UNFORSAKEN

Billed as a "companion," this is not so much a sequel to Banished (2010) as it is a retread.

Hailey and her little family—Aunt Prairie and adopted brother Chub—are hardly settled into their new lives in Milwaukee before they are discovered and set upon by forces wishing to use their supernatural gifts, as descendants of the Banished, for evil purposes. As the villain from the previous book, mad-scientist Bryce Safian, was left out of commission, this time the role is played by his former employer, a man with vague military connections and an identical plan to create an undead army for sale on the global market. When Hailey slips up in contacting her boyfriend, the seer Kaz, the General captures both Prairie and preschooler Chub, whose seeing gifts are beginning to manifest and hold potential for military operations. While Hailey flees with Kaz, the only real romance in the book is one-sided: Villainous Rattler Sikes's obsession with Prairie is still going strong. He wants to start breeding pure Banished with her, as part of his bid to restore their people's heritage, which puts him at odds with the protagonists as well as their other enemies. The lab that must be sabotaged this time around is superficially more impressive, yet no more than a paper tiger in practice, and the zombies are criminally underused.

An unnecessary sequel that adds little.