Rex Valentine, a young novelist prodigy, moves from New York to Loon Lake, Idaho with his orphaned teenage sister Penny, who is recovering from illness caused by a weak heart. Rex and Penny hope to find a new life, where Rex can find new inspiration for his novels and Penny can thrive better in a more natural environment. They arrive to find the community divided over the reintroduction of wolves into western Idaho. Rex meets Virginia Thorne, the young wildlife biologist who the Department of Wildlife has put in charge of managing the wolves in the area, and Penny is befriended by Virginia's sister Emmy, a teacher's assistant at the high school Penny is now attending. Virginia is caught in the middle of the wolf debate as she attempts to remain neutral. One night Penny is attacked by a wild animal while walking home from an outing with Emmy; the injuries are not life threatening and DNA samples identify the animal as a wolf. Penny is released from the hospital the next morning. Over the next five days Penny's wounds mysteriously heal quickly and she becomes ill. Rex is befriended by Virginia who seems to have particular interest in Penny - but so does Anthony Stern, the doctor who treated her, who is astonished by her rapid recovery. Only when Penny is at the height of her illness does Virginia reveal what the animal that attacked Penny really was: a werewolf. Werewolves are real, but unlike the horror movie variety, they are a (usually) peaceful species of who have existed alongside humans for generations. The werewolf that attacked Penny was a rogue - a wolf unable to control its shifts - and Penny is not to be its last victim. As Rex and Penny learn to survive in a world where humans are no longer the only form of intelligent life, Rex finds himself falling in love with the werewolves and their way of life, but must also prevent the rogue wolf from killing again or from exposing werewolves' existence to the human world. Deliverance is a paranormal romance/thriller/horror novel of the Young Adult or New Adult genre. It will appeal to fans of Stephanie Meyer's Twilight Saga or to those of Maggie Stifvater's Wolves of Mercy Falls Series.
