Book excerpt: This gripping final volume in The Sea-wreck Stranger trilogy for young adults offers post-apocalyptic science fiction at its best. A year on from the aggressive attacks against them, the farming community at Ebony Hill still shows the cracks. When it becomes clear the paramilitaries aren't about to give up, hard decisions must be made. Can our heroine, Ness, risk going back to the Island of Dunnett, the home she narrowly escaped? If she does, what will she find? How will she deal with the legacy of her defection and the scars it has left on those she loves? Following Ness's attempts to make whole the tangled threads of her heart, this is a haunting exploration about belonging and the stark and unsettling reality of ambition and greed. A sequel to Ebony Hill, which was shortlisted for the 2010 NZ Post Children's Book Awards and CLF Notable Book of 2010.