A wave of ever-increasing school violence is sweeping across America. This time, however, the shooters are "good" kids at the top of their class and leaders in extracurricular activities. When Dr. Lexi Bradley hears that her adopted son has become one of these shooters, she's at a loss. Nothing in his life had prepared her for this.

As her son lies in a coma, the doctors discover something very strange indeed on his MRI scan - something that suggests human interference. So Lexi teams up with Secret Service Agent Bryan Atwood, a specialist in school violence, to make sense out of these latest attacks and to try to stop them before more innocent people are hurt.

Even as an airplane thriller, this story falls a bit flat. The problem here is that the reader never finds out what is actually going on. There are no hints thrown out throughout the book to keep the reader guessing along with the protagonists. We already have a pretty good idea of what happened. Much of the book is centered around chasing after files that the protagonists and the readers never get to see. What we never do learn is why. We can infer that this is an upsetting case of corporate greed, but the reasons behind the experimentation to begin with and the reasons it suddenly manifests as violence are left unknown. And there's absolutely nothing less satisfying than an airplane thriller with long (at times tedious) buildup that never follows through with the answers.

Additionally, the romance seems forced and more than a bit unlikely given the short amount of time involved and the emotional issues each character faces. Lexi refused to rely on anyone at all (even other doctors) for the past fifteen years, but suddenly succumbs to and trusts this one surly agent. Bryan has been blaming himself for his brother's death for years - to the point where he destroyed his marriage and much of his relationship with his daughters, but one good talking-to by a parent of one of his cases sets him straight? Maybe had the chemistry been a little more apparent, or the danger a bit more obvious, it would have worked better. ( )