Twin brothers Ty and Cory Bic are on the run. When they encounter a dying deer in the middle of a remote mountain road with fresh tire tracks swerving down into a ravine, they know they have to help. But when they reach the wrecked car the vehicle appears empty, with signs that the driver escaped. Until they hear a sound coming from the trunk. Ty and Cory are escaping demons of their own. But what they discover in the trunk puts them in the crosshairs of something darker and more sinister than their wildest nightmares. Told through a gripping, lightning-fast narrative that alternates between present and past, this unputdownable survival thriller unravels the tangled circumstances that led Ty and Cory to the deer in the road and set them on a perilous course through the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest.

It was supposed to be epic. During a late-night poker game, tennis teammates Colin, Ceo, Grahame, and Rhody make a pact to go on a camping trip in Yosemite National Park. And poker vows can't be broken. So the first sign that they should ditch the plan is when Rhody backs out. The next is when Ceo replaces him with Ellie, a girl Grahame and Colin have never even heard of. And then there's the forest fire at their intended campsite. But instead of bailing, they decide to take the treacherous Snow Creek Falls Trail to the top of Yosemite Valley. From there, the bad decisions really pile up. A freak storm is threatening snow, their Craigslist tent is a piece of junk, and Grahame is pretty sure there's a bear on the prowl. On top of that, the guys have some serious baggage (and that's not including the ridiculously heavy ax that Grahame insisted on packing) and Ellie can't figure out what their deal is. And then one of them doesn't make it back to the tent. Desperate to survive while...

A "fast-paced and engrossing" (Publishers Weekly) sci-fi novel that asks the question: What would you do to survive?When the black spheres filled the sky, anyone caught beneath them would vanish in a flash of blue-white light. Huddled indoors, the survivors were unaware if what was happening in their neighborhoods was happening worldwide.Josh is trapped at home with his father, whose sanity is starting to erode from the endless confinement. Megs struggles to survive in a hotel parking garage where she sees human nature at its worst. For both of them, food, water, and time are running out.And hovering patiently above them is an extraterrestrial enemy that has inexplicably declared war against humanity…From BooklistIn Prosser, Washington, 15-year-old Josh and his father awake to a screeching, ear-splitting noise, which, turns out, announces an alien occupation. Then the pods show up, giant spheres of pearl gray suspended in the sky, waiting. Anyone daring to venture outside his or her home is zapped. In L.A. that same morning, 12-year-old Megs says good-bye to her mother in a hotel parking garage. When the aliens arrive, Megs finds herself surviving off crumbs found in other cars. Wallenfels never shows readers the aliens. Though they seem bent on starving people out of their homes, the real horror is what humans do to each other. This is especially the case on Megs' side of the story. Thugs regulate the food, water, and medicine supply inside the hotel; separate families; and kill anyone challenging their authority. However, the dire circumstances don't negate the humor, the hormones, or the humanity found in the young narrators. This is solid, straightforward sci-fi—unfortunately, a rarity in these times when vampires and zombies reign unchecked. Grades 8-11. --Courtney Jones Review"Masterful...grabs the reader by the throat from the first page and never lets go." --Kirkus Reviews"Exceptional and unexpected, Pod is a gem not to be missed." --The Entertainer (Kennewick, WA)"Solid, straighforward sci-fi." --Booklist(Eloquence quotes )