THE AWAKENING

A small group of supernatural teens escapes The Edison House, a malevolent scientific organization bent on their destruction, and embarks on a desperate journey to find the one man who might help them. The second installment of the Darkest Powers series hits the ground running, leaving readers tripping, stumbling and racing to keep up. Armstrong’s vermiculate plot will exhilarate even readers new to the series, although they will miss the crucial character development found in The Summoning (2008). Chloe, the narrating necromancer, shares the agonies of life with scary, uncontrollable powers. Derek, a brutally earnest werewolf, suffers terribly during his changes. Bratty Tori and sweet Simon harness their magic in erratic fits and starts. Teens grappling with their own transformations and alienating individuality will certainly follow these characters to the book’s final pages and into the next volume. Dark alleys, undead bodies and bountiful blood will cause shivers, while Chloe’s chemistry with both boys will raise readers’ pulses. (Supernatural thriller. 12 & up)