Matt has grown up skipping from town to town alongside his father, hunting anyone whose soul the devil has marked. They have one purpose: Find these people, and exterminate them.

But when Matt starts to fall for Rae, to make friends for the first time in his life, he’s not sure who or what to believe anymore. How can someone like Rae, someone who is thoughtful and smart and kind, be an agent of the devil? With the lines of reality and fantasy, myth and paranoia blurred, Matt confronts an awful truth: What if the devil’s mark doesn’t exist?

This page-turner is a delightful thriller-romance that despite its quirky premise, feels believable and clutches you in its claws from start to finish.

Matt is a 17-year-old raised in a sort of cult, a trained serial killer or (if you like) an accepting conspiracy theorist. But in this coming-of-age story, as he develops feelings for his teen target Rae, his acceptance is coming apart and he begins to long for whatever a normal life might be. Not that the evil powers apparently directing him would allow that to go unpunished.

Everything that seemed so clear when I got up this morning shivers and blurs, Dad’s lessons slipping from my mind like sand. The certainty I’m reaching for won’t come, the questions howling too loudly to ignore. I can’t hold on to the teachings, can’t see Lucifer when I view the world through Rae’s eyes.

Nothing – no web pages, no articles, not even a wayward comment in a chat – even hints at the Sweep’s existence, which is exactly what I would expect from an organization fighting to remain secret. Or one that doesn’t exist.

Despite allusions to the devil, there’s no religion in this novel. It’s simply an intense, gripping read with incredibly well-sculpted characters and ever-rising stakes. The cold, all-business relationship between Matt and his father is heart-wrenching; the blooming romance with Rae, and Matt’s first-ever experience of acceptance by quite lovably-drawn, often funny schoolfriends is heart-touching. The high school scenes, supporting characters and teachers feel entirely authentic, while the ever-present suspense in this “thriller light” keeps the reader’s spine tingling. The writing itself is good (not outstanding) and the novel deals sensitively with grief.

The dialogue gets a little dry at times, and more use of humor would have been welcome, but for an author’s first novel, it’s a remarkable achievement, and let’s hope we get many more from her.

-Pam Withers