Michael Carroll’s success with his Quantum Prophecy series continues to spill over with this second book of a trilogy that is a prequel to the 1st series.  The evil Krodin was gone, or so the superhumans Roz, Abby, Lance and Thunder thought 3 weeks earlier when walked away into their separate lives again.  But overnight everything changes.  The U.S. is now run by Chancellor Krodin.  Martial law is in place and each of the main characters will be chase all over the U.S. by Krodin’s forces once they begin using their superhuman powers.  This section of the story is a bit challenging to read as a stand alone.  Though Carroll does give background via character’s conversations and has flashbacks to the previous book, each chapter also houses at least two shifts of scene, sometimes three.  For a few pages Abby will shooting her arrows to crash a hovercraft and then Lance will be in jail for alledgedly lying to a police officer. Carrol is a master of creating suspenseful cliffhangers — great to keep a reader going, but slightly frustrating that the next chunk jump around so much, like from Max’s setting in the citadel to Roz’s scene with Victoria.  It’s difficult to have to wait until it’s Max’s scene again.  Still, any cartoon superhero fans will probably love this prose rendition of a superhero tale.  With not a single love interest or use of foul language, it can easily span upper elementary to high school audiences as an additional purchase if you already have the Quantum Prophecy series.