BITE RISK

In a remote town where the older teens and adults turn into werewolflike creatures during the full moon, a 13-year-old begins to question Sequest, the medical research nonprofit in charge.

Twenty-five years ago, a virus spread around the world that created Rippers—what those in Tremorglade call the beasts that the afflicted become each month. Children and tweens become Caretakers for those evenings, locking their parents and older siblings in cages and staying alert with tranquilizer guns at the ready. This is a routine fact of life for Sel and his best friend, Elena, who have always lived in Tremorglade. But when they find a downed drone that appears to have been emitting infrasound and is marked as the property of Sequest, whose scientists are supposedly keeping them safe and searching for a cure, the friends start to dig into what the company is really up to, putting them and their families in grave danger. This genre mash-up is light on character development but full of action and intrigue. The dystopian and science-fiction elements are well-crafted and seamlessly introduced into the narrative, which makes for rich and interesting worldbuilding, while the horror bits are delightfully dark, thrilling, and not for the squeamish. Big twists and reveals are sure to shock many readers, particularly those newer to these genres. Sel is cued white; Elena is implied Latine.

An immersive, hair-raising page-turner.