cover image Pull

Pull

Anne Riley. Spencer Hill, $9.95 trade paper (424p) ISBN 978-1-63392-045-3

In an entertaining if sometimes convoluted adventure, teenager Rosie Clayton discovers her connection to a secret society, the Servators, that uses an ability called "Pulling" to turn back time to fight crime and prevent disaster. An American who has traveled to London with her family to be with her dying grandfather, Rosie witnesses a woman being mugged%E2%80%94and then the scene repeats; the second time, a Servator named Albert intervenes and saves the woman. Rosie is determined to learn more about the Servators, who are engaged in a war against the evil Mortiferi, people corrupted by infernal magic. Learning that her troubled brother may already be under their sway, Rosie and her new allies, including the enigmatic yet attractive Albert, work to thwart the Mortiferi's plans. Riley (Voyage to the Star Kingdom) offers up an intriguing premise but undermines it with slow pacing and an overstuffed blend of time travel, sorcery, demons, and black magic. Readers may find the initial concept of Pulling more enticing than the many other components that come to fill the story. Agent: Emma Patterson, Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents. Ages 12%E2%80%93up. (Feb.)