The Edge of Nowhere (review)

Becca can hear thoughts; unfortunately, some of her stepfather's thoughts reveal his murderous crimes, so Becca is sent off to a remote island to hide out with an old friend until her mother can sort out the legalities of a new life. However, her mother's friend is dead, and Becca's mom isn't answering the phone, so Becca is stranded. Luckily this is one friendly town. Punky Seth gives her a sandwich and directs her to Debbie, a motel owner who offers room and board in exchange for babysitting her grandkids. Debbie calls in a favor to enroll Becca at the local school, and before long she's settled into a safe holding pattern—until Derric, a quiet, kind Ugandan adoptee for whom Becca immediately falls head-over-heels, turns up comatose in the woods and Becca's frantic 911 call puts her secret identity at risk. While the writing tends to be clunky, the plotting is surefooted as George interweaves the mysteries of Derric's injury, Becca's mom's disappearance, and the origins of various town conflicts. Becca's psychic gifts are smartly underplayed—the thoughts she overhears frequently cause more confusion than they resolve—and the small town, with its wealth of idiosyncratic, layered characters, is bursting with tantalizing secrets. George plays up the emotional elements of her theme of rebuilding life after tragedy (which Becca, Derric, Debbie, Seth, and others are all attempting in their own ways), and the atmosphere of rich introspection gives this series opener strong appeal to fans of Beth Kephart and Nancy Werlin.