CHOICES

An international thriller in which two young lovers face off against a secret organization bent on world domination.

In Smiles’ previous installment of her series (Foreseen, 2012), readers entered a fascinating sci-fi world mapped directly onto the everyday reality around them. In this place, some humans are born with extra powers—telekinesis and mind control. Such enhanced humans, called “adepts,” have walked among the more ordinary for the history of humankind, and they’ve always been considered as merely persuasive or lucky. In the 21st century, however, the science of their superiority has been studied—especially by the Rothston Institute, a secretive gathering of adepts intent on using their powers behind the scenes to advance humanity...and to find and train new ranks of superpowered young people. Two of those young people—smart introvert Kinzi and dashing jock Greg—spent the first installment of the series facing off against rogue elements inside Rothston (and also falling in love). Smiles’ new book begins with a perfectly orchestrated jolt. The young lovers awaken not in the safety of their own room but in what appears to be a laboratory: They’re back at Rothston Institute. As Rothston senior adept Melvina “Mel” Whitacre (an enigmatic figure from the first novel, “a leader of a place that thought it was above the law or any sort of morality at all”) explains once they confront her, Kinzi’s father brought them both in for their own good. They’d appeared dead and were revived with only moments to spare. As Kinzi and Greg navigate once again the treachery and double-dealing of Rothston’s elite, it becomes increasingly clear that the faction controlling the institute is no longer altruistic. Smiles interlaces the action and suspense with some interesting science tidbits and with a carefully considered version of human history in which adepts have always walked among us. And Kinzi and Greg remain extremely engaging main characters.

A tense and well-plotted continuation of the Rothston Series.