Gr 8 Up-Years ago, genetic experimentation gone wrong unleashed the Ferae virus, which killed millions and mutated more into half-human, half-animal hybrids. Humanity fled west and built a wall along the Mississippi River. Sixteen-year-old Lane McEvoy has grown up in the West, but she's just found out that her father, who she thought was an art dealer, is actually a fetch, someone who illegally crosses the quarantine line to retrieve items from the East. She's blackmailed into breaching the wall and convincing him to do a job for a powerful government official, but when she can't locate him, she must perform the fetch herself with help from mysterious border guard Everson and infuriating mercenary Rafe. This first installation in a trilogy is well imagined, set in an original world whose convincing history, politics, and social norms come out naturally as the story unfolds. The animal hybrids are sometimes intriguing and sometimes terrifying (like the half-bat half-piranha weevlings) but are always compelling. While the love triangle is perhaps inevitable, Lane, Everson, and Rafe are believable, and new facets of their personalities are revealed over their journey. Although ethics in Lane's universe are, at first, clearly delineated, as she sees more of the world past the wall, her sense of what makes people human-and humane-evolves. This is a perfectly plotted, deliciously suspenseful journey through a lush, intriguing society in which nothing is quite as it seems. Gretchen Kolderup, New York Public Library

Years ago, the U.S. was bisected by a pandemic (spread by biting) that causes humans to mutate into feral human-animal hybrids. When pampered teenager Lane is blackmailed into the Feral Zone, she joins the search for a cure and discovers the gray area between human and feral. While Lane and her love triangle are bland, the zombie-apocalypse-meets-wereanimals-gone-wild setup captures the imagination.

Falls' (Rip Tide, 2011, etc.) first novel for teens is the nail-biting start of a new trilogy. Nineteen years ago, the deadly Ferae Naturae ("of a wild nature") virus killed 40 percent of America's population. Now, 16 year-old Lane McEvoy lives a safe, sterile life in the shadow of the Titan, a 700-foot-tall wall that extends from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, separating the uninfected west from the Feral Zone to the east. Lane's life is turned upside down when the head of Biohazard Defense makes her an offer she can't afford to refuse. Director Spurling has evidence that Lane's father, Mack, is a "fetch," paid to retrieve valuables left behind during the exodus two decades before. Unless Lane locates her father so he can recover something the director has lost, Spurling will expose Mack's treason, and Lane will lose him to execution by firing squad. As she ventures into the Feral Zone, Lane picks up two unlikely allies: the enigmatic feral-hunter Rafe and the militant, by-the-book guard Everson. Readers will find themselves drawn into Lane's story through the author's consistent worldbuilding and striking turns of phrase. Lane is an appealing and credible protagonist; her progression from obsessive cleanliness to fearless engagement with the infected is subtle and believable. Sure to satisfy fans of the dystopian-romance genre and to gather new ones along the way. (Dystopian adventure. 12 & up)

Falls (Rip Tide) begins a trilogy set in a dystopian America, a generation after a hybridized virus killed or mutated millions. Survivors live west of the Mississippi, with a giant wall protecting them from the -Feral Zone- to the east. When 16-year-old Lane McEvoy-s father goes missing, she learns that he was a -fetch,- illegally journeying east to retrieve precious artwork and other items. A powerful official blackmails Lane into helping find her father; when she-s unsuccessful, she must complete his assignment herself. Accompanied by rule-breaking bad boy Rafe and handsome border guard Everson, Lane ventures into the Feral Zone, trying to survive the legacy of the Ferae Naturae virus, including animal crossbreeds and feral -manimals.- Despite the obligatory love triangle, Falls presents Lane as a competent, admirable heroine who more than holds her own. The setting holds great promise, and its dangers are quite entertaining: from the dreaded chimpacabra and piranha-bats to people infected by lion, tiger, or fox DNA, there-s lovely and bizarre imagery involved. A solid start, even when the book falls into familiar patterns for the genre. Ages 12-up. Agent: Josh Adams, Adams Literary. (Oct.)

Falls' (Rip Tide, 2011, etc.) first novel for teens is the nail-biting start of a new trilogy. Nineteen years ago, the deadly Ferae Naturae ("of a wild nature") virus killed 40 percent of America's population. Now, 16 year-old Lane McEvoy lives a safe, sterile life in the shadow of the Titan, a 700-foot-tall wall that extends from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, separating the uninfected west from the Feral Zone to the east. Lane's life is turned upside down when the head of Biohazard Defense makes her an offer she can't afford to refuse. Director Spurling has evidence that Lane's father, Mack, is a "fetch," paid to retrieve valuables left behind during the exodus two decades before. Unless Lane locates her father so he can recover something the director has lost, Spurling will expose Mack's treason, and Lane will lose him to execution by firing squad. As she ventures into the Feral Zone, Lane picks up two unlikely allies: the enigmatic feral-hunter Rafe and the militant, by-the-book guard Everson. Readers will find themselves drawn into Lane's story through the author's consistent worldbuilding and striking turns of phrase. Lane is an appealing and credible protagonist; her progression from obsessive cleanliness to fearless engagement with the infected is subtle and believable. Sure to satisfy fans of the dystopian-romance genre and to gather new ones along the way. (Dystopian adventure. 12 & up)

Following a cataclysmic plague, the eastern U.S. has been quarantined behind a massive wall extending from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Crossing the wall is a capital offense, so 16-year-old Lane is horrified to learn that her father has gone over the barrier and headed to the East. At the behest of the authorities, she is sent after him and quickly finds her life in danger from the Feral cious, hybrid beings who are half human and half animal. Happily, Lane finds help from two fearless young men: Everson, a guard, and Rafe, a soldier-of-fortune type. In between swashing and buckling, both take time to fall in love with Lane, who is being pursued by a tiger-man who wants to eat her heart. Yes, life is complicated in the East, and more than a tad melodramatic. Fans of dystopian fiction, however, will find a good deal to like in this fast-paced mash-up that includes elements of romance and horror and, no surprise, an inconclusive ending that promises a sequel.