Review: Valley Fliers by David Boito

Mystery and amateur sleuthing take to the unconquered skies in Valley Fliers by David Boito, a new standout YA thriller with a spiraling, well-crafted plot. Mysteries abound in this acrobatic novel, replete with drone-toting hitmen and a conspiracy too rich not to be investigated by some would-be sleuths.

With dreams of attending a prestigious aeronautical school, Jay is on the cusp of adulthood, but his head has always been in the clouds, as he navigates model airplanes with expert precision. Turning a hobby into a career means a lot of practice at the local miniature airfield, where there are some new faces to the scene, including Lady Hawk, the “prettiest girl to grace the airfield in a long time.” There are also some notably skilled new fliers lining up on the runways – lone wolf types who raise plenty of gossip among the regulars.

One of the new faces on the airfield has the same quadcopter that was recently used in an assassination at a local prison, and then later spotted during another alleged hit on a corporate whistleblower. As more coincidences collide, it becomes clear that the main character Jay, along with the charmingly quirky cast of cast Zhou, Dari, Cheeto, Tri, and Cassie have stumbled into a high-level plot involving ex-military killers that soars way above their pay grade. Child’s play becomes something far more sinister as their amateur surveillance leads to very real revelations that puts them – and those they love – in the crosshairs.

While much of the book reads like a harmless adventure – a coming-of-age novel told within the realm of an unusual hobby – there are plenty of relevant and meaningful themes explored throughout the story. Traditional adolescent romance is countered with refreshing gender role reversals, and peppered with smart, tech-savvy dialogue that will thrill those who love model airplanes, but isn’t too dense for the average reader. Explorations of fraternity, alienation, rule-breaking, and honor also penetrate these seemingly innocent relationships, making them more substantive than what is often found in this genre.

The author is undeniably clever, as he proves in his first perspective-shifting chapter, but trickery can’t make up for occasionally flat dialogue and overly explicative narration. There is a bit too much suggestive writing to hold the mystery in place. For instance, Oren’s role as the suspected villain comes in early, but then develops slowly, without any particularly surprising twists along the way. Readers are pointed in a certain direction, and the rest of the story basically follows that initial path, with limited opportunities for surprise or suspense.

There are also some stumbles in the technical execution of the book, ranging from choppy sentence structure to dialogue that occasionally comes off as unnatural. There are also a number of points in the investigation that demand a bit too much suspension of disbelief – a mystery is meant to keep the reader guessing, but too many liberties with believability can take readers out of the story.

As a whole, however, Boito deftly paints a unique community of characters, flaws and all, and pilots them through a remarkably original mystery that will satisfy both young adult and older readers.