Stuff I Read: Random Sh*t Flying Through the Air by Jackson Ford

After defeating a superpowered killer and exposing a traitor to the organization she works for (leaving him to die in the process), a telekinetic government agent daydreams about the normal life she could have if she could only get out from under the thumb of the US government. These dreams are put on the back burner when a series of earthquakes, each stronger than the last, strikes the West Coast without warning, almost as if they weren’t natural phenomena. There’s a whole lot of shakin’ goin’ on in Jackson Ford’s 2020 sequel, Random Sh*t Flying Through the Air.

Random Sh*t Flying Through the Air by Jackson Ford

Ford’s second novel following the China Shop’s telekinetic secret weapon picks up a few weeks after The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind. Teagan Frost, having just survived an encounter with another telekinetic and still weathering the betrayal and death of her best friend at work, Carlos, begins thinking about what she’d rather be doing. She wants to open up a food truck in LA’s robust mobile restaurant scene. She wants a relationship with her crush and fellow foodie, Nic Delacourt. And most of all, she wants to move around LA unshackled from the watchful eye of China Shop’s handler, Moira Tanner. But when devastating quakes ravage southern California, and their cause seems to be a sociopathic five-year-old, Teagan’s plans are put on hold. As the China Shop tracks a boy who can move earth and rock with his mind—a boy who shouldn’t exist—they find themselves racing against time to stop his twisted desire to sow chaos by activating the Cascadia fault line and literally reshaping the world. The last time Teagan went toe-to-toe with someone who had powers, it cost her one of her best friends. What could it cost her and the China Shop to take this kid down?

Jackson Ford writes this version of LA and the characters that inhabit it with the confidence that comes with knowing both who his major players are and who his readers might be. As such, he creates a layered and nuanced story where his fans will benefit from having read its predecessor, but new readers won’t be alienated by not having done that. Writing a series where the individual pieces are so accessible is no easy feat, and that alone is worth serious props in my eyes. Also, Teagan—the main character who narrates half the book—seems to have grown up a little from the petulant child she was in the previous installment. While she is by no means a functioning adult yet, hope remains. She’s much less grating a narrator than in the last outing. This books villain, five-year-old Matthew, is far more entertaining and memorable than the previous novel’s big bad. He is awesome and fun in his malevolence and inspires a “this guy’s gotta go” response I haven’t had since Joffrey Baratheon in Game of Thrones.

However, Matthew can be seen as the book’s weak link. There’s no reason to what he’s doing other than he can, just like an asshole kid who hurts animals for kicks. And while it seems like the intent is to paint the little monster as a force of nature, he comes off as an obnoxious kid with a loaded gun and the capitulation of the adults in his sphere. It feels like the worst kind of evil-for-evil’s sake, moustache-twirling, comic book villain. This is a small gripe in an otherwise enjoyable read.

Jackson Ford’s second foray into Teagan Frost’s life ramps up the stakes. It’s funnier, more polished, and more action-packed than the first. Given the chance, Random Sh*t Flying Through the Air will rock your world (you see what I did there?).

Pros: Solid plot, accessible, higher stakes, fast moving. Main character/narrator is much more likeable than last time.

Cons: Villain is kind of one-note.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.