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Unusual and gripping, this made-for-teens story is the start of a new series by one of my favorite (adult mystery) authors. In this new genre, we meet Hannah Armstrong, a strangely-gifted fourteen-year-old, who has the ability to hear other’s thoughts, in the form of “whispers”, which are often chaotically disruptive and must be dampened and managed through an external auditory device.

Hannah, a San Diego-based, normal teen in all other respects, suffers from insecurity due to the weight-related nagging of her mother, Laurel, who claims to only want the best for her but is singleminded in her “fat” obsession.

When Hannah is unexpectedly exposed to information not intended for her ears (make that, thoughts), both Laurel and Hannah are thrown into danger, which takes them to seek anonymous refuge in remote Whidbey Island in Washington State.

On-the-run, terrified, Hannah must face her own demons when her mother suddenly becomes unreachable too and Hannah (now Becca) must find a way to survive on the island completely on her own. Here she meets several interesting and confusing characters, not the least of whom is Derric, a handsome black boy from Uganda, connected somehow to the repeating auditory refrain of “Rejoice”. Hannah also encounters two middle-aged women, Debbie Greider, and Diana Kinsale – both of whom have hidden pasts brimming with secrets and appear to have an interest in helping Hannah through this trauma. Hannah will also encounter a collection of high-school students, (replete with all the jealousies, bullying, and social complications one comes to expect of teenage life) and a crime/mystery which will rear it’s ugly head to perhaps threaten them all.

A gorgeously-written, interesting story, how Hannah manages this situation, and what it will lead to, promises a wonderful start to a new series.

A great big thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All thoughts provided are my own.