Sam Temple and the other youth who were left in the town of Perdido Beach after all the adults disappeared months before are forced with a food shortage as well as a mysterious plague that threatens to kill them all. Sam Temple never could have guessed how much is life would change over just a period of a few short months. The entire adult population of Perdido Beach, CA disappeared without a trace, leaving him and everyone else under the age of fifteen alone having to fend for themselves. The barrier keeping them trapped in town and cut off from the rest of the world hasn't helped things either as food has become scarce and the youth have split into various factions that are out to destroy one another, the most vicious led by Sam's twin brother, Caine. Sam threw him and his group out of Perdido Beach and now they are forced to survive on their own. They had tried to burn down the town weeks before, but thankfully were stopped.
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However, not all is well and Sam has found himself turning to alcohol to dull the pain and cope with the world he is now forced to live in. With his girlfriend, Astrid their relationship has slowly begun to fall apart as she feels his lack of leadership is effect the youth left in town. Astrid, has become a beacon of light and strength, even creating a Town Council with the hopes of bringing order to the chaos. Drunk and unable to cope with it all, Sam wanders to the cliff on the beach near the barrier that is holding them inside. He begins to attack it with his powers (green beams that shoot from his hands) hoping to break it down but nothing happens. He is met by a Taylor, a beautiful girl who has the ability to jump high distances. They kiss and even though Sam knows it is wrong he gives in for a moment before pushing her away. Astrid knows he finds her attraction and offers him a release whenever he must get away from Astrid.
Meanwhile, Caine and his group have set up a life on their new island home they found weeks before after they ran out of food. His girlfriend Diana is wracked with guilt from the people she has hurt in the past and decides to find herself again and the good she used to possess. She hopes she can help Caine as well although she knows his darkness runs deeps. While she tries to persuade Caine to give up his mission of pain and hurt, he is able to seduce her and she gives into his desires. Later, a mysterious flu breaks out and even Lana, the local healer cannot cure it. Lana believes this could be the beginning of a plague and worries about how they will cope without medicine and the inability to leave.
Back in Perdido Beach, Sam has completely given up his leadership to a young and charismatic man named Albert who has begun to bring a sense of capitalism to Perdido Beach. Realizing the water supply in town is running low, Albert orders Sam and his two friends Dekka and Jack to the local lake to see how the water is holding up. While there, Sam finds Hunter one of the youth who have chosen to live out in the wild. He is terrified to find him filled with a mysterious insect. Hunter begs to be killed and Sam realizing his pain, destroys him with his power. They encounter some of the other youth who are infected as well and find the insects are nearly indestructable and give off a green slime that begins the infection. The group is terrified of what could happen if this begins to spread among Perdido Beach.
In town, Drake, a youth who died and was resurrected, is being held prisoner in the basement of Sam's home. A troubled young man who is filled with pure evil, he manages to escape from his captivity and flee the town. Later, while Sam and his group continue to the lake they find an abandoned military base that was designed to experiment on those with gifts like Same. They stumble upon one of the test subjects named, Toto who has some serious mental handicaps due to the experimentation. Realizing he can lead them to food, the group follows Toto to an abandoned trail car and find a variety of food items. While there they are attacked by Drake who is now commanding the infected insects that have grown to the size of cars. As they fight, Sam comes to horrific realization, Dekka is now contaminated with the insects.
Meanwhile, back in town the flu has spread from the island and into Perdido Beach. As more fall ill and the food and water shortage continuing, chaos breaks out in town. Astrid's little bother who possesses several powers, finds himself sick with the fever and decides to cool himself by conjuring up a personal rain cloud, however this display of power puts him at risk as he shows the rest of the town what he can do. As the chaos continues, two young men named Turk and Lance try to kill Albert and leave him struggling to hold onto to life. They then head to Astrid's house with a plan to harm her and kill her brother Pete however, her good friend Edilio shows up, even though he is sick he manages to kill Turk and Lance. A mutual friend named Orc shows up and flees with Astrid and Pete to get them to safety.
The insects invade the town and knowing they are outnumbered, the Albert sends for Caine. Caine agrees to come to the town with the hope of taking it over and becoming a king. Meanwhile, Sam discovers a way to harness Dekka's power and kill the insects. The group meets with the rest of the youth in Perdido with Caine and together they are able to wipe out the insects and the plague.
Meanwhile, Drake who is hellbent on revenge heads to Coate's Academy, the prep school that use to be the fortress for Caine and his group. Under the command of the gaiaphage, an alien virus that created the barrier and all the problems thus far, he is on a mission to capture Pete. When he arrives he is attacked by Orc who he throws to the insects and watches him be consumed. Realizing she is out of options, Astrid throws Pete into the insects and watches in surprise as all of the insects vanish along with Pete.
In the aftermath of the insects and the virus, Caine has set himself up as king of Perdido Beach. A meeting is held on who will stay with him in town or leave with Sam to go to the lake. As the youth and children divide themselves up, Albert decides to stay with Caine as he knows he can truly hold the power. However, in a surprising move Diana leaves with Caine. She later tells Sam she is pregnant with Caine's child and is afraid for Caine to know. As the groups divide and head to the perspective locations, Sam worries about what will become of them all and how their future will play out.
Best part of story, including ending:
This novel in the series moved at a breakneck speed and kept only a few points of view. It was interesting how the overall plague that overruns the town and the political focus takes precedence over the relationships this time around. We also see main character Sam get sidelined for a good portion of the book.
Best scene in story:
I loved when Diana chooses to leave Caine at the end. Even though she loves him she knows it is impossible to stay with him and must leave for the life of her child.
Opinion about the main character:
I think Sam is going down a dark and dangerous path. We have watched him go from a sensitive man who put others before himself to a selfish man on the downward spiral. I can only hope he can be redeemed.
