Dissension

Berg's promising debut, the first of a planned duology, stars a conflicted heroine who must fight for what she believes in and make a terrible choice. Echo Hunter 367 is a clone living in a strange world 400 years after the Fall, when civilization was almost destroyed. Unrest is brewing around the approach of the tithe, when girls are taken by the Church to serve as nuns (surrogate mothers for the hunter clones), and the cityens' uneasy relationship with the Church is coming to a head. Echo is charged with protecting the Church and the people that live beyond its boundaries, but she's plagued with doubts about the Church's infallibility. When she's send to find a man called the Warder and report on whispers of a rebellion, Hunter is eager to serve. However, when the Church fails to take action after a violent incident, Hunter is excommunicated for speaking out, and only in the city beyond the Church does she find purpose. Echo must balance her loyalty to an organization that betrayed her with the interests of the individuals she's come to care about. This intriguing story will have readers eager to pick up the second volume. Agent: Mary C. Moore, Kimberley Cameron & Associates (Mar.)