cover image This Mortal Coil

This Mortal Coil

Emily Suvada. Simon Pulse, $18.99 (432p) ISBN 978-1-4814-9633-9

For two years, 17-year-old Catarina Agatta, a talented hacker, has survived on her own in the Black Hills: her scientist father, Lachlan, was taken by the powerful Cartaxus organization after the Hydra plague brought humanity to its knees. It’s dangerous outside: mindless, cannibalistic humans called Lurkers roam, and those infected with the virus explode at the final stage of the disease, spreading it through the air. Only eating a victim’s flesh provides temporary immunity (“This is the Hydra virus’s cruelest side: It forces the healthy to eat the sick”). When Cole Franklin, a Cartaxus soldier, brings news that Lachlan is dead and Cat must decrypt a Hydra vaccine that he developed, she agrees to help. Suvada’s scary, action-packed debut novel barely takes a breath, and its exploration of what makes us human goes well below the surface. Despite some familiar elements in the novel—such as Cat’s struggles with her father’s motives, a love triangle, and her own identity—Suvada’s vibrantly imagined technology will spark readers’ imaginations. A genuinely shocking twist sets up a planned sequel. Ages 14–up. Agent: DongWon Song, Howard Morhaim Literary. (Nov.)