In Ilsa J. Bick's Ashes, an electromagnetic pulse struck the world, killing many civilians, converting others into feral carnivores (the Changed), and forcing the survivors (the Spared) into unspeakable corners. More terrifying than its predecessor, Shadows exposes new villains--desperate humans.
Ashes ended with Alex Adair led astray by the council of Rule (a sanctuary protecting humans from the Changed) and into a field of five Changed teenagers wielding guns and knives. Alex survived the bleakness of her brain tumor and her will to live is unrelenting. She defends herself against the Changed in the kind of calculated, graphic fight scene at which the author excels throughout the book. Bick suspends the outcome of this first scene with Alex while the perspectives of other Spared teenagers unfold. Readers learn of a rebellion forming from inside Rule over why their commander, Peter, has them stealing children, as well as the mystery of why Rule has been safe from attacks by the Changed. Even more frightening, a captive discovers from a sinister human that the Change isn't over and those who thought they were Spared may not be.
Even as she alternates among a handful of characters' perspectives, Bick manages the narrative impressively and often leaves readers in suspense for several chapters with her well-timed cliffhangers. In this violent sequel, enemies aren't black and white, reunions between characters are short-lived, and the detailed bloodshed will call forth nightmares. A post-apocalyptic world hasn't been scarier. --Adam Silvera, reviewer and former bookseller