The Lightkeeper's Bride (Mercy Falls)

Gr 6 Up—Colt McAlister, 16, has his life forever changed when he goes from being a carefree California surfer to alien-hunting secret agent practically overnight. Still reeling from the devastating loss of his parents, he moves in with his grandfather in the Arizona desert. It is there that he is reunited with a childhood friend, Dani Salazar, and makes a new pal in the brash and attractive "Oz" Romero. After a clandestine meeting with a paranoid scientist, Colt begins to believe that his parents didn't die in an accident; they were murdered by the ominous Trident Industries. His mother, a journalist, was going to expose the company for using technology designed to help cure diseases as a cover for mind-control experiments. Colt is even more blown away to learn that the board members of Trident aren't even human: they're aliens! Can he avenge his parents' death and stop the coming invasion? This novel draws readers into the action-packed world of Colt and his friends. The narrative presents several well-defined characters who will draw reluctant readers into the sphere of alien conspiracy and espionage. While the dialogue and situations may not always be realistic, the fast-paced and well-defined world will keep readers glued to the pages.—Ryan Donovan, New York Public Library