SHALLOW GRAVES

A girl wakes up a year after her murder to discover new, supernatural powers.

As she was only in a shallow grave, she easily kills the man who digs her up. Breezy can now tell if people are killers. If they are, she can grip their arms and pull them into a seemingly natural death. Once she kills them she gains their memories of murder. She meets a boy who tries to recruit her into a cult, but its leader, Mr. Willow, sees that she is a monster. When she tries to leave, she’s captured, awakening in a locked room with another woman, who has different powers. Once they overpower the guard, Breezy embarks on a mission to find and kill Mr. Willow, a task that proves to be even more dangerous than she might have realized. She also wants to learn just what kind of monster she has become; two ghouls, seemingly normal young men except for their dietary needs, help her. Wallace includes flashbacks of the events that led to Breezy’s murder at the age of 17, building a complete narrative that leads to a marvelously suspenseful climax. Unfolding through the eyes of the monster, the story first flips readers’ sympathies, then plays with that reversal. Mr. Willow makes a formidable villain, but it’s the final, real monster near the conclusion that wows readers.

Constantly entertaining, intriguing, and suspenseful.