The Supernaturalist

Unwanted by his parents, fourteen-year-old Cosmo Hill enters the world in a futuristic location known as Satellite City. He is assigned to the Freight class at the Clarissa Frayne Institute for Parentally Challenged Boys. The guys are employed by the state to test very hazardous materials at Clarissa Frayne. Most days conclude with them covered in wounds, bruises, and burns. Cosmo understands that he would perish in this purported orphanage if he doesn't make his escape. When the time is right, Cosmo takes advantage of it and emerges with the aid of the Supernaturalists, a diverse group of young people who share Cosmo's unique talent of seeing supernatural parasites—creatures that prey on human life force—and their own peculiar abilities. In an effort to preserve what little of Satellite City's human population remains, the Supernaturalists search for parasites while on night patrol. Or so they believe. The Supernaturalist quickly realize that they are entangled in a far more intricate web than they had anticipated as they unearth a terrifying truth that will make them reevaluate all they hold dear. With non-stop action, Eoin Colfer has built a universe that is both future and frightening, reminiscent of both Blade Runner and Charles Dickens.