Unbreakable

August 19, 2013
Garcia (co-author of the Beautiful Creatures books) begins her first solo YA series, the Legion, with a frenetically paced paranormal thrill ride. Seventeen-year-old Kennedy Waters is the ordinary daughter of an ordinary divorced mother, but that all changes after Kennedy encounters a ghost in a graveyard one night, while looking for her runaway cat. It rapidly becomes apparent that the lives of Kennedy and those close to her are very much in danger. With little reliable background on what’s happening to her or what she is up against, and no one but strangers to fill her in, Kennedy comes across as a shallow bundle of nerves for a substantial portion of the book. That said, the reality she is living is a page-turner: five kids marked for death and on their own, trying to outwit a demon with a grudge. That two of them are gorgeous twin boys goes a long way toward reconciling Kennedy to her new normal. Light romance and excitement for fans of the supernatural (or the show Supernatural, at least). Ages 12–up. Agent: Jodi Reamer, Writers House.

August 15, 2013
In a fast-paced series opener, Kennedy Waters encounters a ghost, loses her mother and meets a love interest--all in the first few pages. Until a grave-jumping "vengeance spirit" inhabits her cat, Kennedy's worst problem is that her dad abandoned her family. After twins Lukas and Jared arrive, saving her life with ghost-squelching liquid salt, Kennedy's world rapidly turns surreal. Now she must use her special talent (an eidetic memory) to work with other gifted teens, members of an ancient Legion trying to assemble the Shift, a tool required to destroy the demon Andras. Collecting the Shift's five pieces prompts encounters with blood-chilling ghosts fiercely guarding their parts of the puzzle in abandoned mansions and wells. Garcia excels at cinematic, gripping ghost scenes and generating suspense (will Kennedy and Jared connect? Is Kennedy the final, fifth member of the Legion?). Though characters are quite plucky and engaging when wraith-fighting, occasionally their too-human teen concerns (If you really knew me, would you love me? Will Jared leave me like Dad did?) ring melodramatic, especially when placed amid scenes of mortal danger. Just as readers settle into what seems a predictable plotline (find piece of Shift leading to whereabouts of next piece, extinguish ghost guarding it, repeat), Garcia shakes it up with an ending that will leave readers reaching for the next book. This vivid, thoroughly imagined paranormal world will draw readers into its icy realm. (Paranormal romance. 12 & up)

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December 1, 2013

Gr 8 Up-Since Kennedy Waters's father deserted the family a while back, it's just been she and her mother. Now, with her mother's sudden and gruesome death and a determined evil demon out to get her, Kennedy learns that her parents had hidden a secret from her. All alone, and with her home destroyed by the demon, the 17-year-old has no other choice but to fulfill a legacy that she didn't even know about until twins Lucas and Jared Lockhart showed up to rescue her. It seems that Kennedy is next in line to represent her family as a member of the ancient clandestine group called the Legion, which evolved from the Legion of the Black Dove, created to destroy the Illuminati. The original five members accidentally summoned an evil force determined to destroy the Earth, and their descendants have been fighting this demon ever since. Now with all of the present-day adult members ending up dead on the same night, Kennedy, the twins, and two other teens are the new members of the infamous league. Each Legion member has a special gift to use as an advantage in battle, but Kennedy doesn't realize her gift and questions her place in the group. Readers are quickly drawn into the action, from the murder at the beginning to the cliff-hanger at the end. It's the horror aspect more than the fast-paced intrigue, however, that is the book's strong point. The Legion members must travel from one terrifying location to another, and Garcia describes these chilling locations with flawless detail.-Sabrina Carnesi, Crittenden Middle School, Newport News, VA

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2013
Grades 8-12 Kennedy's world is turned upside down when her mother suddenly dies, a poltergeist attacks her, and she is rescued by Lukas and Jareddashingly handsome twins who claim to be part of a long line of demon fighters called the Legion. According to Lukas and Jared, she is one of them, and before she knows it, Kennedy is swept up in their mission to evade the demonic forces that want them dead and track down parts of a mysterious device that will help them defeat evil once and for all. It gets spookier: the components are all guarded by ghosts haunting grisly murder scenes. The chills are plentiful and spine tingling in this mile-a-minute thriller as they travel from a haunted mansion to an abandoned magic shop, a ramshackle sanitarium, and even a death-row prison. Garcia (Beautiful Creatures, 2009) certainly doesn't skimp on atmosphere, and the added dramatic love-triangle tension only ups the ante, as does Kennedy's suspicions that she doesn't really belong. Readers will anticipate the next installment in this eerie, macabre series. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Beautiful Creatures was a smash hit, and the Legion series is destined for a similar fate: the film rights have already been sold.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2014
After a spirit kills her mother, Kennedy joins the Legion in their search for the scattered pieces of a weapon capable of destroying a demon. Along the way, the teens fight lesser paranormal baddies. Kennedy's love triangle with twins Jared and Lukas is a bit overwrought, but the supernatural scares (including poisoned orphans and electrocuted prisoners) are truly creepy.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)