From the Horse’s Mouth Book Review: Extension Squad by R.M. Scheller

Did you know that August 9th was National Book Lover’s Day?

Neither did I.

It’s now nine days later on August 18 that I discovered this, and realize now that I had missed an excellent opportunity to share about a newfound favorite book series that I discovered after I went to the YWW conference– Extension Squad, by R.M. Scheller and illustrated by Heather Rose.

Brace yourselves and prepare to be blown away. Because I was.

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A Non-Horse Book on a Horse Blog?

Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. This doesn’t sound like a horse book, and this is a horse blog.

No, it isn’t a horse book readers. And that’s EXACTLY why I’m sharing it.

Because I love books and writing just as much as I love horses. I’ve got a library’s worth of books ranging from classics to graphic novels. I’ve read a lot of books in my life and I tend to gravitate towards horse books because that’s what I like.

I’m not really one for DC or Marvel. I like superheroes, but the plots tend to be overdone.

Not so with Extension Squad.

A Caliber of its Own

Extension Squad asks the question of what would happen if criminals who had taken others’ lives were condemned to doing the hard work for the superheroes in order to avoid execution? In the world of Hamekyl, if a murderer saves a life or captures a criminal, they get a week to life. If they do an act of service, they get one more day to live.

But what if a wrongly imprisoned boy with the desire to become a hero decides he doesn’t want to be part of that game?

Enter Austin Alejos, a seventeen year old hero-in-training with powerful yet unpredictable superhuman strength. Or, as the book blurb says:

Austin calls it honor.

The others call it sulking.

Either way, they’re all on death row.

The law is simple: a life for a life, no matter the circumstances. When aspiring hero Austin takes a life in defense of another person, he’s thrown in with the cutthroats on death row. Even though they’re doomed to die, they’re given an extension—by doing the grunt work for the heroes, they can prolong the time until they’re killed. But Austin refuses to play that game. If he’s going to die sooner or later anyway, he’ll do so with his pride intact.

The only question is whether he has the resolve to see it through.

Wow. Talk about hooking you in!

No Tropes in this Book

The story then goes on as Austin meets the other members of the Extension program– some who aren’t quite the murdering type– and tries to stay out of this game the government has forced them into, even when earthquakes threaten the city and he has to choose between his honor and doing the right thing.

This book is the poster-child for high concept. It’s hard to find cliches in this book between all of the wonderfully relatable and original characters and the twisty plot.

R.M. Scheller demonstrates balance between action and dialogue really well. There are no slow, boring scenes in this book– Extension Squad keeps you on edge every bit of the way. even the scenes that don’t involve danger are funny and intriguing.

I found myself relating to every character, especially Lyra, a very quiet and traumatized girl, and Brandon, the happy-go-lucky and slightly insane fellow with an obsession with ice. There are a few points I want to slap Austin across the face, applaud the ever-controlled Jax, and yell at their electrocution-happy supervisor Taylee to give the poor children a break. I found myself in the action, rooted to my spot and seeing myself through Austin’s eyes. I read both book 1 and 2 twice in one week trying to soak up all the details.

There aren’t many books I stay up late reading, especially with a 5 AM wake up. But I couldn’t put these books down.

You Might Want to Be Aware Of…

That being said, while the series is very clean and fairly kid friendly as far as violence goes, there are a few things to be aware of.

Two of the characters, Victor and Deborah, are basically dating. They hold hands and flirt, but as they are both in their twenties this isn’t “out of age”. They are constantly reminded by Taylee to keep their public displays of affection to the prison. It’s more like a high-school sweetheart relationship, and it’s very clean, but something to be aware of if you’re not comfortable with it.

There is some description of injuries, but nothing seriously graphic. There are mentions of alcohol and substance abuse but Scheller keeps it to mentions.

Because of the older ages of the characters, this would be a good book for the 10+ age range, maybe younger depending on the understanding of the child. But as a whole this book is very well done even when dealing with tough topics like murder and death.

Interested?

Vol 2 in this series is soon to be released in ebook format on Amazon. Both volumes are available for $2.99 on Kindle.

For volume 1: https://www.amazon.com/Extension-Squad-Vol-R-Scheller-ebook/dp/B0B8BZ7G75

For volume 2: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0CDJX1X3C?ref_=dbs_m_mng_wim_calw_tkin_1&storeType=ebooks

AND since Scheller is a friend of mine and I want to help support her, if you leave a review after reading it and tell me, I will send you these super cool printable bookmarks!

If you’re looking for a lighter novel series in the action-adventure genre full of suspense, humor, and witty characters, then Extension Squad is definitely for you!

Well done, R.M. Scheller. You have an award winner in your hands. We expect great things from you in the future!