Abandon

The wildly rich and beautiful Pierce Oliviera died and came back to life%E2%80%94"I was flatline for over an hour." Ever since, her life has been exceedingly complicated. Two years after Pierce's near-death experience, the 17-year-old has been expelled from her posh Connecticut girls' school; her mother has moved them to the South Florida island of Isla Huesos; and Pierce must cope both with being the new girl and with a dark, handsome guy, who she met while she was dead and who won't leave her alone. While the fun premise and Pierce's irreverent voice are trademark Cabot, this novel has trouble getting off the ground. Cabot loosely hangs her story on the myth of Hades and Persephone, but the plot is hampered by confusing digressions and frequent jumps in time that make it difficult to pinpoint what's in the present and what's in the past. However, Cabot's avid fans%E2%80%94including devotees of her earlier forays into paranormal romance, as in the Mediator series%E2%80%94are likely to forgive the bumpy start to this planned trilogy. Ages 12%E2%80%93up. (Apr.)