Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Unavailable
Blink & Caution
Unavailable
Blink & Caution
Unavailable
Blink & Caution
Audiobook9 hours

Blink & Caution

Written by Tim Wynne-Jones

Narrated by MacLeod Andrews

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Two street kids get tangled in a plot over their heads-and risk an unexpected connection-in this heart-pounding thriller by Tim Wynne-Jones.

Boy, did Blink get off on the wrong floor. All he wanted was to steal some breakfast for his empty belly, but instead he stumbled upon a fake kidnapping and a cell phone dropped by an "abducted" CEO, giving Blink a link to his perfect blonde daughter. Now Blink is on the run, but it's OK as long as he's smart enough to stay in the game and keep Captain Panic locked in his hold. Enter a girl named Caution. As in "Caution: Toxic." As in "Caution: Watch Your Step." She's also on the run, from a skeezy drug-dealer boyfriend and from a nightmare in her past that won't let her go. When she spies Blink at the train station, Caution can see he's an easy mark. But there's something about this naïve, skinny street punk, whom she only wanted to rob, that tugs at her heart, a heart she thought deserved not to feel. Charged with suspense and intrigue, this taut novel trails two deeply compelling characters as they forge a blackmail scheme that is foolhardy at best, disastrous at worst-along with a fated, tender partnership that will offer them each a rare chance for redemption.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMar 8, 2011
ISBN9781455803682
Unavailable
Blink & Caution
Author

Tim Wynne-Jones

TIM WYNNE-JONES is one of Canada's foremost writers for children. The author of over thirty-five books, he is a two-time winner of the Governor General's Award, as well as a two-time winner of the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award and of the Arthur Ellis Award. His short-story collections include Some of the Kinder Planets, Book of Changes and Lord of the Fries. He is also known for his Rex Zero series. Recently, he wrote the young-adult novels The Ruinous Sweep; Emperor of Any Place, which earned seven starred reviews; and Blink & Caution, which won the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award. Tim is also the recipient of the Edgar Award and the Vicky Metcalf Award for a Body of Work. In 2012, he was made an Officer to the Order of Canada. He lives in Perth, Ontario.

Related to Blink & Caution

Related audiobooks

YA Social Themes For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Blink & Caution

Rating: 3.839080404597701 out of 5 stars
4/5

87 ratings11 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A taut, suspenseful story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is another reason why Tim Wynne-Jones is one of my favorite authors. He is a master at character (unique here with the second person narration) and plots that pull you in.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Reason for Reading: I've always wanted to read this Canadian author but I've never got around to it. I just recently heard he'd been awarded the Order of Canada and thought it was time I read him and had this book on hand.A fairly decent book, not really my usual thing as it deals with two runaway teens. One from a dysfunctional family, the other running from a life-changing event that is easy to guess, revealed too soon and would have been a better plot point if it had been kept as a secret to shock later in the book. The plot is quite interesting and the teens are well developed, both, though having problems, are likable from the beginning and the reader is invested in their well being. A tight crime thriller for this age group that mainly keeps the plot together though their are a few holes. I especially wondered why Alyson, as a character was left dangling. The thing that most annoyed me about this book though was that part of it is written in the second person. Chapters alternate between Blink & Caution's stories. Caution's tale is told in the third person, but Blink's is in the second person. The continual referral to you are doing this and you are thinking that was extremely annoying to me and I kept wondering *who* was talking to Blink and telling him/us his story. It is never explained and I, personally, do not like the literary device at all. However, a decent YA thriller. I will try another of the author's books ,having one more on my shelves, but I am in no rush.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Blink is just looking for breakfast in the hotel hallway when he stumbles into a crime. His curiosity and hunger lead him to steal a Blackberry and some money from a wallet. What he doesn't know is that his theft will introduce him to Alyson, a pretty girl whose father is involved in a company scandal. Caution, a runaway teen who lives only through her association with drug dealer Merlin, lives nearby. When she decides to change her life, their stories start to cross. Both teens are struggling with a homelessness and despair. Wynne-Jones alternates the story between characters, narrating Blink's in 2nd person, Caution's in 3rd. I found the story really absorbing and thought-provoking. I liked how the two separate stories merged somewhere in the middle, and I was rooting for Blink and Caution's safety. Unfortunately, the author's afterword left a sour after taste. The story is good enough to speak for itself. Why cloud it with a political message?
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was a very slow start for me. Written in two-person narration, but weirdly, one of the narrators, a fifteen-year-odl runaway named Blink, is written in second person, while the other, a 16 year old runaway who's named herself Caution, is in third person.Both of these characters are broken, on the streets due to tragedies in their pasts, and end up helping each other survive a businessman's plot to screw over his own company. While these kids aren't exactly urban, it was still easy to see how bad circumstances paired with bad choices could get a person stuck in very dangerous situations.Recommended, but be prepared for a long, slow start.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Blink is a throwaway. His stepfather hates him and the feeling is mutual. When he left home, nobody looked for him. Caution is a runaway. She did something terrible. Even though it was an accident and no one blames her, she took off and has been living a rough life for over a year. Blink is there, unseen, when a mining executive goes missing. Blink and Caution meet and join forces to look for the man.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Narrated by MacLeod Andrews. This is more a 2.5 star rating for me. Blink (Brent) and Caution (Kitty) are Toronto street kids. Blink has run away from an abusive stepfather and Caution escapes her abusive, drug-dealing boyfriend. Blink witnesses a kidnapping of a CEO and finds himself part of a web of corporate intrigue. Blink crosses paths with Caution at a train station, and she joins him on a quest to unravel the web. The forward motion in the plot is very plodding and I felt bogged down listening to the story. It took a long time to get through this, although it does pick up some when the kids arrive at CEO Nevin's hideaway.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Boy, did Blink get off on the wrong floor. All he wanted was to steal some breakfast for his empty belly, but instead he stumbled upon a fake kidnapping and a cell phone dropped by an "abducted" CEO, giving Blink a link to his perfect blonde daughter. Now Blink is on the run, but it’s OK as long as he’s smart enough to stay in the game and keep Captain Panic locked in his hold. Enter a girl named Caution. As in "Caution: Toxic." As in "Caution: Watch Your Step." She’s also on the run, from a skeezy drug-dealer boyfriend and from a nightmare in her past that won’t let her go. When she spies Blink at the train station, Caution can see he’s an easy mark. But there’s something about this naïve, skinny street punk, whom she only wanted to rob, that tugs at her heart, a heart she thought deserved not to feel.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Blink is a throwaway. His stepfather hates him and the feeling is mutual. When he left home, nobody looked for him. Caution is a runaway. She did something terrible. Even though it was an accident and no one blames her, she took off and has been living a rough life for over a year. Blink is there, unseen, when a mining executive goes missing. Blink and Caution meet and join forces to look for the man.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Tim Wynne-Jones continues to offer readers unique relationship novels – though I am always reluctant to use the term “relationship novel” when describing his works as it would turn-off a whole slew of readers who would otherwise enjoy his books. But for the two homeless protagonists of this book, Blink/Brent and Caution/Kitty, relationship is key – and has the ability to heal.I enjoyed the alternating narratives between the characters but this is a format I am drawn to, it may bother others. These are richly developed unique characters. Add in blackmail, kidnapping, a couple of chase scenes, and guns – and, see what I mean, it is much more than a relationship novel! Well worth a read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is a powerful and well-written novel. Blink and Caution are two teenage runaways in Toronto. Blink is there because he is escaping an abusive step-father, and Caution because she can't forgive herself after she accidently killed her brother. An end-note by the author says that when he was a teen a friend of his was killed by his brother in a freak accident similar to how Caution killed hers, and that the incident has haunted him ever since. Perhaps that’s why the emotion is so real in this book. I read his previous YA novel, The Uninvited, and did not think it was worth recommending, but he had a stronger connection to this story. I especially liked what was going on in Blink’s mind. The Canadian setting adds interest to the story also.