Vengeance Bound

Gr 9 Up—In this unique paranormal thriller, 17-year-old Amelie Ainsworth (alias "Corinne Graff") has had a traumatic life, including being orphaned and spending time in a mental asylum. Most of her teen years have been spent moving from place to place trying to create a sense of normalcy and to maintain her secret: she is linked to the bloodthirsty Furies from Greek mythology and is able to conjure them to hand down lethal judgments on murderers, rapists, and pedophiles. Amelie's ultimate goal is to track down her former doctor, who kept her heavily medicated and used her for experiments. Her hunt leads her to a town in Pennsylvania where she enrolls in high school and tries to blend in and be "normal." Here Amelie makes new friends and attracts the attention of handsome Niko, who suspects there is more to her than what she shows the world. As their relationship develops, Amelie finds that it gets harder to keep the Furies under control. Scenes of young love blossoming contrast with episodes in which the Furies slaughter killers who have evaded the law. The suspenseful explanation of how the powerful beings became linked to Amelie is revealed as she begins to understand how much her bargain with them has cost her. The language, violence, and sexual themes make this page-turner more appropriate for mature readers.—Sherry J. Mills, Hazelwood East High School, St. Louis, MO