NZ Intermediate School Librarians discussion

A great read - but it does require a certain amount of concentration! There is a lot going on and it can be a bit confusing. That being said, once I got into it, I didn't want it to end! I will definitely be recommending it to our more accomplished readers. "The Rift" is set in contemporary times on an island called Black Water which is home to a special herd of deer. The deer's antlers, when ground up, make a powerful cure-all medication "Actaeon's Bane". For hundreds of years Actaeon's Bane has been highly sought after by both desperate and unscrupulous parties. Were it not for the Rangers, local inhabitants of the island whose job it is to protect the deer, the herd would have been wiped out long ago. There is however much more to Black Water Island and the deer than most people realise. What they don't know is that the Rangers possess magical skills, the deer are supernatural beings and they are periodically hunted by hell hounds who appear on the island through a rift in the space/time continuum! Cal is a 17 year old apprentice Ranger who fears he is not good enough. Meg was a childhood friend of Cals', but has spent the last 9 years away on the mainland after a traumatic incident involving her and Cal. Meg returns to the island briefly with her mother to settle some business, but she very quickly gets caught up in a dangerous mission to protect the deer against corrupt and deadly persons, not to mention the hell hounds! Cal and Meg are strongly attracted to each other but between them they carry a massive burden of teenage angst, guilt, and resentment that they need to work through if there is to be any chance of romance. A gripping read, containing elements of action, adventure, fantasy and romance. One of those books that makes it hard to choose one genre sticker to put on the spine! But I will give it the Supernatural genre label so that it sits near "City of Bones" and the "Gone" series on my shelves. Highly recommended as a "Young Adults" read.