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    Lies
    Lies
    Lies
    Ebook428 pages6 hours

    Lies

    By Michael Grant

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    The third book in Michael Grant's New York Times bestselling Gone series, Lies is another heart-in-your-throat page-turner, both chilling and thought-provoking.

    It's been seven months since all the adults disappeared. Gone.

    It happens in one night. A girl who died now walks among the living; Zil and the Human Crew set fire to Perdido Beach, and amid the flames and smoke, Sam sees the figure of the boy he fears the most: Drake. But Drake is dead. Sam and Caine defeated him along with the Darkness—or so they thought.

    As Perdido Beach burns, battles rage: Astrid against the Town Council; the Human Crew versus the mutants; and Sam against Drake, who is back from the dead and ready to finish where he and Sam left off. And all the while deadly rumors are raging like the fire itself, spread by the prophetess Orsay and her companion, Nerezza. They say that death is a way to escape the FAYZ. Conditions are worse than ever and kids are desperate to get out. But are they desperate enough to believe that death will set them free?

    “Disturbing, brilliantly plotted, and boasting a balanced mix of action and scheming.” —ALA Booklist

    Read the entire series:

    • Gone
    • Hunger
    • Lies
    • Plague
    • Fear
    • Light
    • Monster
    • Villain
    • Hero
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMay 4, 2010
    ISBN9780062001474
    Author

    Michael Grant

    Michael Grant, author of the Gone series, the Messenger of Fear series, the Magnificent Twelve series, and the Front Lines trilogy, has spent much of his life on the move. Raised in a military family, he attended ten schools in five states, as well as three schools in France. Even as an adult he kept moving, and in fact he became a writer in part because it was one of the few jobs that wouldn’t tie him down. His fondest dream is to spend a year circumnavigating the globe and visiting every continent. Yes, even Antarctica. He lives in California with his wife, Katherine Applegate, with whom he cowrote the wildly popular Animorphs series. You can visit him online at www.themichaelgrant.com and follow him on Twitter @MichaelGrantBks.

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    Reviews for Lies

    4/5

    436 ratings32 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I don't think folks are generally going to look to a review of the third book in a six-book series to help them decide whether or not to give the series as a whole a try, but in case you are that person who really wants to know if their investment is going to pay off: I can't speak for the rest, but so far this has been my favourite of the series. The elements of the preceding books -- the social unrest and horror in these kids' lives, the relationships they've developed, the new abilities they possess, and how the Big Bad factors into and manipulates all of these things -- all reach a sort of equilibrium that serves to tell a very solid and affecting story.

      I'm not the first person to compare this series to Lord of the Flies meets X-Men with a dash of Stephan King horror stylings. I've wondered about it being written for teenagers, not because of the gore (my tolerance for gore is pretty much the same as it was when I was a teenager, which is fairly high) but because of the brutality of the characters. (I'm not necessarily equating brutality with violence, though that's part of it; even the least violent characters have a certain unflinching aspect to how they're depicted.) By the rules of the world, no one is over 15 years old when the series starts, and by the time we reach this book only 7 months have passed. Yet it never gives any quarter to the idea that children have an inherent innocence to them -- more naive, perhaps, or less experienced, but ultimately functioning as people, capable of good and evil. And not storybook good and evil. This the more mundane evil that exists in our world and in ourselves, the kind that's ugly and hard to look at, and the kind of good that can be hard to distinguish.

      As a teenager, it wouldn't have shocked me to read this book -- because I knew myself to be a real person and what those my age were capable of, because I was immersed in it as a matter of course and that was my frame of reference. As an adult, however, it takes me aback to see this depiction of kids, because I would only expect it in an adult novel. Lord of the Flies is not a kids book, really. It's too open to the adult gaze. It's a story that points at children and says, look how awful these creatures are. They're just like us. Can you believe it? Gone, however, is for the kids it's depicting, and it says to them, you're just like us, and we're not afraid to look at you. Who you are now, what you're capable of now, means something now, not for the unknowable, intangible person you're supposedly going to "grow up" to be. Though even that may be giving the adult presence too much credit. You could debate the literary merits of Gone compared to Lord of the Flies, but I feel that what Gone does for this aspect of young adult storytelling is important in its own right. So while it's a good comparison to draw in a reader, it also forgets what is possibly the most unique element.

      Sounds fun, right? I'll admit the first two books stressed me out at times, and once or twice I had to step away from them temporarily. But this one has settled into the story enough that these themes began to stand out to me, and that allowed me to be immersed in it and for the story to really soar. But what makes the series as a whole (and what is strong throughout, not just in this book) is its characters. It's a large ensemble of distinctive and superbly written characters, and the way their individual stories weave into the larger plot and with the stories of other characters is handled deftly and with real pathos. It's frankly just a pleasure to read, and a lot of these characters are going to stick with me. It's also a very diverse ensemble: the female POV characters equal the number of males, and in fact might outnumber them, though the girls may just loom larger in my mind because of their sheer awesome. There are a lot of PoCs, including black (both African-American and African), Native American, South American, Indian and Asian. There is also at least one queer character, a black lesbian named Dekka, arguably the most badass of them all. And none of these are tokens -- they are integral, and run the gamut from good to bad to in between. Grant often takes his time in describing the ethnicity of his PoC; it is always relevant to who they are, but it's also not the only or most significant thing by which they are to be defined.

      4.5 stars, half a star only taken off for the last few pages, which 1) should have been shown, not told and 2) failed to answer a few questions that may be addressed in a subsequent book but should have been addressed here. As a technical note, this book has convinced me that I would someday like to own a hard copy of the series (I bought the first two on my kindle, and this one was from the library), but that's not going to happen until the covers change. Seriously, the cover art is atrocious and a damn shame.
    • 3/5

      X meets Y: Wild West meets Lord of the Flies

      Thoughts: This book was pretty good. The nature of the series has you losing characters and gaining characters with each book. I just couldn't get behind these new characters yet. Michael Grant is awesome at putting kids through the wringer.

      Coming Back for more?: Yep!
    • 4/5
      We have new characters in this installment. The biggest problem I see with this storyline is that there is no basis for reality. These kids have no way to tell what is real it not and don't know what to trust. It makes the premise weak. Hopefully that will be resolved.
    • 5/5
      An excellent read. I can't wait until the next book in the series which is due out next year.
    • 5/5
      yeah
    • 5/5
      READ IN ENGLISH

      I read this third novel in the Gone series straight after the second one, Hunger. Perhaps that's why I was sucked into the story again from page one. We're now seven months in the FAYZ, so quite some time has again passed, when strange (even for there standards) things start to happen. There are a lot rumours, but what is true? And what are the - you'll have guessed it - lies?



      Again, new characters, new mutants, new trouble. But never forget the trouble and problems they had in the previous books, because they're here as well. A lot of different story lines in this book, and especially as there is a lot of questions about what is true and what is it, I found it very interesting to read from many different POVs. This is also the first time more attention is given to what is - if there is anything at all - outside the FAYZ.

      An interesting third instalment in the Gone series.
    • 5/5
      This is the first time in many moons that I have stayed up late to finish a book. Now I am plotting how I will get my hands on book 4... and trying to justify buying book 5 in hardcover. When is book 6 released?

      Insanity.
    • 5/5
      like gone it is a book to read.
    • 5/5
      I'm marathoning the series and I gotta say, Michael Grant has outdone himself. I've really relished this book. In my opinion, this was by far the best book in the series (my opinion might change after reading the remaining books, who knows?). This book made me love Sam even more and hate Drake even more. Overall, this is a thrilling, thought-provoking and adventure-packed novel that disrupted my normal sleep routine. *Goes off to read the fourth book*
    • 3/5
      Still have problems with some of the things that happen and reactions for the ages of the characters, but getting a bit better.
    • 4/5
      This series is so frustrating but at the same time so captivating that I need to move on immediately after I've finished one book.This time around Astrid the secretly-a-dictator-even-though-she-says-she-isn't refuses to allow Sam to bring justice Zil and his creepy little gang for what they "accomplished" last book. Sam goes from hero/mayor of Perdido Beach to a slowly debilitating and weak person in general. The struggle of finding food and fighting off the Human Crew is only minor in comparison to the recent sightings of thought to be dead kids and the "prophecies" foretold by a freak with vision powers named Orsay. All hope of getting out of the FAYZ seems lost until this girl has a vision of an alternative route to escape but at a high cost that Astrid is unwilling to allow the other kids to make which leads to the title of the book: telling lies to cover up this new discovery along with many others.This book is a lot better than Hunger for sure. The reveal for what the countdown was in itself a twist, reserved for someone that some may have overlooked but for me (as an avid lover of minor characters) I loved that this person got their time even if for a moment. The character development slowed a bit for most of the characters except for (believe it or not) Astrid which was actually a nice change and also for some of the former villains in the story. The final scene in the book definitely leaves one yearning for the next novel.The cons are: the lovey feely moments between our two teenaged lovers became absolutely pathetic and I don't even want to talk about it. The introduction of new characters was a kind of done in a sloppy way but didn't hinder the plot too much. And I would also say that the development of the "real" villain of the whole series is going really slow. We get a name but at the same time I would have liked to have known at least exactly what they're up against.
    • 4/5
      Once again, Michael Grant has outdone himself. In this, the third book of the Gone series, fear truly takes hold. Hunger is ever present, tensions between freaks and normals are escalating, and most terrifying of all, are the reported sightings of Drake.It seems that each book in this series is better than the last, and you will not be disappointed with this one.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed the final book in this series. I thought it finished well.
    • 3/5
      I had a really hard time getting through book three. It took almost a month for me to finish it; I'd read a page or two and then put it aside. I had hoped this was the end, but it isn't, and I really don't think I'll be reading book four. The story has just dragged on for too long, and I've lost interest. It seemed like the battles and the violence and the conflicts were just non-stop, and there wasn't much more to the story except that. It became numbingly boring. Spoilers follow:Bringing Brittney and Drake both back from the dead seemed to be cheating on Grant's part. Introducing the new characters, but not letting us know much about Sanjit and the rest was just annoying, leaving Caine and Diana on the island didn't even really interest me much. Reading book three was a chore, and book four would be pure drudgery, which is too bad because I really enjoyed book one.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      The story does not slow down! Keeping up with the previous two books, this volume is fast paced, and kept me reading, eager for more. Still reminding me of a sort of mix between Stephen King's The Stand, and Lord of the Flies, but with it's own unique twists and turns involving technology, as well as religious themes. This was the first time I found myself truly angry and almost disliking one of the main "good" characters. There is also a return of one of the "bad" characters who we thought was gone for good. And in a surprising turn of events, we have several new characters introduced to the story. I'm highly anticipating reading the next book (and the next and the next) and hopefully finally finding out where all the adults and everyone over 15 went and what happens when they "poof" at age 15 in the FAYZ. This is definitely an addictive series.
    • 3/5


      Plot: 2.5 stars
      Characters: 4 stars
      Writing: 3.5 stars
      Sci-fi Element: 3.5 stars
      Ending: 3 stars

      Overall: 3.3 stars



      This series is getting weaker. After really enjoying the first two in the series, I couldn't wait to get my hands on the third installment. But it just didn't add anything to the series, it was still well-written but I felt like the author was merely prolonging the story and not really moving the plot along. Maybe it's the old: longer series = more money, but that's just... crap.
    • 5/5
      I'm really enjoying this series. This is the third book in the series and things are still not looking good for the teens stuck in this bubble world. There is still alot of violence so it's not for the faint of heart or the younger crowd but the storyline keeps moving along with enough twists and turns to keep even the diehard teen enthralled.
    • 5/5
      This book is the third book from the book Gone. Everyone is telling lies. Noone can trust anyone. Others turn against eachothers. Many don't know what to do. There is less food. More kids are dieing and more a poofing out. They are taking the easy way out.I gave this book a five star rating. I gave it a five star rating because it was very good. It was well written. The author used a big vocabulary. I recomend this book to everyone. The author used great description. I can't wait till the fourth book. I loved this book.
    • 5/5
      Lies is the third book in the GONE series. This book will test the trust that everyone has for one another. Sam, Astrid, Edilio, and Howard all have this "council" that is supposed to help the good kids live and let the mean kids be punished, kid of like the local law enfocement. But people are keeping secrets from Astrid and Edilio. Neressa is a figure of the Darknes, or otherwise known as the Gaiaphage. She/he/it is controling a little girl who's name escapes me right now, but she has this strange ability to look into people's dreams and outside the FAYZ barrier/wall to where the parents are. Unfortunity, this does not end well for anyone, people believe Neressa's lies to the girl, and try to kill themselves or go poof at the big one-five. This gives the darkness their powers and thoughts about everything. The girl, I still don't remember her name, is killed by Neressa and left on a rock in a sitting position, where the little siren, Emily maybe, finds her. News is also out that Drake didn't die, and it scaring the once "council" and makes them fall apart. Sam is so out of it and is worried that the next person Drake goes after will be him. This book is better than the first, and I know that is a ridiculously hard thing to do. But Micheal Grant did it anyway, and it was amazing with action, romance, and suprise in just the right places. I was kept ont the edge of my seat, not wanting to put the book down. The last thing I remeber about it was that it was something that I would have to read to my younger brother, who is almost like my perfect match, what I like he likes and likewise. So this was one book that will keep and read it over and over again.
    • 4/5
      I thought that Lies was a great book in a great series! It is hard to give a synopsis without any spoilers, but i'll just say that it picks up where Hunger left off and it doesn't disappoint. I couldn't help but notice that the very beginning of the book was a little slow and not very much happened overall in the book, but there are a bunch of little side stories going on that can fill in a bit and keep the book going as long as it did. Also, the ending was huge in the overall scheme of things and I might have to read it again just to understand it. Lies was a great book, but don't read it if you haven't read the previous two books like I was considering doing, because you will be hopelessly lost. I am really glad that I took the time to read the others now! It was a great book and I would recommend it to friends, but the Lost Gate is still my favorite.
    • 5/5
      Third book in the trilogy and I think this is the best one yet.Once again, the kids' true colors are coming out. Do you turn good or evil during a life altering experience? Relationships change, and once again, a few new faces change the dynamics of everything. How do you ask, can new faces appear within a 'bubble', Grant has a few interesting things up his sleeve with this novel.***SPOILER ALERT***Although, I do believe, in the end, when the truth comes out about Nerezza, Drake, Brittney, and the Gaiphage that it's a little stretched. Also, the way that Mary is sent out, I really hate that Grant does this to her character, she proved time and time again how devoted she was to the 'littles' and to try to lead them to their death is a little out of range...
    • 5/5
      This is another Gone novel but this time it is the last book. In this book it comes down to the final battle. Sam thinks Drake in dead but he is not, and a young girl comes back to life called Brittany. Caine wants to deliver one last blow. Zel works with Caine to burn the town. While Zil is burning the town Caine and his group capture the emergancy boats and go to a nearby island. At the island Caine mights some kids, but the kids drug them and fly off in a helicopter. Sam funs off because he has seen Drake. Zil is laying waste to the town. The kids start to run to the cliff were Mary will poof and take the young kids with her. Sam comes back to take out Drake whil Deka takes care of Zil. Sam finds out that for some strang reason Drake and Brittany share the same body. They fight and Mary poofs but they save the kids. Little Pet after the battle cuttles in a ball and startes to yell and the FAYZ wall desipers for one small secent. So with Drake/Brittany lock up live goes on in the FAYZ. This is a awesome book. I am kind of upset with the ending but it was ok. Lies is I think the worst book of the series but it is still very good. I like how Mary kind of loses her mind in the book. Lies is a very good book that you should read. My favorite thing is that Sam has to face his fear. I also like how Astrid and Mary get is a really big fight.
    • 5/5
      The novel Lies is really unique. It is told in many different perspectives. These perspectives are from many of the major and minor characters. After being faced with so many hard, and tough times, the children of the FAYZ managed to survive through it all. That is one of the really important things Lies teaches us. Just imagine living in a dome shaped force field for over a year. I would go insane. It seems as though everyone over 15 just disappears. There are two types of "cliques" the Normals which have no powers and the Freaks they have powers unlike the normals. Its a never ending war it seems like. Astrid is in a relationship with Sam. Astrid is head of the counsel and is trying to make rules so that no one kills themselves or anything. I personally enjoy this book because it makes you think about how life and an how society works. It may be fiction but it could possibly relate to what is going on around us, we just dont know it. I for one encourage people to read this. Its the type of book that makes you want to keep reading it over and over again.
    • 5/5
      I can’t help but think of this book as Lord of the Flies on steroids. It’s like driving by a car wreck - you can’t help but look.Don’t get me wrong. I really like this series. Grant writes an engrossing page-turner. I was on the edge of my seat and could hardly put the book down. His characters are well developed, if frightening. You can’t help put care for and sympathize with the “good guys” and shiver, perhaps shrink away from the “bad guys.”Lies is the third in this series, following Gone and Hunger. Plague is scheduled for release in April of 2011. Nothing is ever easy in the FAYZ. The residents barely survive one threat before facing another one. In this latest installment, people thought dead now walk the streets, the non-freaks (Grant’s terminology, not mine) are beginning to resent the Freaks (those with strange powers), and what little semblance of order there was from the establishment of the Town Council quickly evaporates. Zil, leader of the Human Crew sets fire to the town in an attempt to take power away from the mutants (freaks). Osray, now labeled the Prophetess by her strange new companion Nerezza, seems to be telling the children they should embrace the “poof” or maybe even death as a way to escape the FAYZ. As tempers flare, people go hungry and the evil darkness threatens to return (if it ever really left), Sam, Astrid, Edilio and the others must find a way to survive. And even if they survive what will they be facing next?I can’t wait for the next installment.
    • 4/5
      So, the FAYZ is in full action. Food is running out. The power structure is shaky and wasn't that kid dead? How can she be walking through the streets again?Michael Grant continues the story he began in Gone and Hunger with this book. As I probably wrote before, it is difficult not to compare this book to "Lord of the Flies". What just will happen when the adults are removed from the scene? Are kids capable of taking car of themselves? What about taking care of others? Astrid tries to keep it together while creating a council to oversee the running of the town. Albert, remains focussed so that he can keep the chain of food going. Sam, dealing with his suffering at the hands of Drake isn't quite sure what role to play. The theme of self-sufficiency runs through this novel as the kids try to survive. As with all governments, the ideals may be there in the beginning, but the realities of trying to govern, in this case a group of kids who don't really want to listen, well the realities are difficult.Still, the writing is compelling. As we get to know the characters better, and see their weaknesses, we find the story pulling us forward. And, as in so many series, the ending, is not the end.Read it.
    • 5/5
      Imagine living in an impenetrable dome-like force field for over half a year. Everyone over the age of 15 mysteriously vanishes, or ‘poofed out’ as they like to call it. This is the life of many kids living in Perdido Beach, California. times have been hard for these kids trapped in the FAYZ ( fallout Alley Youth Zone). The FAYZ somehow created stranger mutations with some of the children, teens, and animals. Michael Grant’s Lies, part of the Gone series, draws an amazing force that will keep you turning the pages.Lies continues where ‘Gone’ and ‘Hunger’ leaves off. It is bad enough that hundreds of kids below 14 have to lookout for themselves, but when some kids start getting strange mutations and abilities, things get bad, to worse. The separation between ‘freaks’ ( kids who developed special abilities) and ‘normals’ worsen in Lies. This ‘rebellion’ is led by Zil. Zil was a minor character in the first two books. Now, in the third book, he’s back and with a mission, to isolate and kill all freaks. Sam Temple, the hero of the FAYZ, has been through too much. He is overwhelmed and broken by the burden he has tried to carry since day 1. Although his body healed from the tortuous attack by Drake, his mind and soul are still corrupted. Many minor characters in the previous books are brought out in Lies. A handful of new, but minor characters are also introduced. Michael Grant manages to hold that bar of intensity high up. Every page doesn’t fail to bring new excitements. He continues to elaborate on his main characters, including Sam, Astrid, Edillo, Lana and Caine. He also builds on secondary characters such as Zil and Mother Mary. With the help of the Dreamwalker, Orsay, a taste of what lies, and exists beyond the impenetrable bubble is given. Michael Grant was really realistic about his characters. He wrote them as s they were real.Everything takes place in the FAYZ. The FAYZ itself is pretty similar to any typical small town. Except for the fact that it gave of radiation and that no one over the age of 15 is there. Grant described the FAYZ really well. I can just imagine stepping inside the story, and wandering around. However, after 3 novels of the FAYZ, I’d like to see more development in the environment.The novel Lies is really unique. It is told in many different perspectives. These perspectives are from many of the major and minor characters. After being faced with so many hard, and tough times, the children of the FAYZ managed to survive through it all. That is one of the really important things Lies teaches us.To sum it up, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who had been following the previous 2 books. Lies will leave you cliff-hanging at the end, and hungry for book 4, Plague.
    • 5/5
      This book is about the Sam, Astrid, and little Pete. As well as all the kids trapped in the Fall Out Zone. Sam and Astrid split because she figures out that he has been lying to her and the town council. She reminds him that they made the town council to remove some of the stress off his plate. The freaks and non-freaks get in to a big fight. Because of Astrid, Hunter, a freak, was saved because she stood up for him, even though she is cursed at and called a Freak lover. Sam has a really big problem, Drake and Brittany, come back to life. The two brother have to join together to fight off the evil thing living in the mine shaft. Orsay says she sees the dreams of loving parents and they are waiting for the kids 15th birthday. So Mary believed Orsay and on her birthday she tried to leave, with all the kids from the daycare. I love the gone books. I recommend this series for everyone, you will not regret it.
    • 4/5
      Things go from bad to worse in the 3rd book in this series. Orsay is telling everyone she can see their parents' dreams, Brianna and Blake have come back from the dead and Sam has had a fight with Astrid and gone AWOL.This book keeps up the same cracking pace as the first two although it is a little less gory. For the first time we see what is happening outside the dome - or do we?
    • 5/5
      Lies is the continuation of the Gone series. Lies happens when Astrid and Sam separate because Astrid figures out the Sam has been lying to her and the Town Council.I like Lies because Lies, Gone, and Hunger are very interesting and as you get more and more into the story, you are more interested in reading the rest. I encourage kids and adults read the Gone series because it is awesome!!! :)
    • 4/5
      When I heard there were six books scheduled for this series, it seemed a bit much. However, the third installment of life in the FAYZ hooked me in. There were some new characters introduced and the action jumped quickly between different factions living in the Perdido Beach area where all people over age 14 have disappeared. The struggle of the society now is in leadership and governance in a world where everyone is armed and getting enough to eat can be a challenge. When Orsay is deemed a Prophetess and people seem to rise from the dead, it seems the evil force may not be finished with the kids of the FAYZ yet.

    Book preview

    Lies - Michael Grant

    ONE

    66 HOURS, 52 MINUTES

    OBSCENE GRAFFITI.

    Smashed windows.

    Human Crew tags, their logo, along with warnings to freaks to get out.

    In the distance, up the street, too far away for Sam to want to chase after, a couple of kids, maybe ten years old, maybe not even that. Barely visible in the false moonlight. Just outlines. The kids passing a bottle back and forth, taking swigs, staggering.

    Grass growing everywhere. Weeds forcing their way up through cracks in the street. Trash: chip bags, six-pack rings, supermarket plastic bags, random sheets of paper, articles of clothing, single shoes, hamburger wrappers, broken toys, broken bottles, and crumpled cans—anything that wasn’t actually edible—formed random, colorful collections. They were poignant reminders of better days.

    Darkness so deep, you’d have had to walk off into the wilderness in the old days to experience anything like it.

    Not a streetlight or a porch light. Electricity out. Maybe forever.

    No one wasting batteries, not anymore. Those, too, were in very short supply.

    And not many trying to burn candles or light trash fires. Not after the fire that burned down three homes and burned one kid so bad, it took Lana, the Healer, half a day to save him.

    No water pressure. Nothing coming out of fire hydrants. Nothing to do about fire but watch it burn and get out of its way.

    Perdido Beach, California.

    At least it used to be California.

    Now it was Perdido Beach, the FAYZ. Wherever, whatever, and whyever that was.

    Sam had the power to make light. He could fire it in killing beams from his hands. Or he could form balls of persistent light that would hang in the air like a lantern. Like lightning in a bottle.

    But not too many people wanted Sam’s lights, what kids called Sammy Suns. Zil Sperry, leader of the Human Crew, had forbidden any of his people to take the lights. Most of the normals complied. And some freaks didn’t want a bright advertisement of who and what they were.

    The fear had spread. A disease. It leaped from person to person.

    People sat in the dark, afraid. Always afraid.

    Sam was in the east end, the dangerous part of town, the part Zil had declared off-limits to freaks. He had to show the flag, so to speak, demonstrate that he was still in charge. Show that he wouldn’t be intimidated by Zil’s campaign of fear.

    Kids needed that. They needed to see that someone would still protect them. That someone was him.

    He had resisted that role, but it had come to him, anyway. And he was determined to play it out. Whenever he let up, whenever he lost focus, tried to have a different life, something awful happened.

    So he walked the streets at two in the morning, ready. Just in case.

    Sam walked near the shore. There was no surf, of course. Not anymore. No weather. No vast swells crossing the Pacific to crash in magnificent showers of spray against Perdido’s beaches.

    The surf was just a soft whisper now. Shhh. Shhh. Shhh. Better than nothing. But not much better.

    He was heading toward Clifftop, the hotel, Lana’s current home. Zil had left her alone. Freak or not, no one messed with the Healer.

    Clifftop was right up against the FAYZ wall, the end of Sam’s area of responsibility, the last part of his walk-through.

    Someone was walking down toward him. He tensed, fearing the worst. There was no question that Zil would like to see him dead. And out there—somewhere—Caine, his half brother. Caine had been helpful in destroying the gaiaphage and the psychopath Drake Merwin. But Sam didn’t kid himself into believing that Caine had changed. If Caine was still alive, they would meet again.

    And God knew what other horrors were out in that fading night—human or not. Out in the dark mountains, the black caves, the desert, the forest to the north. The too-calm ocean.

    The FAYZ never let up.

    But this just looked like a girl.

    It’s just me, Sinder, a voice said, and Sam relaxed.

    T’sup, Sinder? Kind of late, huh?

    She was a sweet Goth girl who managed mostly to stay out of the various wars and factions raging within the FAYZ.

    I’m glad I ran into you, Sinder said. She had a steel pipe in one hand, the grip cushioned with duct tape. No one walked around without a weapon, especially at night.

    You okay? You eating?

    That had become the standard greeting. Not, How are you? But, Are you eating?

    Yeah, we’re getting by, Sinder said. Her ghostly pale skin made her seem very young and vulnerable. Of course the pipe, the black fingernails, and the kitchen knife stuck in her belt made her seem not entirely gentle.

    Listen, Sam. I’m not someone who, like, you know, wants to tell on people, or whatever, Sinder said. Uncomfortable.

    I know that, he said. He waited.

    It’s Orsay, Sinder said, and glanced over her shoulder, guilty. You know, I talk to her sometimes. She’s kind of cool, mostly. Kind of interesting.

    Yep.

    Mostly.

    Yeah.

    But, you know, weird maybe, too. Sinder made a wry grin. Like I’m one to talk.

    Sam waited. He heard the sound of a glass bottle shattering and high-pitched giggling from the distance behind him. The kids throwing their emptied bottle of booze. A boy named K. B. had been found dead with a bottle of vodka in his hand.

    Anyway, Orsay, she’s at the wall.

    The wall?

    On the beach, down by the wall. She’s like, she thinks . . . Look, talk to her, okay? Just don’t tell her I told you. Okay?

    Is she down there now? It’s, like, two A.M.

    That’s when they do it. They don’t want Zil or . . . or you, I guess, giving them a hard time. You know where the wall runs down from Clifftop to the beach? Those rocks out there? That’s where she is. Not alone. Other kids are there, too.

    Sam felt an unwelcome tingle running up his spine. He’d developed a pretty good instinct for trouble over the last few months. This felt like trouble.

    Okay, I’ll check it out.

    Yah. Cool.

    ’Night, Sinder. Take care.

    He left her and continued walking, wondering what new craziness or danger lay ahead. He climbed the road up past Clifftop. Glanced up at Lana’s balcony.

    Patrick, Lana’s Labrador, must have heard him because he gave a short, sharp warning bark.

    Just me, Patrick, Sam said.

    There were very few dogs or cats still alive in the FAYZ. The only reason Patrick had not ended up as dog stew was because he belonged to the Healer.

    From the top of the cliff Sam looked down and thought he could make out several people on the rocks, right down in the surf that wasn’t quite surf. They were big rocks, dangerous back in the days when Sam would take his board out there with Quinn and wait for a big one.

    Sam didn’t need light to scale down the cliff. He could have done it blind. In the old days he’d done it hauling all his gear.

    As he reached the sand, he heard soft voices. One speaking. One crying.

    The FAYZ wall, the impenetrable, impermeable, eye-baffling barrier that defined the boundaries of the FAYZ, glowed almost imperceptibly. Not even a glow, really, a suggestion of translucence. Gray and blank.

    A small bonfire burned on the beach, casting a faint orange light over a small circle of sand and rock and water.

    No one noticed Sam as he approached. So he had time to identify most of the half-dozen kids out there. Francis, Cigar, D-Con, a few others, and Orsay herself.

    I have seen something . . . , Orsay began.

    Tell me about my mom, someone cried out.

    Orsay held up her hand, a calming gesture. Please. I will do my best to reach your loved ones.

    She’s not a cell phone, the dark girl beside Orsay snapped. It is very painful for the Prophetess to make contact with the barrier. Give her some peace. And listen to her words.

    Sam squinted, not quite able to recognize the dark-haired girl in the flickering firelight. Some friend of Orsay’s? Sam thought he knew every kid in the FAYZ.

    Begin again, Prophetess, the dark-haired girl said.

    Thank you, Nerezza, Orsay said.

    Sam shook his head in amazement. Not only had he not known that Orsay was doing this, he hadn’t known she’d acquired her own personal manager. Not someone he recognized, the girl called Nerezza.

    I have seen something . . . , Orsay began again, and faltered as though expecting to be interrupted. A vision.

    That caused a murmur. Or maybe it was just the sighing sound of the water on the sand.

    In my vision I saw all of the children of the FAYZ, older kids, younger, too. I saw them standing atop the cliff.

    Every head swiveled to look up at the cliff. Sam ducked, then felt foolish: the darkness concealed him.

    "The kids of the FAYZ, prisoners of the FAYZ, gazed out into a setting sun. Such a beautiful sunset. Redder and more vivid than anything you’ve ever seen. She seemed to be mesmerized by that vision. Such a red sunset."

    All attention was again focused on Orsay. Not a sound from the small crowd.

    A red sunset. The children all gazed into that red sun. But behind them, a devil. A demon. Orsay winced as if she couldn’t look at this creature. Then, the children realized that in that red sun were all their loved ones, arms outstretched. Mothers and fathers. And all united, all filled with longing and love. Waiting so anxiously to welcome their children home.

    Thank you, Prophetess, Nerezza said.

    They wait . . . , Orsay said. She raised one hand, waved it toward the barrier, fluttered. Just beyond the wall. Just past the sunset.

    She sat down hard, a puppet whose strings had been cut. For a while she sat there, crumpled, hands open, palms up on her lap, head bowed.

    But then, with a shaky smile she roused herself.

    I’m ready, Orsay said.

    She laid her palm against the FAYZ wall. Sam flinched. He knew from personal experience how painful that could be. It was like grabbing a bare electrical wire. It didn’t do any damage, but it sure felt like it did.

    Orsay’s narrow face was scrunched up in pain. But when she spoke her voice was clear, untroubled. Like she was reading a poem.

    She dreams of you, Bradley, Orsay said.

    Bradley was Cigar’s real name.

    She dreams of you . . . you’re at Knott’s Berry Farm. You’re afraid to go on the ride. . . . She remembers how you tried to be brave. . . . Your mother misses you. . . .

    Cigar sniffled. He carried a weapon of his own devising, a toy plastic light saber with double-edged razor blades stuck into the end. His hair was tied back in a ponytail and held with a rubber band.

    She . . . she knows you are here. . . . She knows . . . she wants you to come to her. . . .

    I can’t, Cigar moaned, and Orsay’s helper, whoever she was, put a comforting arm around his shoulders.

    . . . when the time comes . . . , Orsay said.

    When? Cigar sobbed.

    She dreams that you will be with her soon. . . . She dreams . . . just three days, she knows it, she is sure of it. . . . Orsay’s voice had taken on an almost ecstatic tone. Giddy. She’s seen others do it.

    What? Francis demanded.

    . . . the others who have reappeared, Orsay said, dreamy now herself, as if she was falling asleep. She saw them on TV. The twins, the two girls Anna and Emma . . . she saw them. . . . They give interviews and tell . . .

    Orsay yanked her hand back from the FAYZ wall as if she had just noticed the pain.

    Sam had still not been seen. He hesitated. He should find out what this was about. But he felt strange, like he was intruding on someone else’s sacred moment. Like he would be barging into a church service.

    He sank back toward the cliff’s deepest shadows, careful not to be heard over the soft shush . . . shush . . . shush of the water.

    That’s all for tonight, Orsay said, and hung her head.

    But I want to know about my dad, D-Con urged. You said you could do me tonight. It’s my turn!

    She’s tired, Orsay’s helper said firmly. Don’t you know how hard this is for her?

    My dad is probably out there trying to talk to me, D-Con wailed, pointing at a specific place on the FAYZ barrier, as if he could picture his father right there, trying to peer through frosted glass. He’s probably right outside the wall. He’s probably . . . He choked up, unable to continue, and now Nerezza gathered him to her as she had Cigar, comforting him.

    They’re all waiting, Orsay said. All of them out there. Just beyond the wall. So many . . . so many . . .

    The Prophetess will try again tomorrow, the helper said. She raised D-Con to his feet. Go now, all of you. Go. Go!

    The group rose reluctantly, and Sam realized that they would soon be heading straight for him. The bonfire collapsed, sending up a shower of sparks.

    He stepped back into a crevice. There wasn’t a square inch of this beach and this cliff that he didn’t know. He waited and watched as Francis, Cigar, D-Con, and the others climbed up the trail and away into the night.

    An obviously exhausted Orsay climbed down from the rock. As they passed, arm in arm, the helper bearing Orsay’s weight, Orsay stopped. She looked straight at Sam, though he knew he could not be visible.

    I dreamed her, Sam, Orsay said. I dreamed her.

    Sam’s mouth was dry. He swallowed hard. He didn’t want to ask. But he couldn’t stop himself.

    My mom?

    She dreams of you . . . and she says . . . she says . . . Orsay sagged, almost fell to her knees, and her helper caught her.

    She says . . . let them go, Sam. Let them go when their time comes.

    What?

    Sam, there comes a time when the world no longer needs heroes. And then the true hero knows to walk away.

    TWO

    66 HOURS, 47 MINUTES

    Hushaby, don’t you cry,

    go to sleep little baby.

    When you wake, you shall have

    All the pretty little ponies . . .

    IT WAS PROBABLY always a beautiful lullaby, Derek thought. Probably even when normal people sang it, it was beautiful. Maybe even brought tears to people’s eyes.

    But Derek’s sister, Jill, was not a normal person.

    Beautiful songs could sometimes take a person out of themselves and carry them away to a place of magic. But when Jill sang, it was not about the song, really. She could sing the phone book. She could sing a shopping list. Whatever she sang, whatever the words or the tune, it was so beautiful, so achingly lovely, that no one could listen and be untouched.

    He wanted to go to sleep.

    He wanted to have all the pretty little ponies.

    While she sang, that was all he wanted. All he had ever wanted.

    Derek had made sure the windows were shut. Because when Jill sang, every person within hearing came to listen. They couldn’t help it.

    At first neither of them had understood what was happening. Jill was just nine years old, not a trained singer or anything. But one day, about a week ago, she’d started singing. Something stupid, Derek recalled. The theme song to The Fairly OddParents.

    Derek had stopped dead in his tracks. He’d been unable to move. Unable to stop listening. Grinning at the rapid-fire list of Timmy’s wishes, wanting each of those things himself. Wanting his own fairy godparents. And when at last Jill had fallen silent, it was like he was waking up from the most perfect dream to find himself in a gray and awful reality.

    It took only a day or so before Derek figured out that this was no ordinary talent. He’d had to face the fact that his little sister was a freak.

    It was a terrifying discovery. Derek was a normal. The freaks—people like Dekka, Brianna, Orc, and especially Sam Temple—scared him. Their powers meant they could do whatever they wanted. No one could stop them.

    Mostly the freaks acted okay. Mostly they used their powers to do things that needed doing. But Derek had seen Sam Temple in the middle of a fight. Sam against that other mega-freak, Caine Soren. They had destroyed a big part of the town plaza trying to kill each other. Derek had curled up in a ball and hidden as best he could while that battle raged.

    Everyone knew the freaks thought they were special. Everyone knew they got the best food. You never saw a freak reduced to eating rat meat. You never saw a freak eating bugs. A few weeks earlier, when the hunger was at its worst, Derek and Jill had done that. They’d caught and eaten some grasshoppers.

    Freaks? They never had to sink that low. Everyone knew that. At least that’s what Zil said.

    And why would Zil lie?

    And now Derek’s own little sister was one of them. A mutant. A freak.

    But when she sang . . . when she sang, Derek was no longer in the dark and desperate FAYZ. When Jill sang, the sun was bright and the grass was green and a cool breeze blew. When Jill sang, their mother and father were there, along with everyone else who had disappeared.

    When Jill sang, the nightmare reality of life in the FAYZ faded away to be replaced by the song, the song, the song.

    Derek was in that place now, soaring on magical wings toward Heaven.

    When I die, hallelujah by and by . . .

    A song about death, Derek knew. But so beautiful when Jill sang it. It pierced his heart.

    Oh how glad and happy when we meet . . .

    Oh how happy, even though they sat in the dark in a house full of sad memories.

    The beam of light was startling.

    Jill stopped singing. It was devastating, that silence.

    The beam of light shone through the gauzy curtains. It played around the room. Found Derek’s face. Then swiveled until it had lit up Jill’s freckled face and turned her blue eyes glassy.

    The front door of the house flew open with a crash. The strike plate shattered.

    The intruders spoke no words as they rushed in. Five boys carrying baseball bats and tire irons. They wore an assortment of Halloween masks and stocking masks.

    But Derek knew who they were.

    No! No! he cried.

    All five boys wore bulky shooter’s earmuffs. They couldn’t hear him. But more importantly, they couldn’t hear Jill.

    One of the boys stayed in the doorway. He was in charge. A runty kid named Hank. The stocking pulled down over his face smashed his features into Play-Doh, but it could only be Hank.

    One of the boys, fat but fast-moving and wearing an Easter Bunny mask, stepped to Derek and hit him in the stomach with his aluminum baseball bat.

    Derek dropped to his knees.

    Another boy grabbed Jill. He put his hand over her mouth. Someone produced a roll of duct tape.

    Jill screamed. Derek tried to stand, but the blow to his stomach had winded him. He tried to stand up, but the fat boy pushed him back down.

    Don’t be stupid, Derek. We’re not after you.

    The duct tape went around and around Jill’s mouth. They worked by flashlight. Derek could see Jill’s eyes, wild with terror. Pleading silently with her big brother to save her.

    When her mouth was sealed, the thugs pulled off their shooter’s earmuffs.

    Hank stepped forward. Derek, Derek, Derek, Hank said, shaking his head slowly, regretfully. You know better than this.

    Leave her alone, Derek managed to gasp, clutching his stomach, fighting the urge to vomit.

    She’s a freak, Hank said.

    She’s my little sister. This is our home.

    She’s a freak, Hank said. And this house is east of First Avenue. This is a no-freak zone.

    Man, come on, Derek pleaded. She’s not hurting anyone.

    It’s not about that, a boy named Turk said. He had a weak leg, a limp that made it impossible not to recognize him. Freaks with freaks, normals with normals. That’s the way it has to be.

    All she does is—

    Hank’s slap stung. Shut up. Traitor. A normal who stands up for a freak gets treated like a freak. Is that what you want?

    Besides, the fat boy said with a giggle, we’re taking it easy on her. We were going to fix her so she could never sing again. Or talk. If you know what I mean.

    He pulled a knife from a sheath in the small of his back. Do you, Derek? Do you understand?

    Derek’s resistance died.

    The Leader showed mercy, Turk said. But the Leader isn’t weak. So this freak either goes west, over the border right now. Or . . . He let the threat hang there.

    Jill’s tears flowed freely. She could barely breathe because her nose was running. Derek could see that by the way she sucked tape into her mouth, trying for air. She would suffocate if they didn’t let her go soon.

    Let me at least get her doll, Derek said.

    It’s Panda.

    Caine rose through layers of dream and nightmare, like pushing his way through thick curtains that draped his arms and legs and made his every move tiring.

    He blinked. Still dark. Night.

    The voice had no obvious source, but he recognized it, anyway. Even if there had been light he might not have seen the boy with the power to fade away and almost disappear. Bug. Why are you bothering me?

    Panda. I think he’s dead.

    Have you checked his breathing? Listened to his heart? Then another thought occurred to him. Why are you waking me up to tell me someone’s dead?

    Bug didn’t answer. Caine waited, but Bug still couldn’t say it out loud.

    Do what you gotta do, Caine said.

    We can’t get at him. He didn’t just die. He got in the car, right? The green one?

    Caine shook his head, trying to wake up all the way, trying to make the trip back to full consciousness. But the layers of dream and nightmare, and memory, too, dragged at him, confused his brain.

    There’s no gas in that car, Caine said.

    He pushed it. Till it got rolling, Bug said. Then he jumped in. It rolled on down the road. Until he got to the bend.

    There’s a railing there, Caine said.

    He went through it. Crash. Bumpety-bump all the way down. It’s a long way down. Me and Penny just climbed down, so I know it’s a long way down.

    Caine wanted this to stop. He didn’t want to have to hear the next part. Panda had been okay. Not a horrible kid. Not like some of Caine’s few remaining followers.

    Maybe that explained why he would drive a car off a cliff.

    Anyway, he’s totally dead, Bug said. Me and Penny got him out. But we can’t get him up the cliff.

    Caine got to his feet. Legs shaky, stomach like a black hole, mind filled with darkness. Show me, he said.

    They walked out into the night. Feet crunched on gravel now interrupted by tall weeds. Poor old Coates Academy, Caine thought. It had always been so meticulously maintained back in the old days. The headmaster would definitely not have approved of the big blast hole in the front of the building, or the garbage strewn here and there in the overgrown grass.

    It wasn’t a long walk. Caine did not speak. He used Bug sometimes; Bug was useful. But the little creep was not exactly a friend.

    In the pearly starlight it was easy to see where the railing had been ripped apart. It was like a steel ribbon, cut then left half curled, dangling over the side.

    Caine peered through the darkness. He could see the car. It was upside down. One door was open.

    It took a few minutes for him to locate the body.

    Caine sighed and raised his hands. It was near the limits of his range, so Panda didn’t come flying up off the ground. He sort of scuffed and scooted along at first. Like an invisible predator was hauling him away to its lair.

    But then Caine got a better grip and Panda rose off the ground. He was on his back, staring up at the unreal stars, eyes still open.

    Caine levitated the boy up from the crash, up and up until he brought him to as gentle a stop as he could. Panda lay now on the road.

    Without a word, Caine started walking back to Coates.

    Aren’t you going to carry him back? Bug whined.

    Get a wheelbarrow, Caine said. Carry your own meat.

    THREE

    63 HOURS, 31 MINUTES

    THE WHIP CAME down.

    It was made of flesh, but in his nightmare it was a snake, a writhing python that sliced the flesh from his arms and back and chest.

    The pain was too terrible to endure. But he had endured it.

    He had begged for death. Sam Temple had begged to die. He had begged the psychopath to kill him, to end it, to give him the only relief possible.

    But he had not died. He had endured.

    Pain. Too small a word. Pain and awful humiliation.

    And the whip kept coming down, again and again, and Drake Merwin laughed.

    Sam woke up in a bed of tangled, sweat-soaked sheets.

    The nightmare did not leave him. Even with Drake dead and buried under a mountain of rock, he had Sam under the control of his whip hand.

    Are you okay?

    Astrid. Almost invisible in the darkness. Only the faintest starlight filtered through the window and framed her as she stood there in the doorway.

    He knew what she looked like. Beautiful. Compassionate, intelligent blue eyes. Blond hair all wispy and wild since she’d just gotten up from her own bed.

    He could picture her all too easily. A picture more detailed than real life. He often pictured her as he lay alone in his bed. Far too often, and for too long. Too many nights.

    I’m fine, Sam lied.

    You were having a nightmare. It wasn’t a question.

    She came in. He could hear the rustle of her nightgown. He felt her warmth as she sat at the edge of his bed. The same one? she asked.

    Yeah. It’s getting kind of boring now, he joked. I know how it ends.

    It ends with you alive and well, Astrid said.

    Sam said nothing. That had been the outcome: He had survived. Yes, he was alive. But well?

    Go back to sleep, Astrid, he said.

    She reached for him, fumbled just a little, unable to find his face. But then her fingers touched his cheek. He turned away. He didn’t want her finding the wetness there. But she wouldn’t let him push her hand away.

    Don’t, he whispered. You just make it harder.

    Is that a joke?

    He laughed. The tension broke. Well, not an intentional one.

    It’s not that I don’t want to, Sam. She bent over and kissed his mouth.

    He pushed her away. You’re trying to distract me. Make me think about something else.

    Is it working?

    Yes, I’d say it’s working very well, Astrid.

    Time for me to go. She stood up and he heard her moving away.

    He rolled out of bed. His feet hit the cold floor. I need to do a walk-through.

    She stopped in the doorway. Sam, I heard you come in two hours ago. You’ve had almost no sleep. And it will be dawn in a couple of hours. The town will survive that long without you. Edilio’s kids are on duty.

    Sam pulled on a pair of jeans and zipped them up. He considered telling her about Orsay, about this latest craziness. But there would be time for that later. No rush.

    There are things out there that Edilio’s guys can’t handle, Sam said.

    Zil? Astrid said. The warmth was rapidly draining out of her voice. Sam, I despise Zil as much as you do. But you can’t take him on yet. We need a system. Zil is a criminal, basically, and we need a system.

    He’s a punk creep, and until you come up with your great system, someone needs to keep an eye on him, Sam snapped. Before Astrid could react angrily to his tone, he said, Sorry. I didn’t mean to take it out on you.

    Astrid came back into the room. He hoped it was because she was just too attracted to him to leave, but that wasn’t it. He could barely see her but could hear and feel that she was very close.

    Sam. Listen. It’s not all on your shoulders anymore.

    You know, I seem to remember a time when you were all in favor of me taking on the responsibility, Sam said. He pulled a T-shirt over his head. It was stiff with salt and smelled like low tide. That’s what happened when you washed clothes in salt water.

    That’s right, Astrid said. You’re a hero. You are without a doubt the biggest hero we have. But, Sam, we’re going to need more in the long run. We need laws and we need people to enforce laws. We don’t need . . . She stopped herself just in time.

    Sam made a wry face. "A boss? Well, it’s just kind of hard to adjust that quickly. One

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