The Secret Runners of New York starts with a teenage girl running from pursuers and plunging into a well where she expects to find a tunnel leading to a place of safety however it is blocked. Matthew Reilly immediately has his readers interest. The reader is then introduced to teenage twins are starting at a school where three teenagers including the one at the start of the book have all disappeared. All of these pupils were new to the school and we are left to wonder if the twins will suffer the same fate. The characters are all aware of a theory that the world will end in a few months time as the Earth passes through a 'gamma cloud' This very intriguing start will have many readers desperate to get this book and read on to discover the outcome. Does the world as we know it end, what has happened to these girls, will Skye suffer the same fate, will anyone survive the 'gamma cloud? So many questions, I can't wait to get the answers.