''The Lab'' is a young adult science fiction action novel by Australian writer

Jack Heath Jack Heath is an Australian writer of fiction for children and adults who is best known for the Danger, Scream, Liars and Timothy Blake series. He has been shortlisted for the ACT Book of the Year Award, CBCA Notable Book Award, Nottinghamshire ...

. His

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

and the first in the Six of Hearts series, it was originally released in Australia in 2006 and later published in the US. The other books in the series are ''Remote Control'' (2007), ''Third Transmission'' (2009) and ''Dead Man Running'' (2012).

Plot summary

''The Lab'' is an action book, whose protagonist is a 16-year-old superhuman named Agent "Six of Hearts". Six was created to be the ultimate soldier by a group called The Lab which is a ruthless division of the company ChaoSonic. In this futuristic setting there is only one known city left in the world, and it is run by ChaoSonic. ChaoSonic took over the city and has obliterated all their competitors and enemies. Six is an agent of a vigilante organization called "The Deck" which survives by attacking ChaoSonic subsidiaries that are acting unethically, arresting the people involved and then selling off their assets. Only the King of Hearts, who saved Six from the Lab as a child, and is now his boss, is aware of the fact that Six is a superhuman developed by ChaoSonic. Six and King keep this a secret, as the Spades, another division of the Deck, would imprison Six if they knew he was a ChaoSonic creation, in case he was a threat. Six is the best agent in the Deck, having a 100% mission success rate. The Deck then begins to investigate "The Lab" and King gives Six the assignment to stop anyone from discovering his true identity. On his mission he meets Kyntak. Kyntak is genetically identical to Six, and was designed in the Lab's 'Project Falcon' alongside him. In a twisted way, they are brothers. This discovery prompts Six to reexamine his life and reevaluate his own identity.

Agent Six of Hearts

Six of Hearts is a fictional character created by

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

author Jack Heath (writer). Six is the protagonist in the ''Six of Hearts'' series published by

Pan Macmillan Pan Books is a publishing imprint (trade name), imprint that first became active in the 1940s and is now part of the United Kingdom, British-based Macmillan Publishers, owned by the Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group of Germany. Pan Books b ...

(in Australian and New Zealand) and by Scholastic in the US and Canada. Six is also featured in the short story "404" published on Jack Heath's website.

Life

Agent Six of Hearts was created by designer DNA and 'born' in ''The Lab'', a division of ''Chaosonic'', along with his two clones Kyntak and Sevadonn. During a fire which destroyed The Lab, Six escaped and was found by King who subsequently raised him. At the age of thirteen Six began working for ''The Deck''; a law enforcement organisation founded by King of Hearts.

Talents

Being created from designer DNA and hence 'superhuman'; Six is able to run faster (up to 50 kilometres per hour), jump higher and is stronger than any of the other agents at The Deck. Six is also resourceful; being able to make an

electromagnet An electromagnet is a type of magnet in which the magnetic field is produced by an electric current. Electromagnets usually consist of wire wound into a coil. A current through the wire creates a magnetic field which is concentrated in the ...

from two magnetic bolts and a

taser A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended to ...

. He has also proved to be a good mechanic; creating his own

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

from the best parts available and being able to

hotwire Hotwire or hot wire may refer to: Technology * Hot-wiring, a method of starting a car with no key * Hot-wire foam cutter, a tool used to cut foam and polystyrene * "Hot" wire, a wire conductor with non-zero potential in electric power distribution ...

a car in less than 13 seconds. Six is so skilled that he is able to incapacitate his enemies without killing them and still complete the mission; as a result the other agents admire him.

Physical appearance

Six is described as having black hair, blue eyes, sharp profile, white teeth, thin fingers and pale skin. At 178 centimeters he is said to be the shortest agent in the Hearts department; however, Queen of Hearts is in fact shorter at just over 170 centimeters. Six wears a black coat and is 16 years old at the beginning of The Lab and throughout the series so far. Six also wears a pair of

dogtags Dog tag is an informal but common term for a specific type of identification tag worn by military personnel. The tags' primary use is for the identification of Casualty (person), casualties; they have information about the individual written o ...

, a reminder of his vow to never take a human life again.

Deaths

Six, throughout the series, has 'died' on three separate occasions; once in ''The Lab'' and twice in ''Third Transmission''. After falling from a great height onto

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

in the events of ''The Lab'', Six is said to have died, or most of him. However, a clone of him is grown and used as an

organ donor Organ donation is the process when a person allows an organ of their own to be removed and transplanted to another person, legally, either by consent while the donor is alive or dead with the assent of the next of kin. Donation may be for re ...

to save him. In ''Third Transmission'', Six dies as part of the process to send him back in time. However, he will have no memory of it. Also, in the final chapter of ''Third Transmission'' titled ''Transmission Ends'', Six dies after being shot, though critics speculate that this may not have actually happened due to a

grammatical tense In grammar, tense is a grammatical category, category that expresses time reference. Tenses are usually manifested by the use of specific forms of verbs, particularly in their grammatical conjugation, conjugation patterns. The main tenses foun ...

change.

Development

Jack Heath started writing ''The Lab'' when he was 13 and attending Lyneham High School. Heath started writing ''The Lab'' to impress a girl at school who liked reading. He finished the first draft at the age of 17. Heath kept his age a secret from publishers until he knew they were interested; prior to this his attempts to submit the novel had resulted in it being placed in a "slush pile".

Release

''The Lab'' was released on 1 April 2006, and was published by

Australia. It was published in the US by

Scholastic Corporation Scholastic Corporation () is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, parents, and children. Products are distributed via retail and on ...

on 1 November 2008.

Critical reception

''The Lab'' received mostly favourable reviews at the time of its release. '' The Bulletin'' said "Heath balances the flashy fight scenes with enough introspection to please both lovers of action and fans of character development" and ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...

'' magazine praised the plot as having "surprisingly well-oiled wheels within wheels."

io9 ''io9'' is part of Gizmodo media since 2015, and it began as blog launched in 2008 by Gawker Media. The site initially focused on the subjects of science fiction, fantasy, futurism, science, technology and related areas but over the years has ...

critic

Charlie Jane Anders Charlie Jane Anders is an American writer and commentator. She has written several novels, published magazines and websites, and hosted podcasts. In 2005, she received the Lambda Literary Award for work in the transgender category, and in 2009, t ...

disagreed. "There's almost no character development in ''The Lab''," she said. But she conceded that the book was "a really fun read, and ideal for kids who aren't particularly interested in introspective coming-of-age stories . . . It's basically an action movie on paper, but it could be a nice gateway drug to reading more serious science fiction.""Finally, A YA Book That's A Gateway Drug To Hard Science Fiction" by Charlie Jane Anders
in ''

'', Retrieved 30 March 2010

External links

Jack Heath's official site

Jack Heath's official MySpace

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lab, The 2006 Australian novels Australian young adult novels Australian science fiction novels Children's science fiction novels Superhero novels Junior spy novels Novels set in the future 2006 debut novels Pan Books books