In fairness to Sarah Alderson, I feel that it is necessary to say that this book falls under the category of paranormal YA, a genre which I am not particularly fond of.
Lily is a 17 year old girl who is haunted by the death of her mother. If that were not enough to deal with, she has telekinesis, and the man that she has loved all of her life (yes, I rolled my eyes) Alex, lives an ocean away from her. Unable to deal with the death of his wife, Lily's father moved her back to his native England. He had intended to move their entire family, but her brother Jack, refused to move and instead moved in with his best friends family.
In an incident in which she is being mugged Lila uses her power and in the process nearly cuts out her attackers eye. This sets her on edge and she steals her fathers credit card and travels to California to stay with her brother Jack, filled with the hope that she will also get to see his best friend Alex. As an impetus to flee, I found this absolutely ridiculous. Was she supposed to throw a party for the men that were intent on mugging her? It was a clear case of self defense and how Lily understood the incident really felt like an excuse for Alderson to shift the location of her story.
Once in California, Jack and Alex make it clear that her visit places her in danger, because they work for a special Black ops section of the military. Lily tries to pry for information but they steadfastly refuse to share. After Suki, one of the people that they are searching for makes contact with Lily and learns of Lily's relationship to Jack, Alex realises that for her own protection, she must be told exactly what she is up against. It seems that unit is involved in an investigation into a group of terrorists that are guilty of terrible crimes and the ring leader Demos, is the man responsible for murdering Lily's mother. As much as Lily wants justice, she worries that Alex and Jack are placing themselves needlessly in danger. Okay, have to pause to point out the ridiculousness of this worry. Jack and Alex spent three years being trained by the military in special operations. These men aren't just skilled, they are highly skilled.
