Forbidden

A new trilogy and a new partnership begins with Dekker (The Bride Collector) and Lee (Havah) in the first of The Books of Mortals series. In the distant future, a dystopian world is ruled by The Order that controls humanity by genetically removing all emotions but fear. When young Rom Elias receives a cryptic message written on animal skin and a vial of blood from a man who seems to know a lot about his father's death, he risks everything to escape the Order and find out what the vellum and vial mean. He must convince friends and family to drink from the vial in order to feel human emotion again. This sets off a chain of events that will pit love and self-sacrifice against the dark emotions of hatred and greed. There's a new writing partner, but this is still true-blue Dekker, with mammoth twists and head-pounding turns that will have readers and book clubs debating the roles of emotion and logic that drive human existence. (Sept.)