Gretchen Sharpe is a huntress, a descendent of Medusa, tasked with guarding the unaware mortal world from escaped monsters. Every bit as tough as her name makes her sound, Gretchen is able to smell monsters as they emerge from “the abyss” into her native San Francisco, fight them with her weapons and highly-honed martial skills, and then, with her retractable fangs, deliver a dose of venom that sends them back to their realm.  Grace Whitfield is a self-described “eco-geek” who has just moved to San Francisco with her parents and older brother, and does not realize that she, too, is a huntress until she begins seeing monsters that normal mortals cannot see.  When the two sixteen-year-olds encounter each other battling a fire-breathing lizard in a nightclub, they realize that they are twins, separated at birth and adopted by different families.  In the midst of this reunion, many questions arise: Will the independent and fierce Gretchen teach Grace to fight? Can vegetarian pacifist Grace learn to keep herself and others safe? Why has Gretchen’s mentor Ursula disappeared? What has Grace’s (also adopted) brother left home to pursue? Who is the very handsome boy who has shown up at Gretchen’s school and refuses to leave her alone, even after he is injured in a monster fight? These and many more questions that center on mysterious identities follow the girls throughout the story as it becomes clear that the circumstances surrounding monster-hunting are rapidly changing, putting both Gretchen and Grace in great danger.

This book is a very exciting read with mysterious and likable characters. The monsters—some familiar and some more obscure, perhaps invented by the author for the book—are interesting and diverse, although the story gives them very little opportunity for dialogue. Grace’s family members are kind and accepting, and her brother (and his cute soccer-playing friend) are warm and loving to Grace. The questions that multiply throughout the narrative are not answered by the end of the book, leading the reader to want to pick up the next volume of the trilogy immediately. Look especially for a last-minute character addition, for which I will not provide a spoiler here, but cannot avoid revealing in my review of the next book! --Nava Cohen