The Delphi Effect

Anna Morgan, an intermittently homeless teenager, has a tendency to pick up psychic “hitchhikers”: the remnants of dead souls, who need Anna’s help with their unfinished business. When Anna comes into contact with Molly, a teenage girl who was kidnapped by her stepfather and murdered by the son of a U.S. senator, she tries to put things right by reaching out to Molly’s grandfather, a gruff cop. Instead, Anna stumbles onto a nefarious conspiracy: the man who murdered Molly has psychic powers, and he’s continuing abandoned military research in an attempt to forcibly develop others’ psychic abilities. He’s ruthless and untouchable, and now Anna and her adoptive brother, Deo, are on his radar. Anna and Deo are a charismatic duo, and the story benefits from its focus on their connection as members of a found family rather than Anna’s budding romance with Aaron, a boy Molly knew. But the book—first in the Delphi trilogy from Walker (the Chronos Files)—suffers from a bloated plot and an overabundance of backstory. The middle of the book sags under its weight, and the story builds to a dissatisfying cliffhanger. Ages 13–up. (Oct.)