(3) 4-6 Nightshade Chronicles series. In this series conclusion, unscrupulous rat Billycan appears to have changed his ways. He returns to Trillium to help stop a coup, but there's another plot afoot. Rats are disappearing, and it seems that the pernicious corporation Prince Pharmaceuticals is to blame. With a slew of earnest rodent characters and much political intrigue, fans of the Redwall books should enjoy this series.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(4) YA Nightshade series. Ember (Rift) and her order (including Barrow, her love and mentor) flee their corrupt leader Eira and the malevolent sorcerer Bosque Mar. Ember soon returns as a spy to help overthrow them--and uncovers horrifying medical/magical experiments. As part of her deception Ember assumes stereotypically female clothing and behavior, losing (disappointingly) much of her previous moxie. Supernatural dangers provide plenty of action and suspense.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(4) YA Nightshade series. Power-hungry Logan joins forces with evil sorcerer Bosque Mar, whom the Searchers trapped in the Nether. Meanwhile, Searcher Ariadne speaks to Mar in visions, and werewolf Renier, now a ghost, must do his bidding. Mar manipulates all three teens in his plot to escape. Cremer's world-building is strong; banter and romance offer relief from the occasionally melodramatic prose in this installment.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(4) YA Nightshade series. In Wolfsbane, werewolf Shay learned he's destined to overthrow the evil Keepers who enslave the wolf packs. In order to find his legendary weapon, Shay and girlfriend Calla must put their faith in a quarrelsome team--which includes Calla's former fiancé. Tensions among the teens, sparked by hierarchical and romantic dynamics, occasionally overwhelm the plot, but Cremer's world-building is compelling.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(4) YA Nightshade series. Ember trains to fight supernatural entities with a secret order of warriors and magic-wielders. She resists her attraction to mentor Barrow as the order faces betrayal from within and the constant threat of heresy accusations from without. Set in 1400s Scotland, this centuries-prior prequel to Cremer's Nightshade trilogy captures a similar heady blend of fantastic action and forbidden (if unsurprising) romance.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(3) YA Nightshade series. In Nightshade, werewolf Calla defied her pack by falling in love with human Shay; they uncovered the dark truth behind the Keepers who enslave werewolves. Now Calla, Shay, and their teen packmates join a rebellion to overthrow the Keepers. In this intriguing fantasy, tension is kept high by shifting alliances, the many dangers of insurrection, and Calla's guilty attraction to her former betrothed.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(3) 4-6 Nightshade Chronicles series. Three years after Nightshade City's victory, the community of rats once again faces a foe from the Catacombs: Billycan the assassin has built up a new following. After an undercover agent foils another plot against the city, the hunt is on for a traitor. Earnest rodent characters, dramatic secrets, political intrigue, and the promise of more keep these chronicles fresh.

Reviewer: Brittany Schlorff

(3) YA Nightshade series. Werewolf Calla defies her pack by saving human Shay from death. Despite Calla's betrothal to another pack's alpha, she falls in love with Shay. Their forbidden relationship becomes even more dangerous when the two uncover the secret history of the Keepers, the werewolves' magic-wielding masters. Intricate dynamics of pack membership, friendship, and romance strengthen this fantasy's intriguing mythos.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(3) 4-6 Nightshade Chronicles series. Rat brothers Vincent and Victor, fleeing the dictatorship of the Catacombs, stumble into a rebel colony; meanwhile, Clover wants to escape an arranged marriage to the Catacombs's totalitarian leader. The suspense never wavers as the rebels, with their strong bonds of family, friendship, and community, try to overcome the murderous despot and his vicious second-in-arms.

Reviewer: Brittany Schlorff