What would you do if you were able to freeze and rewind time? Alex has no choice. because 'spinners' are conscripted by the government and forced to take medication as well as work with law enforcement to rewind at the scene of crimes in order to identify perpetrators.
When she begins to suspect the director of the facility is less than honest about the medication and what happens to older 'spinners', she begins to look at everything differently. This is the first of a three book series and I've already moved to the second book and have the third ready to go. ( )

literary merit: okay
characterization: okay (a little flat, a lot of setup: maybe future installments will be stronger?)
age-appropriate: very clean, middle readers up to reluctant teen readers.

Kind of a cool concept, but the opening chapter is very slow. Alex, a spinner, is summoned to a crime scene to help freeze time and find a bomb before it goes off. Can't K9s sniff out bombs? Isn't there a more neato way for her to use her powers than for something that a dog can also do? Meanwhile, Alex is coming down with "time sickness." the mutation that allows her to freeze time also shortens her life span. As far as we know, no one with the ability to freeze time has lived into their twenties.
In the meantime, there's a thief in town who the police can't seem to catch; he always plans his heists so that they won't be discovered for several days. This is significant as spinners can only rewind time so far. It seems pretty obvious that the thief is a spinner who has learned how to a) avoid authorities and b) live into adulthood. More books to come. I will say this is a good book for boys or girls, fans of The Darkest Minds, and/or reluctant readers. Minus a crush on a friend, it's very clean. ( )