Federal Agent Nick Cooper lives in an alternate 2013, a world very similar to our own except that it’s just slightly skewed; one percent of all infants exhibit superpowers. In the civilization that Marcus Sakey so vividly creates in the first of a new three-book saga, these superhumans are called "brilliants," "abnorms," "gifted," or derogatory variations. The government tests children, who, if they score in the top one or two tiers of gifted powers, are forced into academies where the humanity is drained from their souls. With multilayered characters, Sakey immerses us in the world and life of Cooper, a tier-one brilliant, who can read people’s movements before they make them. He’s a True Believer and, as an agent for a government he believes is infallible, tracks down rogue abnorms who endanger the nation.

His world is shaken when his four-year-old daughter Katie exhibits signs of superpowers. Cooper pleads with his boss to exempt her from testing and inevitable admission to an academy. When he is refused, Cooper makes a deal with the devil that finds him not only questioning his belief system, but running for his life and the lives of those he loves. Don’t mistake this for another comic-book-superhero saga. The characters and story are unique, yet grounded in realism. The brilliants could be anyone’s family member, friend, or next-door neighbor. Award-winning Sakey’s previous books are standalone crime fiction, most recently The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes. This departure into the realm of speculative fiction was a gutsy move that paid off, with movie rights already sold to the production company Legendary Pictures. If the second and third books in this trilogy please as much as this first, Sakey has a solid winner on his hands.