In this gripping prequel to Thunder , unsettling secrets change Selah Chavez's life forever in the days before her 18th Born Remembrance.

In post-apocalyptic America, Selah Chavez is crouched in long grass on a shore littered with the rusted metal remnants of a once-great city. It is the day before her eighteenth Born Remembrance, and she is hunting, though many people refuse to eat animal flesh, tainted by radiation during the Time of Sorrows. What Selah's really after are Landers, mysterious people from a land across the big water who survive the delirium-inducing passage in small boats that occasionally crash against the shoreline. She knows she should leave the capture to the men, but Landers bring a good price from the Company and are especially prized if they keep the markings they arrive with. Everything falls to pieces when the Lander Selah catches is stolen by her brothers—and Selah wakes up the next morning to find the Lander's distinctive mark has suddenly appeared on her own flesh. Once the hunter, Selah is now one of the hunted, and she knows only one person who can help her—Bohdi Locke, the Lander her brothers hope to sell. With evocative descriptions of a strange new world that combines elements of scientific advances, political intrigue, and wilderness survival, Bonnie S. Calhoun weaves a captivating tale of a world more like our own than we may want to admit.

Selah may have escaped the Mountain, but the real danger has only begun It's been two days since Selah Rishon Chavez escaped the Mountain with her father and dozens of other Landers who had been held captive there. Now it's time to move on to safety. But no one can agree on a safe route or even the final destination. Selah's real problem, however, lies deep within. Ever since her first interaction with a Lander, she has been changing, and the changes go far beyond the mark just below her collarbone. As a novarium, she is destined to be the key to solving a 150-year-old mystery—making her Public Enemy Number One not just to the Company but to other Landers. Bonnie S. Calhoun loves to write, but it doesn't make her happy unless there are the three Bs: body count, blood, and blowing things up. She is the author of Thunder, Lightning, and Tremors, all part of the Stone Braide Chronicles. Bonnie lives in a log cabin in the woods with fifteen acres and shares her domain with a husband, a dog, and two cats—all of whom think she is waitstaff.

After she found her real father, life for Selah should have felt settled. But the horrors have just begun. In her broken world of toxic earth and tribal clashes, Selah must battle the forces of nature alongside those in the Mountain who are calling for her blood. Haunted by the pain of mounting losses, she forges on, seeking her lost family and uncovering new mysteries. But the ultimate betrayal of her own body may soon make her quest impossible as it becomes apparent that what has made her new could also drive her to a life of madness. Bonnie Calhoun whisks readers back into an otherworldly struggle as Selah continues her quest for answers—and freedom.

Selah is dodging attacks on every side . . . but time may be her greatest enemy The Mountain is destroyed, the way to the West has been opened, and Selah's quest must continue. Her very life depends on it, a fact made all too clear along this treacherous journey. As Selah struggles to comprehend the vast destruction of the landscape, another battle rages within her heart. She knows that her father freely gave up his life to save her, and that she's surrounded by people who are risking their lives moment by moment to keep her safe. Every time someone else puts themselves in the line of fire meant for her, the guilt within her grows. Even if she survives and the quest succeeds, how many casualties will she leave in her wake?

Now That Glade, Selah's Protecting Force, Is Gone, the Hunt Is On to Capture Her Selah has survived the forces of both man and nature to reunite her family. But her happiness is short-lived as they are forced into a barren world of volcanic ash that conceals the storm boiling beneath. The clock is ticking and Selah's abilities are growing—along with the list of those out for her blood. Selah feels unworthy of her status as a novarium and is tortured by the knowledge of lives lost to protect her. Her physical and mental abilities will tempt her to be reckless, but she must learn to wield such power responsibly. Time is running out as more lives are tragically cut short and the search for the Third Protocol takes Selah into lands that have fallen into legend. Can Selah follow the trail of ancient artifacts and finish the quest? Or have she and her companions pinned their hopes on nothing more than a fanciful story? Calhoun's characters race headlong into an explosive combination of futuristic technology, age-old greed, and the sacrifices for love that drive them to impossible choices.