Beneath the Fallen City (Omni Towers #1)

Waters builds this dystopian survival novel around a reckless, talented heroine who’s deeply loyal to those she loves. A devastating nuclear war left huge swaths of land uninhabitable. About 150 years later, “ruin rats” like Kayla are hired by the wealthy, who survived in self-contained towers and boast psionic powers, to fetch relics of the past from the ruins that litter the landscape. Though she’s a talented scavenger, Kayla doesn’t think she’s anything special, until a chance encounter with representatives from the OmniLab towers reveals that she’s the lost child of a powerful family. Her world is turned upside down as she is dragged from the life she knows into the politics and power plays of the tower elite. The ensuing love triangle with a snooty tower scion and a rough-edged artifact trader feels a little forced at times, but fans of postapocalyptic tales will appreciate the details of the unusual setting. This clever story will draw plenty of fans. (BookLife)