Augusta Pine Does Not Exist

A teen turned covert asset matches wits with her unsuspecting hostage-takers in this outstanding thriller from Lloyd-Jones (The Wild Huntress), set in a technologically evolved near-future Portland, Ore. The narrator is 15 when her botched hacking of a driverless car kills her boyfriend and, briefly, herself, deactivating her government-issued biometric tattoo, which is used to confirm one’s identity. At the hospital, the Identity Security Division extends an offer: get re-inked and face murder charges or let everyone think she’s dead and become Augusta Pine, an untraceable ISD operative. Three years later, homesick Augusta contrives to surveil her grandmother from the vacant apartment next door. Augusta is poolside chatting with teenager Eames and his younger sister, Piper, when cyberterrorists seize control of a nearby smartbuilding; they seek Project Persephone, a top secret government property purportedly stashed somewhere inside the building that the terrorists would kill to recover. With external communications jammed and only Eames, Piper, and sentient bumblebee spybot Edgar for backup, resourceful Augusta sets out to save Nonna—and the day. Excerpts from ISD case files intercut Augusta’s snarky present-tense narration, providing context and further developing individual character arcs of the white-cued cast. Subtle sci-fi worldbuilding complements witty, whiz-bang plotting, which ratchets up stakes while probing issues of grief and class disparity. Ages 14–up. Agent: Sarah Landis, Sterling Lord Literistic. (July)