3:59

by Gretchen McNeil

Overview

From Possess and Ten author Gretchen McNeil comes a deliciously eerie science fiction–horror story in the tradition of Lisa McMann's Wake trilogy and the movie Sliding Doors—now in paperback!

Josie Byrne's life is spiraling out of control. And just when she thinks it can't get worse, she starts having dreams about a girl named Jo. Every night at the same time—3:59 a.m. Jo's life is everything Josie wants: she's popular, her parents are happily married, and her boyfriend adores her. It all seems real, but they're just dreams, right? Josie thinks so, until she wakes one night to see a shadowy image of herself in the bedroom mirror. Except it's not her at all—it's Jo.

The two girls are doppelgängers whose universes overlap every twelve hours at 3:59. Fascinated by Jo's perfect world, Josie jumps at the chance to pass through the portal and switch places for a day. But Jo's world is far from perfect, and the stuff of nightmares lurks around every corner. And when Josie finds herself trapped there, her life becomes more dangerous—and more deadly—than she ever imagined.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062118820
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/16/2014
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	565,245
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Gretchen McNeil is a trained opera singer, former circus performer and voice-over artist, and current writer. She is the author of several YA suspense novels, including Get Even, Get Dirty, 3:59, Possess, and the award-winning Ten (now a Lifetime movie). She is also the author of the YA comedy I’m Not Your Manic Pixie Dream Girl and the horror/comedy novels #MurderTrending, #MurderFunding, and #NoEscape. You can visit her online at www.gretchenmcneil.com.

Editorial Reviews

This book is scientifically action-packed, complete with monsters and drama. Teens who are fans of the ever-popular Dr. Who television series will love this book.” — Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

“McNeil’s movie-quick setup speed and humorously inventive language…make her a very welcoming author who succeeds at injecting fresh verve into some stalwart sci-fi concepts.” — Booklist

“Those looking for romance/adventures set in parallel universes will come away satisfied.” — School Library Journal

“A book that will set science geeks’ hearts aflutter.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Praise for TEN: “Agatha Christie meets Gossip Girl in McNeil’s throwback to old-school thrillers.” — Publishers Weekly

Praise for TEN: “In the esteemed tradition of teen horror fiction, TEN hits all the high notes: a stormy night, illicit liaisons, cut phone lines, suspicious disappearances, double-crosses, secret histories, and plenty of twists.” — ALA Booklist

“Gretchen McNeil’s TEN is my new number one! I jumped at every creaking floorboard in my house and on the page. This is sure to be a teen thriller classic!” — Nancy Holder, Bram Stoker Award winning author of THE SCREAMING SEASON

Praise for TEN: “TEN is a real page turner! Gretchen McNeil knows how to plot a thriller: Her setup is flawless and the suspense kept me on the edge of my seat.” — Christopher Pike, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the THIRST series and REMEMBER ME

Praise for TEN: “A breathless read.” — Kirkus Reviews

Praise for TEN: “A quick-paced thriller full of half-facts and red herrings that take readers through the twists and turns of a deadly weekend.” — School Library Journal

Praise for POSSESS: “A fantastic YA debut …. the humor and occasional twists will keep fans of the genre hooked and wanting to finish this book in one sitting.” — School Library Journal

Praise for POSSESS: “With demons, secrets, and a butt-kicking heroine, POSSESS is a whole lotta dark and twisted fun!” — Kimberly Derting, author of the Body Finder series

From the Publisher

A book that will set science geeks’ hearts aflutter.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

A book that will set science geeks’ hearts aflutter.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Gretchen McNeil’s TEN is my new number one! I jumped at every creaking floorboard in my house and on the page. This is sure to be a teen thriller classic!

Nancy Holder

Praise for TEN: “TEN is a real page turner! Gretchen McNeil knows how to plot a thriller: Her setup is flawless and the suspense kept me on the edge of my seat.

Christopher Pike

Praise for TEN: “In the esteemed tradition of teen horror fiction, TEN hits all the high notes: a stormy night, illicit liaisons, cut phone lines, suspicious disappearances, double-crosses, secret histories, and plenty of twists.

ALA Booklist

This book is scientifically action-packed, complete with monsters and drama. Teens who are fans of the ever-popular Dr. Who television series will love this book.

Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

McNeil’s movie-quick setup speed and humorously inventive language…make her a very welcoming author who succeeds at injecting fresh verve into some stalwart sci-fi concepts.

Booklist

Praise for POSSESS: “With demons, secrets, and a butt-kicking heroine, POSSESS is a whole lotta dark and twisted fun!

Kimberly Derting

A book that will set science geeks’ hearts aflutter.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

McNeil’s movie-quick setup speed and humorously inventive language…make her a very welcoming author who succeeds at injecting fresh verve into some stalwart sci-fi concepts.

Booklist

11/01/2013
Gr 9 Up—Josie Byrne, a brainy prep school junior, has been brought up to trust in science. Her AP physics project examines the Penrose Interpretation, which hypothesizes that objects can exist in more than one space at the same time. Josie's mind isn't always on science, however: her job at Coffee Crush, her parents' separation, and her painful breakup with Nick, not to mention mysterious deaths in the neighborhood, occupy her thoughts. When an unusual set of events line up precisely at 3:59 a.m., Josie finds a door that opens to a parallel universe, but only for a moment and only twice a day. In this other world, steadfast Josie exists as Jo, a spoiled young woman who still appears to have Nick's love. But Jo's existence is far from fun and games, despite expensive clothes and a BMW. While the same people live in both worlds, their personalities are different. Even worse, Jo's world is inhabited by Nox, creatures that make it deadly to be out at night. The story focuses primarily on Josie, Nick, and the Nox in one dimension, along with people who have transferred between the two universes. Parental love, double-crossing, and the nature of friendship all have a place in the plot. To fully move into Josie's world, readers need to embrace quasi-scientific jargon and believe that teens could construct and operate a version of a multimillion-dollar, top-secret government laser, in a basement, using mirrors held by hand. Those looking for romance/adventures set in parallel universes will come away satisfied.—Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX

School Library Journal

2013-08-15
In this quasi–science-fiction novel, doppelgangers Josie and Jo agree to temporarily trade places after their mothers' scientific experiments accidentally open a portal between their parallel worlds. The situation soon spirals out of control as Jo's mother (who also secretly traded worlds) attempts to make the trade permanent by destroying the portal. McNeil deserves credit for writing science fiction featuring women scientists. Josie and her lab partner, Penelope, as well as Penelope's parallel-world other, Pen, all casually drop quantum-mechanics and parallel-universe theories and use the scientific method to understand the portal between their worlds. However, the devil is in the details, and offering little explanation of the scientific theories under discussion compromises the novel's scientific tenor. Further stretching the science is the improbable existence of the laser that is used to create the portal. Readers must accept that an X-FEL laser, "one of the most high-tech, cutting-edge pieces of equipment in the world," whose production at a lab required "millions in funding, a team of A-list scientists and engineers, top secret specs no one had ever seen," was secretly recreated out of scraps in a residential basement. Also implausible is the half-baked insta-romance (true love after four days, really?) that fails to create romantic tension. The patchy science, though hastily injected with romance, makes for an unsatisfying read. (Science fiction. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews