Waking Storms (The Lost Voices Trilogy)
An intriguing foray into the origin of the first mermaids doesn’t save this strained sequel to Lost Voices (2011). Exiled queen Luce is reeled back in to protect her old mermaid tribe when she learns how their insane leader, Anais, is abusing them. Also, their frequent ship sinking has caught the eye of an FBI agent, whose investigations bring him dangerously close to the truth. An unconvincing obsessive romance with petulant, controlling Dorian, the boy she saved after her tribe drowned his entire family, distracts Luce from her duty long enough to set up a bloody cliff-hanger ending. Purchase only where the first volume has a following. Grades 9-12. --Krista Hutley