Fatal accidents, terrorism, gruesome deaths and a trio of boys with mysterious origins -- there's more than enough plot swirling around in "Unraveling." Except for the stuff about high school, this gritty sci-fi romance actually feels more like a novel for adults, with lots of death, destruction and a situation that might end the world. 
 Walking back from the beach, Janelle Tenner is hit by a car. She dies. But mere seconds later, she is brought back to life by the mysterious stoner Ben, with all her injuries healed. 
 Unsurprisingly she wants to know how Ben did this. But she's also distracted by something even more serious -- the FBI has found a mysterious device that is counting down to... something. And bodies are cropping up all over San Diego, hideously melted by some kind of mysterious radiation. Janelle and her friend Alex suspect that it's some new kind of terrorism. 
 But when tragedy hits Janelle's life, her quest becomes much more personal. She continues searching for the terrorist, only to find that Ben and his friends Reid and Elijah might be involved -- and when she finds out the truth of why they are in San Diego, she realizes that this is far bigger than a terrorism threat. Unless they stop what is happening, the entire world has only days left. 
 I was expecting a pretty standard paranormal romance in "Unraveling," and was pleasantly surprised with the sci-fi novel I got instead. It's a strong fusion of contemporary thriller and sci-fi adventure, although we don't see nearly enough of the sci-fi. And Norris also doesn't skim over the more painful aspects of the characters' lives, such as the aftermath of a loved one's death. 
 Instead she winds together the various plot threads into a steely, tightly-wound rope, so that pretty much everything ends up being interconnected. Her writing is strong, smooth and very natural, and she slowly raises the stakes as the story unwinds. There IS some romance, but it's actually secondary to the main plot instead of BEING the main plot. 
 And given how many Bella Swans currently populate teen fiction, it was nice to read about someone like Janelle -- she's strong, capable and unafraid to confront others (whacking a would-be rapist over the head with a beer bottle). She also has genuine problems, such as having to care for her mentally ill mother, which leaves her with conflicting feelings of love and resentment. 
 The weakest character, sadly, was Ben. He's too broodingly tormented; occasionally you just wanna smack him and tell him to lighten up. But the other characters -- such as Janelle's loving dad, his buddy from the FBI, the foul-mouthed Elijah and the delightfully nerdy Alex -- are beautifully drawn and well-developed. 
 The biggest problem is that the end left me unsure whether there was going to be a sequel. There were some dangling plot threads -- such as Janelle's mom -- but otherwise it feels very final. 
 "Unraveling" is a powerful, suspenseful sci-fi novel, much more intelligent and emotional than your average teen romance, and it has an excellent heroine to boot. Absolute must-read.