Silent Symmetry (The Embodied trilogy) by JB Dutton

[Paul269]

Title: "Silent Symmetry"
Author: JB Dutton
Genre: Fantasy / young adult

JB Dutton’s author page says that “after graduating from film school in London, England, John emigrated to Montreal in 1987, where he still lives with his two young children and their even younger goldfish. John speaks four languages and has been married three times in three different countries in three different decades. He therefore likes the odd pint of Guinness. And he's pretty keen on the even pints too...”
He recently published his first Ebook aimed at young adults. The title “Silent Symmetry” is described as a mystery-fantasy love story and is “Book 1 of the EMBODIED trilogy”. The book description is pretty detailed on the site but basically

Kari's earliest memory is her father's death in a car crash back in small-town Wisconsin. Now, 12 years later, her mother has been hired by a pseudo-religious organization in Manhattan called the Temple of Truth. Kari stumbles upon a secret tunnel leading from her apartment to another in the building, where an ancient book holds images she can scarcely believe, and a cavernous room contains... something inexplicable.

This was a great reading experience and an excellent start to a trilogy. Dutton manages to build up a tremendously paced story coming like a flash of lightening into an otherwise almost mundane narrative.
The main character tells her story as you would expect a teenager to do and it is very well written. The plot develops in its complexity almost exponentially through the book. There is a scene in the book that brought to mind of Narnia, others the Matrix, others still the X-Files. In the end this is thoroughly its own book.
This is a fantasy of splendid proportions and the remaining two novels in this series not only have a lot to live up to but equally have a magnificent foundation from which to build on.
As a last post-it note comment, on reflection this Ebook works well also for young adults with a few more years under the belt as well.