Review Detail

It seemed like I have been waiting to read the entire book for months since Disney/Hyperion so wisely only gave us an early snippet - so worth the wait! The Archived is a cross between a Dean Koontz Odd Thomas ghost story and Hunger Games. The story revolves around Mackenzie Bishop, otherwise known as Mac, in her new apartment home that was once a hotel and the other world she tends that houses the histories. Librarians read and watch over the histories (life stories of the dead) in the Archives which is only available to a few key people named Keepers as they help keep the histories contained safely in the Archive and not wandering lost in the Outerworld. The Archive is reached by hidden doorways using a key that all the keepers have and it is a secret position. Mac's family is in turmoil after Ben, Mackenzie's little brother is killed by a hit and run driver. Dad tries to keep it together, mom reinvents her career every few months and Da, Mackenzie's grandfather who was a keeper and passed on the position to Mac, has since passed on. Mackenzie has violent run ins with escapees and is in danger of blurring her lives in both the real world and the one she must keep secret but finds a friend in Wes who is also a keeper and has family in the apartment where the Bishops live. Beautifully crafted, this tale has a historic charm and unearthly feel to it as well as terrifying moments and a mystery that will convince you to stay up all night trying to finish the book in one sitting. Mackenzie's grief over her brother's senseless death while helping to guide the newly awakened dead back to where they need to be plays havoc with her sense of reality.