FROZEN FIRE

Shimmering suspense and atmosphere highlight Bowler’s trademark mysteriousness. Dusty answers the phone late at night and hears a stranger announce, “I’m dying.” He isn’t (though he wants to be), and he knows intimate details about her that no one should know. Furthermore, he implies knowledge of Dusty’s brother, who vanished two years ago. When she realizes he’s calling from a nearby park, she tracks him through the snow until his footsteps disappear. People across the country have seen this boy, and vigilantes pursue him for alleged rape; he may be made of snow or fire, and he knows everyone’s secrets. Dusty searches for the entrancing boy despite the townspeople’s fury, her father’s distress and her own instinctive feelings of peril. A dangerous, gleaming brightness (possibly the same metaphysical matter as the boy) threatens to transform Dusty into frigid fire. The enigmatic whirl of events ends with a blend of closure and persevering questions; readers who liked Firmament (2004) but found Apocalypse (2005) too cryptic will want to return to Bowler for this one. (Fantasy. YA)