I Am the Weapon Suspense

I Am the Weapon is a great book that keeps you on the edge of your seat.  It is about a teenage boy who is part of a program that completes missions and then disappears.  The main characters name is Zach and he lost his parents in the beginning of the book.  He is an intelligent and skilled boy that started training at a young age. He gets close with a relative of the target, completes his mission, and then moves on to the next one.  He has a “mother” and “father” who give him his assignments and help to look after him.

The author creates suspense throughout the whole book.  Zach never knows what is going to happen and he never knows when his next mission is.  It is constant suspense about whether or not he is going to win a fight or complete his mission.  One technique the author uses to create suspense is distance.  In the book Zach has a mission to kill the mayor of New York.  The author creates suspense whenever Zach could have completed his mission but didn’t.  In chapter 37 it says, “I twist the pen to the right.  It is weaponized.  One click death, two clicks temporary coma.”  This creates suspense because you don’t know if Zach is going to kill the mayor and complete his mission or wait and have to figure out another way to get it done.  If Zach chooses not to kill the mayor this creates space between Zach and his goal.    

Another part in the book where the author creates suspense is when Zach meets up with Mike in New York.  Mike is part of the program with Zach.  The author creates suspense during this part by using the technique of thoughts. In chapter 64 it says, “A brief swell of something inside me.  I think of mother in a room surrounded by faceless people, discussing my behavior.  Is this what happens to my father? Was there a meeting to discuss his behavior? A decision was made.”  This is what Zach is thinking when he sitting there tied up.  He thinks about his father and what happened to him.  This creates suspense because he doesn’t know if the same thing will happen to him.  Another way the author creates suspense in this part of the book is by withholding information from Zach.  In Chapter 64 whenever Mike is walking away he says, “He’s alive Zach.  Your father.  Do you understand what I’m saying?”  Mike walks away without Zach being able to ask questions about what happened to his father or where his father is.  This creates suspense because Zach has little information and wants to find out.