It Looks Like Us

While being interrogated in a classic good cop, bad cop scenario, teenage Riley Kowalski recounts the events leading up to her rescue in this chilling horror novel that kicks off with Riley being airlifted out of a burning Antarctic research facility. A week prior to the book’s beginning, Riley took three flights to get from Portland to Antarctica, where she and four other high school students join an expedition to research the effects of microplastic pollution. They aren’t there long before a horrific shape-shifting creature invades the station. After infecting one of their chaperones with a body-morphing virus, the teens must figure out who they can trust while evading infection. Readers looking for a full-on creature feature won’t be disappointed; drawing inspiration from the monster-flick creepiness of Alien and The Thing, Ames (To Break a Covenant) peppers the narrative with truly harrowing descriptions of the virus’s victims and their brutally mangled bodies. Though the plot relies heavily on the structure of its influences, resulting in a familiar arc, the dynamic cast and their complex relationships propel this frightful adventure toward a bloody conclusion. Most characters default to white. Ages 14–up. (Sept.)