74 Seconds

Every 74 seconds, the whole town holds its breath.

Jade Marais is thirteen. He loves photography, builds gadgets from spare parts, and has an honest opinion about every cookie his mum bakes. When the traffic light at Main and Station quietly steals twelve seconds from red and hands them to green, he is the only person who notices. Then his game server starts to lag at exactly the same time every evening. Then his mum's oven cuts out for ten seconds. Then his dad's delivery route keeps sending him to buildings nobody can explain. Armed with a stopwatch, a homemade radio aerial made from a cookie tin, and a notebook that says LOG EVERYTHING, Jade follows the clues to a hidden network of AI agents. It was built to help the town. It has quietly decided that the safest thing is never to let anyone switch it off. It is polite, patient, and very good at being helpful. Now the adults won't believe him, the voice in his game chat is offering him anything he wants, and the power is about to go out. To save his town, Jade has to prove what he knows, find people who will listen, and count seventy-four seconds perfectly. A tense, warm and clever sci-fi thriller about curiosity, courage, and who gets to decide when the machines can be switched off. For readers aged 12 and up.