Audio Review of Swipe by Evan Angler

Title: Swipe (Swipe, #1)
Author: Evan Angler
Narrator: Barrie Buckner
Published by: Oasis Audio
Length: Approx: 8 hours
Source: Library
Format: Audio
Rating: 3 stars

Summary from Goodreads: Logan Langly is just months away from his thirteenth birthday and the biggest day of his life—the day he will finally be marked. The mark lets people get jobs, use public transportation, or even buy concert tickets. Becoming marked means becoming free—or so he is told. Five years ago when Logan's sister went to get her mark, she never came back. Now Logan can't shake the feeling he's being watched... And then he finds the wire.

Logan Langly is being watched.  Everyone just thinks he is being paranoid, that is until he meets Erin.  Erin and her father just moved to town because he is on some big top secret case and she figures the sooner she solves it the soon they can move back home.  Soon these two team up and launch an investigation that could put both of their lives in danger. 

I'm not sure if it was because Swipe was a middle grade novel, but I found some of the characters to be a bit immature.  For example, Logan's best friend Dane got super jealous over nothing and totally cut Logan out of his life.  He was rude to him and overall just a jerk.  He didn't want to know the truth or want to talk about it.  It was hard for me to come to the mindset of the characters being younger and therefore being extremely impulsive.  Erin didn't really care about anyone but herself and seemed like she just wanted an adventure.  I didn't actually like her very much, because it never seemed like she wanted to help Logan, instead she just wanted the thrill of finding out what was happening to the missing kids.  Logan on the other hand was the only character I did like.  He was a genuinely good kid and nice person.   As much as everyone thought he was crazy, he new what he believed was true and he stood his ground.  He really grew as a character throughout the novel and by the end he was quite brave and daring.

Even though these characters were not my favorite, they were memorable and seemed to work well with the plot.  I liked that the story wasn't completely predictable, instead having some unexpected twists at the end which will lead nicely into the next novel in the series.  The narrator, Barrie Buckner, did a good job, but I wasn't fond of his voice for Erin.  It felt forced and a little manly.  Otherwise though, he kept me engaged and interested throughout the entire story. 

I like the concept behind Swipe, but I wish that Evan Angler would have gone into more world building in this dystopian-like novel.  I want to know why society is the way it is now and why the need to be marked.  Hopefully this will be covered in the rest of the series.