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    Gone
    Gone
    Gone
    Ebook260 pages4 hours

    Gone

    By Francine Pascal and St. Denis

    3.5/5

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Three things to do

    before i graduate:

    Buy a prom dress.

    Pass calculus.

    Disappear before anyone

    else gets killed.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon Pulse
    Release dateMay 11, 2010
    ISBN9781439121023
    Gone
    Author

    Francine Pascal

    FRANCINE PASCAL is the creator of the Sweet Valley High series and one of the world's most popular fiction writers for teenagers and the author of several best-selling novels. As a theater lover and Tony voter, Ms. Pascal is on the Advisory Board of The American Theatre Wing.  Her favorite sport is a monthly poker game.

    Read more from Francine Pascal

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    Reviews for Gone

    3.5/5

    386 ratings45 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Book three of the of the series. I thought this was a well written story, not to much excitement. But enough to keep me interested. 3.5 stars if i had the choice.
    • 4/5
      I was sad to see this excellent series go. I really did enjoy reading the first two. This time however, this book focuses more on Janie and the devastating consequences it has to her health (mental and physical). Janie develops a lot here as a character, and it’s really nice to see that she grows to be a very mature and strong woman. The storyline that surrounds Janie and her father was an interesting one, one that actually put me to tears. Yet I’m glad Janie went along with her choice. I rather wished there was more to Janie and her mother although not much really happened between them. They’re still far apart and it looks like no closure was done between the two. I think there could have been more to close that loose end. The characters stayed the same, nothing much to them although I’m glad to see Cabel still ends up as boyfriend of the year in my opinion. I’m also glad to see that most of the loose ends have been tied up nicely without leaving any sort of unanswered questions behind. Fans who are expecting another mystery to be solved will be disappointed, there is no case to solve, but rather, it focuses more on Janie and her relationships and issues.It’s a good closing novel, and only lets the reader wish there was more adventures with Janie and Cabel. However, all good things always have to come to an end. I’ll definitely miss reading about them.
    • 4/5
      I still say the first book, Wake, is the best one in this Trilogy. I got hooked on Janie and Cabel, and as each went on, I found things starting to go south. Way too many stupid fights between these two for my taste. A good series overall!
    • 3/5
      Felt like things ended sadly for Janie. We see that she has more issues to work out in her life. This last book closes up and resolves what Janie will do with her life. She makes a monumental decision. Gone is more emotional and not action-packed like Wake or Fade but manages to satisfy. It's ok, and a good end to The Dream Catcher's books.
    • 1/5
      The series has finally completed and I am so glad. Honestly, I am embarrassed that I even felt blah about the first ones; I thought that the fantasy she concocted had promise and something interesting could be done with it. Well, McCann proved me entirely wrong with the final book in the trilogy. For one thing, there really is not a plot in this novel, which makes it weak. Since there was no plot, I was able to notice something I had previously managed to ignore: the incredibly horrific writing. McCann seems not to know how to construct full sentences. Most are sentence fragments. Let me illustrate her writing style with the first section of the book:
      "It's like she can't breathe anymore, no matter what she does.
      Like everything is closing in on her, crowding her. Threatening her.
      The hearing. The truth coming out. Reliving Durbin's party in front of a judge and the three bastards themselves, staring her down. Cameras following her around the second she steps outside the courtroom. Exposed as a narc, all of Fieldridge talking about it.
      Talking about her."
      Final tally: Sentences- 1, Fragments- 8. The whole book is written this way, so I would suggest passing on this series unless you appreciate lackluster grammar.
    • 5/5
      Really enjoyed the whole series - especially that it was set in Michigan and I could visualize the settings.
    • 4/5
      I usually don't like the last book in a series, but this one I did.
    • 3/5
      McMann, L. (2010). Gone. New York: Simon Pulse.9781416979180214 pages.Appetizer: In the final book of the Wake Trilogy, the town has learned that she is the key witness in the town's big court case and that's drawing a lot of unwanted attention and people have given her the lovely nickname, "narc girl." So, she and Cabe plan a little summer break and leave town, but their rest is soon interrupted by an emergency call that someone in Janie's family is in the hospital.I think Gone was a very strong conclusion to this trilogy. The sparse language is consistent with the previous books. Plus, the tensions over Janie's worries over her future that were alluded to in Wake, explored during Fade, were brought to the forefront in Gone.In Gone, I really saw how Janie's relationship with Cabe was her one supportive and loving relationship. I really liked that McMann included this, since teens often feel like their romantic partner is their world. While most of the time, I think it's important for teens to remember their friends and family are there too, in Janie's case, her relationship with her mom is so pained, her character really needs the support of someone. And readers see that.But at the same time, not everything is perfect with Cabe, since both he and Janie are worried over their future together since they know Janie's power will hurt her more and more as she ages. I liked that McMann explored these concerns as well as presented the foil of Carrie and Stu's relationship.Also, with this book, Janie's father makes an appearance. I do wish that possibility had been foreshadowed a little more in the previous books.If this is the first you've heard of the Wake Trilogy, it's important to know, dear reader, this isn't really the type of series in which you could pick up any book and start reading. The books build on one another heavily, so stick to the publication order.Dinner Conversation:"24/7/365It's like she can't breathe anymore, no matter what she does.Like everything is closing in on her, crowding her. Threatening her.The hearing. The truth coming out. Reliving Durbin's party in front of a judge and the three bastards themselves, staring her down. Cameras following her around the second she steps outside the courtroom. Exposed as a narc, all of Fieldridge talking about it.Talking about her" (p. 1)."Janie's not cut out for this--she's a loner. She is underground. It's like she hasn't even had time to let all the other stuff sink in--the real, the important. The janie life-changing stuff. The stuff from the green notebook.Going blind. Losing the use of her hands.The pressure is breathtaking.She's suffocating.Just wants to run.Hide.So she can just be" (p. 2)."Carrie, whose normally dancing eyes are dulled from the weariness of the unusual day, looks at Janie. "Apparently, it's your father, Janers. He's, like, really sick."Janie just looks at Carrie. "My father?""They don't think he's going to make it" (p. 30)."She leans her head against Cabel's shoulder and slips her arm behind his. He turns, slides her onto his lap, and they hold on tightly to each other.Because there's no one else" (p. 45)."And she imagines life without him. Blind, gnarled, but loved...at least while things are still good. And always knowing what struggles he's dealing with through his dreams. Does she really want to see that, as years go by? Does she really want to be this incredible burden to such an awesome guy?She still doesn't know which scenario wins.But she's thinking.Maybe broken hearts can mend more easily than broken hands and eyes" (p. 45).To Go with the Meal:I think this series is an excellent recommendation for reluctant female teen readers. All three of the books read quickly and girl's can relate to Janie emotionally.I also really like that the stories present a dysfunctional family in a lower class living situation. It's not often enough that this lifestyle is presented in literature. It can be a necessary window or mirror into a way of living that we need to see more often.A teacher can also provoke an honest discussion on the experience of having an alcoholic parent and can provide information on where teens can find support.Gone also references Catch 22 pretty heavily. So, a teacher could try to drum up some interest in getting kids to hit up that classic next. Or a teacher could focus discussions on making impossible decisions and the choices students would make.Tasty Rating: !!!
    • 3/5
      Not as good as the first two, but still an enjoyable quick read. I wish there had been more character progress instead of feeling like we just saw Janie go through and make the same decision again.
    • 4/5
      This was a pretty good end to the series. I still am in love with Cabel. =)
    • 3/5
      While GONE brings the series to a bittersweet end, like FADE, the final book still did not wow me as much as the first book WAKE had done. GONE seemed a little too abstract and hard to grasp, and quite honestly I just didn't want to understand. I wanted more of Janie using her dream-catching abilities to catch the bad guys. GONE didn't have that element - it focused more on the nature of dream-catching and its effect on Janie's future. Cabel's reactions were mentioned a few times, but not as much as in past books.
    • 3/5
      Not a completely happy ending to the trilogy but I guess the lesser of all evils.
    • 5/5
      Interesting revelation about Janie's ability and the consequences. I like the way it ended, not unrealistically happy. Great read!
    • 4/5
      This book was a lot darker than the last two. Janie is frustrated with the fact that she feels like she is risking everything and ruining her life by helping others with her ability. I have to admit, I was annoyed by her bad attitude in the beginning of this book.That being said, it was still well written and another super easy read. I was satisfied with the ending. I read a lot of reviews that said the ending was unsatisfactory, and I was worried that they were going to end it the other way. I won't say which so I don't ruin anything. But I feel they ended it the right way for this series, and I was happy with it. I would definitely recommend this series if you want something quick and light to read!
    • 2/5
      this book has been sitting in my TBR pile for a while now and i kept telling myself to find time to read it since the first two books in the series were okay. i also wanted to know what happens to janie and cabe. well now that i read it, i'm thinking i shouldn't have bothered. the book was pretty bad. it was like lisa mcmann asked a completely different person to finish the series for her. the writing was off, the scenes felt disjointed and janie and cabe were unlikable ghosts of their previous selves. there were parts of the dialogue that turned me off too. i literally rolled my eyes when one of the characters said "dude, i am so switzerland" or something like that. i mean, switzerland, really? are we suddenly in forks? no, not cute at all. and what about the whole thing about "getting jimmy a raincoat" (raincoat = condom) and then we're suddenly in judy blume's forever? "janie's sweaty and flushed and breathy and you get the picture"? again, not amusing. it's not like the book's target audience are grade schoolers. and even then, it's better to say they had sex, slept together than give them mental pictures of jimmy in a raincoat fer cryin' out loud! oh, so those were meant to be pop-culture references. am i taking this too seriously when the whole thing's meant to be a funny? i digress. one thing's for sure, all the stuff i mentioned above made reading a book that's only 200+ pages long extremely difficult to endure.
    • 4/5
      Totally blew through this series - all three books in one day. All in all, I loved them. This last book was like one giant downer, though, so I didn't enjoy it as much as the other two. Plus the choppy non-sentence-sentences started to get to me.

      Also, I still love Cabe. I'd like him in my pocket, please.
    • 3/5
      It was a really quick read- I enjoyed it for the most part. I feel like I might have liked it more if I had read the first two.
    • 4/5
      This book was bittersweet.
    • 4/5
      a bit angsty and emo but enjoyable.
    • 5/5
      I really can't believe that the series has come to an end. But what an ending it was! McMann did not disappoint with the third and final book in the Dream Catcher Trilogy.
      We come into Gone, just a few weeks after the ending in Fade. Janie and Cabel are getting ready to take a mini vacation before starting up with their undercover police work. They head to the lake to spend time with Cabel's brother and sister-in-law. While there, they have a few days of slight peace; though Janie still gets sucked into Cabel's dreams and even one dream while learning to water ski. After getting frantic voice mails from Carrie stating that she is taking Janie's mother to the hospital, Cable and Janie leave. Once they reach the hospital, they find out that it wasn't for Janie's mom, but a man known as Henry.
      Henry is someone that Janie, doesn't know; but she soon realizes just how much of a connection that they really have. See, Henry is Janie's father. Janie really has no idea how to handle this new information, and with whatever she is contemplating in the beginning of the book, this added information and her mother's attitude is really getting to her. I wondered through the whole book, exactly what it was that Janie was contemplating, and until the end I didn't really grasp it. I'm sure if I thought about it long and hard I would have figured it out, but I was too worried about how Janie was really going to deal with knowing about her father.
      Cabel tries to help Janie find out more about her father, and eventually he finds out where Henry lived and takes Janie there. When they arrive, Janie is a little apprehensive and doesn't really want to find out anything, but after looking around the house a bit, Janie starts to wonder why he lived out in the middle of nowhere and why he pretty much isolated himself.
      While Janie is still being sucked into dreams, and for her; Cabel's are the worst. She goes to visit her father, whom is in a coma all through the book. When she goes into his room, she is sucked into his dreams, and she has to fight really hard to get out of it. While doing more research and thinking Janie realizes that the dream catching is hereditary and that she got it from her father. Miss Stubin makes another appearance and that is when Janie realizes everything.
      We find out shortly after that, just what it is that Janie has been contemplating and just what she is going to do. I wasn't happy with the decision she came to and I will admit that I teared up quite a bit. Janie is trying to figure out how to help her father in his dream and while she is sleeping beside his bed in the hospital, Henry catches Janie's dream and she actually gets to speak to him. It was a bittersweet moment between father and daughter.
      Henry passes the next day and while Janie is trying to get her alcoholic mother to actually have a funeral for him, and then get her mother to the funeral, she learns that while Henry may have isolated himself, Janie does have a "family" that loves and supports her. The funeral is sad and her mother plays the drunk perfectly, but Janie has the support of Cabel, Carrie, and even her "boss".
      We go on to see what Janie decided and how she slowly starts to enact her decision, then after about a day she realizes that maybe she made the wrong choice. There are always two sides to every story, the one that you see and then the one that actually happened. Now maybe, it didn't really happen like that, but would you take the chance? Knowing what you know for sure would happen or guessing that just maybe everything would be ok? Could you live with leaving the ONLY one you love and never seeing them again? Janie answers these questions, and realizes that she may need to reconsider exactly what she wants out of her life.
      I really can't believe that the trilogy is finished and I won't get to see just how Janie's decision affected everyone around her, and what exactly is happening now.
    • 4/5
      Gone is a fitting end to the trilogy. In this final entry, we are give quite a bit more background info. and more info. on dream catchers. Janie is facing a big life decision, be an active dream catcher, or not. It's as she's working out the decision that we see just how bad Janie's home life is, and what led to it being that way. If you've been reading this trilogy, you'll definitely want to finish with Gone.
    • 2/5
      2.5 stars. Part of that may be that it has been so long since I read the others, but I didn't really enjoy this one. It did tie everything up nicely though.
    • 4/5
      Something that I found very interesting about this trilogy is that the plot in each book was so different. Instead of focusing on either a crime mystery or an inexplicable power, Gone redirects its attention to the human elements we saw in the first book. Much more than a supernatural adventure, this is a book about people who have to make hard decisions about their lives. Heavier than I personally like, but I can recognize its merits. And at the very least, I can truthfully say that I couldn't put these books down until I knew the conclusion of the story! Which, not to spoil anything, is the ending that most suits these characters. It's not doesn't baby the reader, but it also doesn't consign us to lifelong depression either, for which I thank this author. She certainly can yank on the heartstrings!In terms of criticisms, I was a little sad to see strong characters like Cabel and the captain consigned to support roles (the second book led me to believe we'd be getting a better look at them). Not that Janie isn't a powerful character capable of carrying the story in her own right, but Cabel in particular felt very flat. I guess I wanted to see some of the skater Goth kid from before? I liked that kid.But FYI, this is not a book for reading when you're already depressed! It runs like a chapter of Real Life and it's not so much about redemption or catharsis as it is just accepting that life is fantastically sucky and doesn't give people many options. Again, not my thing (good for you if it's yours; this is absolutely a good book!), so why read it? Characters. Plot. Writing good smooth and exciting enough that I couldn't bring myself to look away. I will say this much: I was certainly entertained.
    • 4/5
      Janie thought she knew what her future held. And she thought she had made peace with it. But she can't handle dragging Cabel down with her.She knows he will stay with her, despite what she sees in his dreams. He's amazing. And she's a train wreck. Janie sees only one way to give him the life he deserves: She has to disappear. ANd it's going to kill htem both. Then a stranger enters her life-and everything unravels. The future Janie once faced now has an ominous twist, and her choices are more dire than she'd ever thought possible. She alone must decide between the lesser of two evils. And time is running out...
    • 3/5
      I must say that this book was such a disappointment. It wasn't what I'd hoped it would be. It was pretty predictable, kinda boring, and really slow paced. But it was a quick read, and so it went by really fast. I'm actually glad it's a trilogy, because I think that Lisa McMann is starting to run out of ideas for Janie, Cabel and all the other characters. This book wasn't as good as the other two books in my opinion.
    • 5/5
      Gone is the third book in the Wake trilogy by Lisa McMann. This is a great trilogy and I'm really sad it's over. However, I do think that Gone was a great ending. Janie really comes to life in this book. We get to know her more than we have in the previous books and more about her gift. I really enjoyed reading about Janie's family troubles and how she gets through them. Another part of the book that I really liked was Janie's hard decision she needed to make about her gift. The only thing I would have liked this book to have more of was Cabel. Cabel is one of my favorite "book boyfriends." I loved this book just as much as the first two and will definitely read these books over and over.
    • 5/5
      Gone is the highly anticipated, final installment in the Dream Catcher Trilogy. This is the story of Janie, the girl who catches dreams and, Cabel, the boy who loves her.I've really enjoyed this series. I found it original and the characters very endearing. What I truly liked about Gone is that you really get more character definition, it was more of a character driven novel. There isn't so much of a mystery in this one but rather its about the characters coming to terms with themselves... learning more about each other and accepting that. Janie has learned to deal with her "gift" and has found a greater purpose for it. But she now knows that this gift comes at a very high price. A price that not only will affect her immensely but will also affect Cabel. Janie has some tough decisions to make.There's not much more I can say without giving too much away. I did feel that this book was different from the prior two in the series, but not in a bad way. The writing was the same - with it's short chapters and even shorter sentences. Janie was whiney and not so much the tough girl I've come to love... but all is forgiven - the girl is definitely leading a rough life. For those of you who haven't read the first two books in the series and are considering reading Gone - I would not recommend you do that. Although Gone can almost be seen as a companion book since it is THAT different from the other two, you don't really get much background information as to know what happened previously so after a couple of pages you will be lost. Start at the beginning and I guarantee you will be swept away in Janie's journey. All in all, this worked for me. I enjoyed this trilogy immensely and I can definitely recommend it to not just teens but to adults alike.
    • 4/5
      So the trilogy comes to an end……....Anyone that has enjoyed Wake and Fade will of course complete the trilogy, you just have to know the ending. I personally think the author didn’t want it to end and so the transition to take us there was hard. I have to say in my opinion the first half was, I hate to say it, boring, I didn’t know where we were going, I was so disappointed and THEN….. finally it was decided to give the reader something, the last half just fell into place and gave us what we expected and more. I thought it came together nicely. Gone is mainly about Janie being conflicted, what choice should she make especially when option 1 and option 2 sucks.I really enjoyed how Lisa Mccann wrapped up the family connections and Janie’s outlook on life, seeing her as a strong individual and embrace her ‘talent’ that no one understands.I give the trilogy as a whole 4 1/2 stars
    • 3/5
      I loved this series. The first and second books had me in tears, and I couldn't wait to begin the third and final. I was completely dissapointed. I cannot believe the ending. I was very unsatisfyed with the way she chose to end things, it really provided no closure and just kinda wimped out as an ending. This drags down the awesomeness of the rest of the series and that is a shame.
    • 4/5
      This is the third book in the Wake trilogy. Janie has discovered over the course of these three books that she is a dream-catcher –someone who physically falls into others’ dreams, finding out more than she wants to know about them. She has always had a dysfunctional life. Janie lives with her extremely alcoholic mother, and has never had a father. In the beginning of this book her mother goes into freefall when her father is hospitalized on the verge of death. Janie has to learn more about him through his home and writings. In the meantime she is also finding out more about becoming a dream-catcher and how she can deal with the physical problems that come along with it. And her boyfriend, who loves her very much, must also deal with those problems. This book is different from the others in that there is not a suspenseful problem, but a thought-provoking one. Janie has to really decide how to deal with and cope with this gift. She does the best she can, and readers really have to struggle to remember that she is a teen and not an adult- she has been forced to cope with her mother and act as the adult for her family for so long. It was a good ending to the series, and I am glad it ended with a more intellectual problem and not the police work she has done in the past.

    Book preview

    Gone - Francine Pascal

    FEARLESS

    GONE

    FRANCINE PASCAL

    SIMON PULSE

    New York London Toronto Sydney

    If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as unsold and destroyed to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this stripped book.

    Let’s begin, then, Ulrich said. I want to get this over with.

    Gaia’s life, he meant. He wanted to get her life over with. He leaned down to her with the IV needle in his hand, and he began to tap her arm for the vein.

    Jesus Christ. This was how she was going to die. Euthanized like a death row criminal. She almost wished she hadn’t woken up. Because there was absolutely nothing she could do. No amount of fighting spirit could change anything. Her body was strapped so tightly to that bed, she could hardly move a muscle. Even if she could, she was too weak to make a dent in those leather straps.

    Ulrich inserted the needle into her arm, and then he moved around to the other side of the bed to insert the second. Gaia searched her brain desperately for some answer, some brilliant scheme, but there was nothing. Literally no room to maneuver.

    He inserted the needle into her other arm, and then he moved back around the bed to press the switch and end her life. Maybe there is an afterlife, she told herself. And I’ve just been too cynical to believe it.

    Or maybe she just needed to believe that, in this last moment. Maybe she needed to believe a lot of things that she had never believed before.

    Don’t miss any books in this thrilling series:

    FEARLESS™

    #1   Fearless

    #2   Sam

    #3   Run

    #4   Twisted

    #5   Kiss

    #6   Payback

    #7   Rebel

    #8   Heat

    #9   Blood

    #10   Liar

    #11   Trust

    #12   Killer

    #13   Bad

    #14   Missing

    #15   Tears

    #16   Naked

    #17   Flee

    #18   Love

    #19   Twins

    #20   Sex

    #21   Blind

    #22   Alone

    #23   Fear

    #24   Betrayed

    #25   Lost

    #26   Escape

    #27   Shock

    #28   Chase

    #29   Lust

    #30   Freak

    #31   Normal

    #32   Terror

    #33   Wired

    #34   Fake

    #35   Exposed

    #36   Gone

    Super Edition #1: Before Gaia

    Super Edition #2: Gaia Abducted

    Available from SIMON PULSE

    For orders other than by individual consumers, Simon & Schuster grants a discount on the purchase of 10 or more copies of single titles for special markets or premium use. For further details, please write to the Vice-President of Special Markets, Pocket Books, 1260 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020-1586, 8th Floor.

    For information on how individual consumers can place orders, please write to Mail Order Department, Simon & Schuster Inc., 100 Front Street, Riverside, NJ 08075.

    If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as unsold and destroyed to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this stripped book.

    This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

    First Simon Pulse edition November 2004

    Copyright © 2004 by Francine Pascal

    Cover copyright © 2004 by Alloy Entertainment

    SIMON PULSE

    An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

    1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

    www.SimonandSchuster.com

    Produced by Alloy Entertainment

    151 West 26th Street New York, NY 10001

    All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

    For information address Alloy Entertainment, 151 West 26th Street, New York, NY 10001.

    Fearless™ is a trademark of Francine Pascal.

    Printed in the United States of America

    10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

    Library of Congress Control Number: 2004100274

    ISBN: 0-689-86919-3

    ISBN-13: 978-0-689-86919-8

    eISBN-13: 978-1-439-12102-3

    To Christopher Grassi

    Dear Readers:

    At last Gaia is graduating. Moving on to the rest of her life. But, in true Gaia style, it won’t be ordinary. That’s what has been so thrilling about Gaia for the last six years.

    About ten years ago I read a small article in the New York Times about a woman who didn’t seem to have any reaction to fear. I was fascinated. They couldn’t give any scientific reason so I invented my own: obviously she was born without the fear gene. I loved the idea, now all I needed was the right girl. And I found her in Gaia. Gaia is just enough of a rebel and just enough of a hero to be the dream of every teenage girl. And she’s not afraid of anything or anyone. What freedom!

    It was easy to hit the right notes. All I had to do was pretend I was Gaia and everything worked. And I think that’s what the readers did, too. You were able to lose yourselves in the fantasy of being Gaia Moore. Well, now, faithful fans and dreamers, I promise I won’t let you down.

    Though we are going to lose sight of Gaia for a while, she will turn up where we least expect. And with someone who will be a complete surprise. I can’t tell you any more at this time. But, I promise, she will be back. You have been marvelous fans and I thank you so much for your loyalty.

    Sincerely,

    renegade psycho

    There were a hundred different ways to shut Jake up.

    The Great Confuser

    GAIA MOORE HAD NEARLY FORGOTTEN everything that made her remarkable. It had been a nasty state of affairs. Embarrassing. Shameful, even. She’d found herself drowning in the most pathetic swamp of insecurity and mediocrity and what she could only term generalized feminine nambypambyness. Over the last few weeks she seemed to have completely forgotten that her IQ was genius level, that her senses were superior to the average human’s, that she was trained in more martial arts than she could count. In other words, that she had more power in her little finger than Skyler Rodke and his entire family combined.

    But she was remembering now. Bit by bit. Piece by piece. She was turning up her power in careful, measured increments. And as she sprinted up Morningside Drive, pumping her legs with forceful ease to make it back to Skyler’s apartment before he did, she began to devise her plan of attack.

    It would not be an attack in the usual sense of the word. Skyler deserved a hell of a lot worse than just a perfectly placed kick to the larynx or a punch to the solar plexus. Given the apparent scope of the Rodkes’ plans, this attack was going to have to be strategic in nature. She had to know every aspect of their plan; then she could formulate the ideal response—the perfect counterpunch. She needed all her power now. She needed to be cool and composed and rational. And finally, without gobs of fear clouding her judgment, she could be all those things and more. Because she was free at last. Free of all that fear.

    There was at least one thing she had learned during her temporarily frightened existence: fear was the Great Confuser. All her bouts with terror had turned her brain into cafeteria oatmeal—weak and mushy and flavorless. That was Gaia in the presence of Skyler Rodke: weak and mushy. No identity. Which was just what he’d wanted. It’s what they’d all wanted, apparently—Skyler and his father and Dr. Ulrich, too, which was pissing her off to no end. But that was all over now. Now she was paying attention. Now her thoughts were exquisitely pristine.

    As she whipped around the corner of 121st Street, she replayed the entire scene she had just witnessed, or rather heard, in that generic medical facility on Bowery and Bleecker. She could still feel the aches in her joints from cramming herself inside that filing cabinet, but it had been worth it. She’d managed to eavesdrop on the Rodkes’ top secret little meeting, and she’d heard at least some of what she’d needed to hear. She’d heard the voices of Skyler, his father, and Dr. Ulrich conspiring against her. And she’d heard that one new mystery man, although he wasn’t such a mystery anymore, given the words Skyler had spoken in his presence: army and soldiers. Whoever the mystery man was, he was unquestionably military. Whatever the Rodkes were planning, the army was somehow involved.

    But conspiracies were all in the details. And the details were precisely what she didn’t have. They’d called off their little meeting too quickly, leaving Gaia with too little information and no choice but to wait it out inside that cabinet and then sneak out the back stairs of the building, making a break for it.

    At least now she could begin to put all the pieces together. With each long stride down the street, she revved up that once-dormant part of her brain that could think with machinelike precision.

    Think it through, she ordered herself. What are the things you know? What are the things you don’t know? Her mind instantly split those two categories down the middle and formulated a simple informational chart:

    Things I know:

    Skyler, Dr. Rodke, and Dr. Ulrich are the enemy.

    They are concocting some kind of drug using my genes—using me as their own personal lab rat. That’s at least one of the reasons they’ve been trying to keep me under lock and key and under Skyler’s disgustingly chauvinistic influence.

    The military is somehow involved.

    Things I don’t know:

    Just how extensive a family affair is this? Are Chris and Liz involved, too? Has our friendship just been part of the scam?

    How exactly is the army involved? Does this go all the way up to top government levels, or are we just dealing with one renegade psycho general?

    What the hell are they planning next?

    The most important question of all: Whatever they’re planning next … how am I going to stop it?

    That was really all she cared about now as the sweat trickled down her temples and she took the steps of Skyler’s building in leaps and bounds. She just needed to figure out how to stop them all. By herself—that was an absolute. That was not up for debate. She was putting an end to this entire mystery operation alone.

    At the very least she knew what she had to do next… as sick as it was going to make her. She had to maintain the status quo. She had to continue to play the part of the frightened, mushy-headed girlie-girl with Skyler. She had to continue to play scared and kept in his presence, until she could gather all the necessary info without him even knowing it. Because right now, all she had going for her was the element of surprise. Her most valuable weapon wasn’t the power she had finally rediscovered; it was that Skyder didn’t know she had rediscovered it And Gaia was going to keep it that way. Until just the perfect moment. Then she would let him know. Then she’d remind them all just exactly who they were dealing with.

    Ultraviolet Medicine

    JAKE COULDN’T KEEP ALL HIS THOUGHTS in line. That was something he’d have to work on if he truly planned to make it in the world of covert ops. He’d have to learn how to organize all the facts in his head and draw clearcut conclusions. Then he’d have to learn how to keep those conclusions separate from the mishmash of emotions twirling around in his head like paint in an industrial mixer. Because right now he sucked at it. He couldn’t help it His heart was mangled with frustration.

    He had seen the truth. He’d seen the infamous God dealing Invince in Washington Square Park, and now he knew that God was in fact none other than Chris Rodke himself, disguised in cheap spray-on blue hair dye and blue wraparound shades and a long Matrix-style coat. Now he knew that Chris had been the one dealing Invince to the entire city, wrecking New Yorkers’ lives (including Gaia’s, Ed’s, Kai’s, and even his own) with a bit of the old ultraviolence. That in and of itself made Jake sick to his stomach. It made him want to find God, aka Chris, and give him a whopping dose of his own ultraviolent medicine.

    But the situation ran much deeper than just one drug dealer, and Jake knew it—even if he didn’t understand exactly how. Chris might be the distributor, but Jake was pretty sure that the true source of Invince was Rodke and Simon itself. And Jake was convinced that the entire operation had something to do with Gaia… something—that was all he knew. But still, he could feel it: Gaia was the Rodkes’ victim. She was their target. And this was where Jake’s emotions were getting the better of him. This was truly pissing him off.

    Because Gaia was too goddamn blind to see it.

    How could she let herself get snowed by that faux playah rich boy Skyler Rodke and his snob of a brother? And more importantly, why couldn’t she see that she needed more capable people to step in and take care of things for her? Jake and Oliver were the ones who really knew what was going on here. Not only did they know what was going on, they were the ones who could handle it. Why couldn’t Gaia see that?

    Jake whipped his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Gaia’s cell number. He could just picture her right now, leaning her misguided head on Skyler’s shoulder, staring up at that asshole’s face with a trusting smile, being snowed by every single lie coming out of his puckered-up little bl ue-bl ood mouth. For all Jake knew, Gaia was sitting there with Skyler and Chris, having a freaking wine tasting or something. It was time to give Gaia a serious reality check.

    He listened through her voice mail message (of course she still refused to pick up her phone), and the moment he heard that beep, he just let it rip.

    "Gaia, I thought we talked about this, he barked into the phone. You’ve got to pick up when I call. He took a deep breath and tried to clamp down on his frustration before placing the phone back to his ear. All right, listen, okay. Listen to me this time, ’cause I’m not screwing around here. Chris Rodke is ‘God,’ do you understand? Chris is the one dealing Invince in the park. I was there, all right? I saw it with my own eyes. If you want to know why we nearly got killed in the park by those psychos—if you wanna know why Ed and Kai were almost killed, it’s because of your friend Chris. And this goes deep, Gaia, Oliver and I are sure of it. This whole operation stems back to the whole Rodke family. As in Mr. Upstanding CEO. As in Mr. Upstanding CEO’s son Skyler. Do you get it now? They’re plotting something against you, Gaia. We’re sure of it. They’re using you. If you’re still sitting there in Skyler’s house, then you need to get out. You need to get out of that apartment right now and you need to contact me and Oliver. You need to let us take care of this thing. And if you can’t get out of that apartment, then you need to let us know where it is. Give us Skyler’s location and we’ll come there and get you out. Just call us. I’ll be at Oliver’s in ten minutes, and we’ll wait for your call. Look, I know I sound pissed, but I’m just worried. I’m worried you’re not seeing the whole picture here. So just call, okay? And stay away from Skyler Rodke. And Gaia, whatever you do, stay the hell away from Chris. He’s sick in the head. The whole family is."

    poster child

    EVERYONE IN THE ENTIRE RODKE building knew Chris. Every secretary, every janitor, and more importantly, every security guard. It was part of their job—knowing when the boss’s son was rolling through, knowing which butt to kiss to get their Christmas bonus. Chris sped through a chorus of obsequious helios as he made his way through the gilded revolving doors of Rodke Industries, straight through the metal detectors, and into the elevator, banging on the button six or seven times, as if that would somehow speed things along. He had absolutely no time to waste. He was doing damage control here, and that meant moving swiftly and keeping his mounting anxiety to a minimum. Which wasn’t so easy at this particular moment. Because the proverbial cat was out of the bag.

    Jake had seen him in the park and Chris knew it. God’s identity had been revealed. Chris was sure that Jake was sitting somewhere right now feeling quite proud of his successful little spy job, but that didn’t matter to Chris in the least. Dealing with Jake would be easy. He surely had no idea what God was capable of. There were a hundred different ways to shut Jake up. The problem was his father. Chris had to be the one to tell his father about this unfortunate development before he heard it from anyone else. And when his father heard the news… he wouldn’t be happy.

    And screw him for being such a pompous, neglectful son of a bitch, Chris thought as he tapped his foot incessantly and waited for each floor to race by. This is my father’s fault anyway. If he’d given me just an ounce of additional support—a couple of lookouts, a little protection—this never would have happened. And isn’t Skyler just going to love this? Chris gnashed his teeth together as the elevator opened on the executive floor. This was just what Skyler needed to prove that Chris was nothing but a screwup. Wouldn’t this just support every little snide comment and obnoxious insult his brother and father had not so subtly thrown at him? You’re not careful, Chris. "Your tasteless flare for drama just embarrasses

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