Crystal Fire

November 15, 2013
This conclusion to the Hunted duet (Indigo Awakening, 2013) takes readers ever deeper into the workings of the paranormal abilities of the various Indigo children. Indigo children are an evolved strain of humanity endowed with strong psychic abilities, different for each individual. A few, such as Gabriel, have evolved even further into Crystal children, with gifts of enormous power. The hated Church of Spiritual Freedom, headed by Gabriel's estranged father, seeks to eradicate the Indigo children. Although most of the children escaped from the streets of Los Angeles to the estate of Gabriel's wealthy maternal uncle in the previous book, the Church manages to capture Oliver and Caila. The completely evil Dr. Fiona goes outside even the rules of the Church in brutally experimenting on the captives in the infamous Ward 8 of her mental hospital. Oliver and Caila struggle to resist, even as Gabriel and the free Indigo children plan an attack on the facility to rescue their friend Rafe, the most recent captive. While Dane works to create suspense, she spends far too much time explaining how various psychic powers work, what characters feel and why, and why they take various actions. Characterization is one-dimensional, but at least some fizz is provided by such secondary characters as Hellboy, Gabriel's ghost dog, and his "life-challenged" ghost butler, Frederick. Superficial and clunky. (Paranormal thriller. 12 & up)

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