Sam Temple fights to survive being trapped in his home town of Perdido Beach by an unseen force as the youth left behind by a mysterious event begin to form warring factions among one another. It has been almost a year since everyone over the age of fifteen disappeared from the coastal town of Perdido Beach, CA and an invisible barrier cut them off from the outside world. Since then the children and teenagers left behind have had to deal with food shortages, a fire that almost wiped out the town, warring factions and a plague that threatened to kill them all. Beyond that, the children have all begun to exhibit special powers that relate back to an event at the local nuclear power plant 15 years before. These powers have created tensions among those left behind with some using their gifts for good and others for evil.
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While fishing, one of the teenagers left behind named Quinn discovers a black mass that is slowly inching its way up the invisible barrier. Realizing something is terribly wrong he alerts the head of the Town Council, Astrid. She makes the decision to find Sam Temple, her estranged boyfriend who left the town to live on Lake Tramonto after he lost his leadership position to his twin brother Caine months before. Astrid and Sam rekindle their romance for the time being, putting aside their differences with the hopes of reconnecting and being the loving couple they were before the barrier destroyed their lives.
Meanwhile, in Perdido Beach, Caine is fighting to maintain control of the town and implements a justice system in order to instill fear in the group that stayed with him. He is in the middle of a trial for a young man named Cigar who is part of Quinn's fishing crew and who accidentally killed another child. Caine wants to sentence him to death but has no interest in burning a bridge with Quinn who provides a source of food to the town with his fishing. Caine decides to sentence Cigar to a fate worse than death and demands he spend a day with a girl named Penny who can create horrifying visions that make the victim wish they were dead. After spending the day at her mercy, Cigar rips out his eyes to make the visions stop. This unfortunately leads to Quinn becoming enraged and takes his wounded friend to the town healer Lana. While she isn't able to fully heal him, Cigar's eyes do grow back smaller and he has been gifted with the ability to see people as colors which reveals whether they are good or evil and their true intentions.
Meanwhile, Pete, Astrid's little brother who became a spirit floating in the ether after losing his body months prior, has grown bored without a body. As a way to amuse himself he begins touching the soul's of the other children, however; it has a deadly side effect and destroys their bodies. In an effort to stop, Pete begins to rewrite the people he touches and create new beings which begins to stir up problems.
At Lake Tramonto, Sam Temple the once leader of Perdido Beach who was dethroned by his twin brother Caine decides that his group needs to secure the abandoned missile container down on the beach in an effort to have a bargaining chip for power. Unfortunately, when he arrives with his team only one missile is left and he believes Caine is the one who took the rest. As the group begins to discuss how they can keep themselves safe, Astrid arrives and warns Sam about the stain creeping up the barrier continuing to spread. Word also comes from Perdido Beach on how Penny is being used as a torture device. Sam and Astrid as well as the rest of his group determine she must be stopped. Quinn tells Sam he wants her dead and until she is killed he will no longer fish for the groups.
Caine is furious about the turn of events and realizes that in order to continue his reign he will have to negotiate with Penny and force her to stop tormenting people. However, when Caine arrives Penny slips him a drug and he passes out.
Meanwhile, Drake the rogue youth who is on a mission to kill everyone who has wronged him is sighted which forces the groups to go into a lock down state. Sam sends Brianna out after him and tells her to kill him if she makes contact. Sam and Astrid continue to sort out their differences and make love again, leading to Sam falling a sleep. Astrid sneaks out while he is sleeping and heads toward Perdido with the hopes of warning Caine of the stain creeping over the barrier and what Sam plans to do when everything goes black.
Back in Perdido Beach, Albert decides that Caine is no longer a fit leader and leaves with three of the older girls to an island off the coast with the missiles as he determines it will be the safest place to live. He also makes solid plans to kill anyone who tries to come for him on the island. Later, when Caine regains consciousness he finds himself imprisoned by Penny who has placed his hands in concrete and violently stapled a crown into his skull. Penny parades him around the town square, torturing him with her visions, however Lana intervenes and saves him. She appoints Quinn as the leader of Perdido Beach and brings Caine away to recover.
At Lake Tramonto, Drake attacks and injures one of Sam's group and flees. Thankfully, Sam's friend Edilio is able to save the young man however, Sam realizes their defenses are weak and they can easily be breached. Sam sends his best tracker, Brianna out to find Drake after realizing that Drake has kidnapped Caine's ex-girlfriend Dianna and his friend Justin. It is determined that Drake is taking them to the Gaiaphage which is the alien virus being that created the barrier and gave them their powers. Brianna faces off with Drake and Dianna gives birth to her baby girl whom she names Gaia. The gaiaphage decides to infuse itself with the baby so now the baby is the gaiaphage. Unable to kill her own child, Diana decides to return to Perdido Beach.
Back in town, Caine and Sam decide to they must kill Gaia and fight her as Dianna arrives. The fight gets deadly with Gaia almost killing Sam and hurting Caine. As the fight continues, Penny jumps in and uses her visions to cripple Sam and Caine. Thankfully, Brianna steps in and helps even out the fighting. Sam burns Gaia and Penny, killing Penny but Gaia is left unscathed. The barrier which is completely black goes transparent after a mysterious explosion from the outside which reveals people watching them from the outside.
As the fight ends, Drake, Diana and Gaia flee into the desert and Caine, Sam and Astrid return to town knowing the final battle is coming soon and they must be ready.
Best part of story, including ending:
I enjoyed the extensive battle sequences in this novel which had a fun and X-Men type of flair. As the characters are heading into what will be the final battle for their home of Perdido Beach you can expect many more casualties.
Best scene in story:
The scene where Dianna gives birth to her baby and it is possessed by the alien virus known as the gaiaphage was very powerful and emotional. To see an innocent child become pure evil is disturbing.
Opinion about the main character:
Sam has begun to make very selfish and stupid mistakes which have led to more tragedy. It is sad to see what was once a sensitive and sweet character become a monster.
