Above by Roland Smith

On the run since their escape from the Deep, Pat, Coop, and Kate plan to reunite in Oregon. However, their reunion is postponed when Alex Dane—Lod’s brother who helped the teens escape—shows up and tasks Kate to shadow Lod’s members that are gathering in the area. Alex, Pat, and Coop follow Kate’s trail so they can understand Lod’s next move and then notify the authorities. Kate lets herself get captured by Lod’s minions, but she tries to earn their trust so she can hide her involvement with Alex, Pat, and Coop.

This sequel to Beneath is yet another rapid-fire read full of suspense, mystery, and deception. Told from Pat and Kate’s perspectives, readers follow the break-neck pace of these teens as they chase down Lod and his demented disciples. Because there is access to Kate’s mind, readers learn more details about her upbringing in the Deep and understand how losing her parents by Lod’s hand caused Kate to turn against him. Compared to Beneath, Pat is not continually confronting his claustrophobia. However, he encounters his patterned, panic-stricken thoughts again as he is forced to enter yet another Deep. A theme Smith carries through his series is that there is no such thing as a coincidence. Smith shows that the events and decisions of a person’s past ideally places them in situations where they can conquer present dilemmas. Both Beneath and Above clearly show that Smith is an expert at crafting quality, contemporary adventures for young adults. 

Beneath by Roland Smith

After waiting a year, Pat O’Toole finally receives news from his missing brother, Coop, in the form of a strange package. Inside is a digital voice recorder detailing Coop’s exploration of an unknown society beneath New York City called the Deep. But when Pat’s letters to Coop go unanswered, Pat decides to make his way to New York City’s underground. Once there Pat meets Kate, a girl who needs Pat’s help in rescuing Coop from the clutches of the underworld dictator, Lod.

Smith creates an incredibly original and thought-provoking story with Beneath. The book is written from the perspective of Pat as he dictates his and Coop’s voice recordings into his journal. Both Pat and Coop describe their separate descents into the Deep, except Pat has the added complication of claustrophobia. Pat’s claustrophobia was created when, as children, Coop and Pat were almost buried after a tunnel collapsed. Pat’s love for Coop helps him conquer his phobia while making his way through dangerously tight and cramped situations. Along with Pat and Coop’s story, Smith creates an intriguing idea of how easily a cult-like society can be hidden inside a normal population. Smith is currently writing a sequel called Above.