The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t with Her Mind

May 15, 2019
It's a race against time when a psychokinetic spook is framed for a crime she didn't commit. Teagan is the only psychokinetic in the world--as far as she or anyone else on her black ops team knows. The deal is simple. Teagan carries out top-secret, totally off-the-books missions for a government spook named Tanner, and Tanner keeps Teagan from becoming a lab rat for scientists curious about how her powers work. But when one of the team's targets turns up murdered in a way that has "special abilities" written all over it, that deal is precariously close to disintegrating and landing Teagan in a government lab and the rest of the team in jail. Now she has 22 hours to clear her name by proving that there is, in fact, a second psychokinetic out there. Meanwhile, Jake, a drifter who's never known why he has the power to move things with his mind, is on a mission, too: Complete three simple tasks and he gets the information he needs about who he is and where he came from. Teagan is a frank and funny narrator for this wild ride, which starts off with our heroine falling from the 82nd floor of a skyscraper and pretty much never slows down. Readers will be glad to learn that it's set for a sequel. A fast-paced, high-adrenaline tale that manages to get into some dark themes without losing its sense of fun.

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June 10, 2019
Ford’s first Frost Files action-packed misadventure is led by frustratingly limited characters. Teagan Frost is a genetically engineered psychokinetic government operative living in Los Angeles under an alias. When the target of an undercover operation is found dead with a length of rebar wrapped around his neck, Teagan is the prime suspect, as she’s supposedly the only person in the world who’s able to move objects with her mind. Teagan has 22 hours to prove her innocence before she’s condemned to a lifetime as a government lab rat. With the help of her reluctant team of house movers and government flunkies, Teagan pursues the only person in the world who’s just like her. Ford peoples near-future L.A. with a motley crew of misfit tropes—the bumbler, the temperamental grouch, the conniver—and marginalized characters who regrettably veer toward the stereotypical, including an angry black woman and Latino gang members. Perhaps because the characters are flimsy, the romantic subplots are underwhelming. However, Ford’s strengths are evident in the taut action sequences and suspenseful pacing, which tie the book’s central mystery together. This one is purely for undemanding fans of adrenaline rushes. Agent: Ed Wilson, Johnson & Alcock (U.K.).

June 1, 2019
Teagan Frost has psychokinesis, the ability to, well, move sh*t with her mind. Her scientist parents tinkered with her genetic code, so Teagan has had to cope with this unwanted power her entire life. She works for a secret government organization, the China Shop, and they're the only family she has now. When a man they'd been investigating turns up dead?strangled by a length of rebar?Teagan is the prime suspect. Now she has to find the real murderer, someone who presumably also has PK, while eluding the authorities and a host of others who want to punish her. The novel unfolds cinematically with loads of breathtaking action, a perfect candidate for film or television adaptation. Some readers may be put off by the breakneck pace and convoluted plot, but Teagan's cool and snappy voice makes up for any confusion. Jackson Ford is a pseudonym for a best-selling sf novelist, and readers will be guessing the author's true identity. They'll also want more, and luckily for them, the ending expertly sets up a sequel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)