Shadow State

In this slow-moving thriller set in Annapolis, Md., high school sophomore Brynn Caldwell, a science superstar, starts having vivid nightmares and terrifying flashbacks of being kidnapped and interrogated, and possibly brainwashed. She has no idea what these scenarios are based on or whether the events in them really happened, nor does she know who is sending her mysterious text messages, which seem to be counting down to a bomb’s explosion. Brynn’s new boyfriend is afraid that Brynn is part of a homegrown terrorist organization that planted the bomb, which may be timed to coincide with the release of a brand-new drug, developed by Brynn’s mother, that is meant to help PTSD sufferers by erasing their memories. But Brynn doesn’t remember joining a terrorist group. In fact, Brynn can’t quite remember last summer at all. Could she be part of a plot against her own mother? The story takes a while to get off the ground, and the characters’ motivations don’t hold together at the end, with an ultimate twist that strains credulity. But the premise, that a pharmaceutical company would falsify its tests, is more than conceivable, and Brynn is a likable protagonist. Ages 14–up. [em](July) [/em]