The Start of a New Epic

  PHOENIX ISLAND by John Dixon (to be released 1-21-14 by Gallery Books / 320 pp / hc & eBook)

Sixteen year-old boxing champ (and orphan) Carl Freeman is the type of guy who likes to stick up for the weaker kids against bullies: he has a sense of justice handed down from his father but as noble as it is, he often goes overboard and gets into trouble. After too many instances (taking out an entire football team single-handedly now pushing the limit), a judge takes Carl away from his current foster home and sentences him to Phoenix Island, a military-style boot camp designed to straighten-out teens like Carl. But within the first few minutes on the island, Carl and his fellow recruits discover the isolated place (located off the coast of Mexico in the Pacific Ocean) holds many secrets, and it doesn't take long for them to realize they're all in a fight for their very lives.

While this set up may bring BATTLE ROYALE or THE HUNGER GAMES to mind, PHOENIX ISLAND is more like a combination of the 1983 Sean Penn juvenile prison film BAD BOYS, LORD OF THE FLIES, ROCKY, and any mad scientist film. Dixon blends action, scifi, and horror into a tale that had me flipping pages to the point I finished in two rapid sittings. Dixon (a former Golden Gloves boxer) gives vivid descriptions of the boxing mindset, hence making the hand-to-hand fight scenes edge-of-your seat exciting (especially Carl's fight with a taser-wielding drill sargeant). The violence level is quite high (considering this is a YA novel) and Dixon's cast of good and bad guys & gals are to die for.

The second book in this series can't get here fast enough (and I hope the forthcoming CBS TV series, 'Intelligence,' based on this novel, is even a quarter as good as its source material). There are plenty of surprises at every turn, and like any good story featuring a boxer as the main protagonist, this one is completely full of heart and just may have you cheering out loud. Don't miss it.