In Jones' Need, Zara White figures this out almost as soon as she steps off the plane in Bangor. Still grieving the death of her beloved stepfather, Zara knows she's not exactly herself - which is the whole reason her mother shipped her off to her grandmother's in the first place - but she's pretty sure a freaky, pale guy is stalking her. She sees him standing in the middle of the road to her grandma's house, on the campus of her high school and in the woods around the small town of Bedford. Her new friends seem as creeped out as she is, but their theory is about as whacked as the idea of some random guy following her around. Still, as Zara settles into her new life in Maine, she can't deny that something is very wrong in Bedford. Even her stunningly gorgeous boyfriend seems a little ... unworldly. What exactly is going on in the sleepy little town? Why are young boys disappearing? What's with the trails of gold dust everywhere? And why is Zara being threatened? The questions are bizarre enough, but the answers will challenge everything Zara has ever known about herself, her family and her destiny.

Despite obvious Twilight comparisons, I think Need adds some freshness to a genre that's fast becoming a big, old copycat fest. It steps away from vampires - thank goodness - to flesh out some less-explored beings. Jones turns popular notions on their heads by villainizing a creature most people find about as sinister as a butterfly. Likewise, it spins the peaceful beauty of a Maine winter into something appropriately eerie. Above all else, it's this shivery sense of place that stands out. The novel's plot is less original, but the story definitely speeds along fast enough to keep the reader's attention from flagging. Need's cast could use some developing, as could its "otherworldly" elements. Without any real foreshadowing, the whole magical thing almost comes out of nowhere, making it all a little confusing. Other than that, the book's got a little bit of everything - an engaging heroine, a sweet romance, family secrets, a spectral landscape and a shivery mystery. Need didn't blow me away, but I still flew through its pages, anxious to discover Zara's fate. News of a sequel coming in January might have even made me squeal a little bit. Need doesn't go as deep as Twilight, but it's a fast, entertaining read that will appeal to Stephenie Meyer groupies and other fans of the genre. The Maine Tourism Board? Um, not so much.

Grade: B

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG for mild language and some violence

To the FTC, with love: I checked this one out from the library, and I've got the overdue fines to prove it.