michael is overjoyed at finding that he's got some family other than the surrogate one of Max and Izzy, but Adam is slightly excluded from the set-up. Fortunately, he has Liz to keep him company since Max is being more and more distant due to his link with the alien consciousness. Liz also gets to stand up to her parents when the camping trip from THE VANISHED is discovered, and her parents finally seem to accept that she's not about to OD on drugs.

But it's Trevor who's the main centre of attention. To Maria he provides a sort of Michael-lite, not as good as the real thing, but still worth having. But to Alex, he's a threat to the group, especially after the feeling he got when returning to Earth. And the group is split over his loyalties him once Maria's brother is kidnapped.

THE REBEL keeps the overall story moving along, but perhaps isn't quite up to the series' overall standards. It seemed a bit too much like a long DOCTOR WHO story that meanders around a bit in order to pad out the episode count. Hopefully the whole Trevor/Kyle thing will prove relevant to the central plot rather than just diverting the action in order to prolong the series. Nevertheless, the cliffhanger will still see me back for THE DARK ONE... BACK TO THE TOP

THE REBEL

Written by MELINDA METZ

POCKET BOOKS

£4.99

RATING: 7/10

NEXT RELEASE:
THE DARK ONE

PREVIOUS RELEASE:
THE VANISHED