Daughter of Deep Silence

April 13, 2015
Ryan (the Forest of Hands and Teeth trilogy) takes on a saga of teen vengeance through the cold and assured voice of Frances Mace. At 14, Frances went on a cruise with her parents and met Libby, a sparkling extrovert from an immensely wealthy family. The ship was taken out in a commando-style attack and sank, but there were survivors—ambitious Senator Wells; his son Grey, with whom Frances had a shipboard romance; and Frances herself. But why does the Wells family insist a rogue wave took out the ship? Libby’s grief-stricken father takes Frances in, with the caveat that she impersonate his dead daughter to avoid the “paperwork” of adoption—though he’s not averse to spending months at a European hospital while Frances undergoes facial surgery. Four years later, with finishing school behind her and her faux father dead, Frances uses her wealth to wreak havoc on the senator and the boy who broke her heart. It’s a TV-ready plot that’s skillfully told, but without the consistent insight or empathy that would make it truly hit home. Ages 14–up. Agent: Merrilee Heifetz, Writers House.

April 1, 2015
Frances Mace, 14, one of three survivors rescued after the Persephone sinks-is shocked when the other two tell a starkly different tale of the luxury yacht's demise. Sen. Wells and his attractive son, Grey (with whom Frances had an onboard romance), claim the Persephone was swamped by a rogue wave. Frances, escaping on a raft with new friend Libby O'Martin (who perishes before they're rescued), knows the ship was brutally attacked, and she shares her gruesome recollections in flashbacks with readers: "Blood-soaked, faces shattered." Orphaned in the attack, Frances is encouraged by Libby's father, Cecil, to switch identities and "become" Libby. Altered by plastic surgery and a stay at a foreign boarding school, Frances may look like Libby, but she remains doggedly determined to understand the past and exact revenge. Four years later, after Cecil dies, Frances cultivates Grey's acquaintance, claiming amnesia about their shared history and romancing him to access his secrets. As Frances gets closer and closer to her goal of uncovering the truth, her vow of "cold destruction, calculated retribution" wavers before her old attraction for Grey, placing her in mortal danger. Frances' soapy, present-tense narration suits the overwrought circumstances, and the pace never lags. Despite an often implausible plot, this romantic revenge thriller will keep readers turning pages in a state of breathless suspense. (Thriller. 14 & up)

April 1, 2015

Gr 8 Up-Frances Mace is on a luxury cruise liner, Persephone, with her parents when it is attacked by a mysterious group. The attackers violently and systematically murder everyone aboard. Only Frances, her friend Libby, and two others manage to escape. Frances and Libby spend a week together adrift at sea before Libby's father arrives to rescue them. He is too late for his daughter, but Frances has survived. To protect Frances from the attackers, Libby's father proposes she adopt Libby's identity. Two others have survived the disaster, Senator Wells and his son Grey. At first, Frances is ecstatic; she and Grey fell in love with each other on the cruise. It comes as a shock when she learns they are not telling the truth about the cause of the disaster. Frances suspects Senator Wells may have been behind the attack, and her bitterness at the loss of her family, friend, and identity causes her to plot revenge. After four years, she is finally ready to put her plan into motion. Can she suppress her feelings and enact her vengeance on Grey and his family? Is she able to reconcile herself with the loss of who she was as Frances Mace with who she is now: some caricature of Libby O'Martin? Ryan, known for her The Forest of Hands and Teeth (Random, 2009), delivers a suspenseful thriller dealing with themes of identity, love, loss, and getting even. VERDICT Fans of the television show Revenge will enjoy this fast-paced additional purchase.-Tiffany Davis, Mount Saint Mary College, Newburgh, NY

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2015
Grades 8-12 After the attack on the cruise ship Persephone, 14-year-olds Libby O'Martin and Frances Mace struggled to survive for days on a life raft. But when Libby's father finds them, only Frances is alive. Fearing for Frances' safety and haunted by her strong resemblance to his daughter, Mr. O'Martin convinces Frances to become Libby. She agrees, setting up an elaborate plan to bring down Senator Wells and his son Greyson, who have convinced the world that the Persephone and all its passengers were victims of a rogue wave that sank the ship. Only when Frances/Libby arrives at her South Carolina island home four years later does she realize the collateral damage her ruse has wrought. While the novels are hardly the same, there's a Gone Girl quality to this. Frances'/Libby's careful research, plotting, and design for the ultimate takedown of the senator are reminiscent of Amy Dunne's craftiness. The sweet love stories that haunt these complex teenagers, however, are theirs alone, a subset of a multilayered story of assumed identity, revenge, and possible, if uncertain, happy endings.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

September 28, 2015
As narrator Vacker performs this revenge tale, her voice portrays tightly wound intensity, smug satisfaction, and heightened fear, all depending on where the story takes her. Francis has spent four years plotting revenge upon the people responsible for the death of her family and her dear friend, who were killed when armed men attacked the cruise ship they were on. Francis and Libby escaped in a life raft, but Libby died after a week on the ocean. A senator and his son were the only other survivors, and they have been lying about what happened on the ship. Francis was taken in by Libby's father and given Libby's identity to protect her from the attackers. Four years later, and Francis is ready to take her revenge on the senator and his family. The story starts strong, then turns rather unbelievable. Vacker holds it together and reads with the same energy and intent throughout. She channels quaking fear, calm certainty, shameless mendacity, earnest longing, and bitter rage, sometimes all emanating from the same character, and she manages this extraordinary feat while keeping listeners rapt to this over-the-top revenge tale. Ages 14âup. A Dutton hardcover.

July 1, 2015
The luxury yacht Persephone was sunk by a wave, and its wreckage was never found--that's the official version. But Frances survived the disaster, and she knows that men with guns killed everyone on board. Four years later, she has assumed an alternate identity and is intent on finding the truth. This fast-paced thriller is a tense exploration of selfhood and revenge.

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)