Gone (novel series)

Gone series

First edition cover of Gone
Gone Hunger Lies Plague Fear Light
Author	Michael Grant
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Supernatural Horror Science fiction Dystopia Thriller
Publisher	HarperCollins
Published	2008–2013
Media type	Print (hardcover and paperback)
No. of books	6

Gone is a bestselling book series written by Michael Grant.^[1]

The series is centered on the fictional Southern Californian town of Perdido Beach, in which every human aged 15 and older vanishes. The town and surrounding areas become encased within an impenetrable energy barrier, with many of its inhabitants developing supernatural powers. The books follow the exploits of the protagonist, Sam Temple, as he battles antagonists Caine Soren and Drake Merwin, as well as a mysterious, malevolent creature, known as the Darkness or the gaiaphage (derived from Gaia, a Greek personification of the Earth, and "phage", from the Greek φαγεῖν phagein "to devour").

The first novel in this series, titled Gone, was originally published in 2008. The second book, Hunger, was released a year later, followed by the third book, Lies, on May 4, 2010. The fourth book, Plague, was released on April 5, 2011. The fifth book, Fear, was released on April 3, 2012, in the United States, although it was released as early as March 23 in Australia and Hong Kong. The sixth book, Light, was released on April 2, 2013. The series – "a fun, no-brainer read directed towards teenagers" – has been hailed as "ridiculously popular" and "a sensation in the young adult world".^[2][3]

Novels In The Series

Gone

Every person at the age of 15 or over vanishes from the town of Perdido Beach, causing great confusion and chaos. Friends Sam Temple, Astrid Ellison and Quinn Gaither set out to explore the area until they discover a barrier cutting the area off from the outside world with a radius centered at a nuclear power plant located outside of town. The area within the barrier is nicknamed "Fallout Alley Youth Zone" or "The FAYZ" for short. Exploring this nuclear power plant, the group finds Astrid's severely autistic four-year-old brother "Little Pete", along with a map marking radiation patterns from a 15-year-old explosion at the plant that lines up exactly with the energy barrier. The town children look to Sam as a leader, but chaos ensues. Sam and Pete are revealed to have supernatural powers caused by the power plant's explosion 15 years ago, Sam having the ability to make light, while Little Pete's are still unknown. Upon the group's return to Perdido Beach, its members encounter vehicles bringing students from the nearby Coates Academy. A Coates student, Caine Soren, impresses the townsfolk and he becomes leader, but Sam and Astrid are suspicious of his motives. Some of the students and others in town have supernatural powers, including Lana Arwen Lazar (who has healing powers). Her grandfathers car had crashed earlier when all the adults disappeared. Lana encounters a pack of coyotes, who can talk. They take her to a cave, where something the coyotes call "The Darkness" lives. Caine, who believes he is the most powerful mutant (with telekinesis), takes a group and returns to Coates Academy, discovering that when a person turns 15, they are confronted by something they desire before vanishing. Feeling threatened, Caine enlists the help of local bullies to kidnap Sam and Astrid. He also discovers that he and Sam are twin brothers. During this time, Quinn starts hanging out with people related to Caine, and betrays Sam, telling Caine of his powers. Later, however, Quinn frees Sam and Astrid is freed from Drake, a psychopathic student at Coates Academy, by Pete (who can teleport). Caine instructs Drake to kill Astrid but Sam saves her. Sam's group (Astrid, Quinn, Pete, and Edilio Escobar, a boy who was in their class) escape town and find Lana. They escape the coyotes but are captured by Drake and imprisoned within Coates Academy. Caine encased the hands of anyone with powers who refused to join their cause, in concrete, as their powers come from their hands. Sam's group escapes Coates Academy, with Pete's help, together with various Coates students, and returns to Perdido Beach to fight Caine. Meanwhile, Drake abducts Lana, as he thinks she can help him get his arm back after Sam had burned it off during his escape from Coates Academy. They reach a creature known as "The Darkness" (also known as the gaiaphage) down a mineshaft which uses Lana's power to give Drake a whip for an arm giving him the nickname "Whip Hand". He returns to Caine, who learns how to escape "the poof", and they attack Perdido Beach. Sam and the Coates hostages, as well as Quinn and Edilio and others defend the town. Orc, the town bully who was clawed by coyotes and turned into gravel, turns on Drake and fights him. Sam and Caine fight, but they suddenly see a manifestation of their mother, Connie, who invites them to return to her. Both boys refuse, and Caine is forced to retreat. Later, Albert Hillsborough organizes a Thanksgiving dinner for the town, and Sam encourages them to stick together. Meanwhile, Caine goes with the coyotes to visit the Darkness.

Hunger

Three months after Gone, Sam goes with Edilio, Albert and E.Z. to the fields to pick cabbages before they spoil. While there, E.Z. is attacked and killed by mutated worm-like creatures, later called Zekes. Duck Zhang is revealed to have the power to change his density and discovers an underground cave filled with mutated blue bats that taste disgusting to humans, but are later fed to the Zekes in exchange for children being allowed to pick food from the fields without being attacked. Small-time bully Zil, who believes that those with powers are treated better at the expense of normal humans, fuels widespread prejudice against people with powers and creates the "Human Crew", an organization that discriminates against these "freaks." Caine wakes up from a three-month coma and decides to take over the nuclear power plant. He instructs Diana to bring Computer Jack (who stayed back at Perdido Beach) back to Coates so he can take control of the plant. Caine takes hostages at the plant, but they have no food so Sam decides to wait for them to give up, or they will starve. During this time, one of Zil's friends is accidentally killed by Hunter, who has the power to microwave the body parts on which he focuses, of people and animals (During an argument, Zil attacked Hunter with a crowbar and Hunter put his hands up to protect himself and accidentally hit their roommate, Harry, who was trying to stop the fight). Zil and a mob find Hunter, who has sheltered behind Astrid, and also attack Astrid and Edilio in the process of grabbing Hunter, who escapes. After ending up losing all electricity Caine mentally receives a message from the Gaiaphage telling him to bring it a uranium rod from the nuclear power plant, as the Gaiaphage survives on uranium. Lana has also been receiving messages from the Gaiaphage and leaves with Quinn, Albert and Cookie to get gold, and then, on her own, attempts to blow up the mine shaft, but she fails, falling under the Gaiaphage's control. Edilio and Dekka travel to the mine shaft in order to destroy it, after realizing what Caine is planning to do. Dekka can suspend gravity, and this would collapse the mine shaft. Edilio is shot by Lana, who is under complete control of the Gaiaphage. It is revealed that the Gaiaphage plans to use Lana's healing powers, along with the uranium rod from the nuclear plant, to create a new, near-invincible body for itself. Astrid determines that the Gaiaphage was created by the accident at the nuclear plant 15 years ago, and that the accident may also be the cause of her peers' supernatural powers. Sam, Caine and Duck travel to the mine shaft in order to fight the Gaiaphage. Caine uses his powers to bring a uranium rod to the mine shaft, but, upon seeing his love interest Diana injured by Drake, throws the rod at his chest, knocking him into the mine shaft and collapsing its entrance. Duck creates a hole in the ground leading to the Gaiaphage and is then thrown by Caine into the hole. While falling, Duck becomes heavier than a mountain and smashes into the Gaiaphage, dragging the creature down to the bottom of the barrier surrounding the FAYZ, weakening the Gaiaphage, but is killed in the process. Lana heals Sam, Diana, Brianna, Edilio and Dekka. During these events, Hunter kills a doe using his power, and eats it, but is ambushed by the "Human Crew", who decide to hang Hunter, giving venison to those who help them. Orc and Howard restore order to the town, and stop Hunter's execution, saving Astrid and Little Pete, who attempted to break up the mob but were instead attacked by it. Caine's attack on the nuclear plant shuts off all electricity to the town and it cannot be restored. Sam steps down as leader, and a council is formed in his place. A now disfigured Hunter, who was found guilty of murder and banished by the council, decides to use his new power to hunt food for the kids in atonement for killing his friend. The book ends on a cliffhanger when the readers realize Brittney, a girl killed during Caine's attack on the nuclear plant, is still alive and buried in the plaza.

Lies

Lies is set seven months after Gone. The town is run by a council, headed by Astrid. Zil's anti-freak Human Crew have taken over a small section of Perdido Beach. Orsay, who has the mutant power to see people's dreams, claims she can see the dreams of the children's parents. She is dubbed "The Prophetess" and holds nightly rituals to give children messages from their family. Orsay is helped by the mysterious Nerezza, who urges Orsay to continue to use her power and tell children to "step-out" when they turn fifteen. A young girl, Jill, is beaten due to some people's knowledge of her powers (she can transfix people by song, a Siren) and falls into an empty grave. Sam discovers her and is told by Edilio that she was in the grave of Brittney, who died in Hunger. Sam learns of Brittney's empty grave and of Orsay's rituals, but does not tell Astrid this during the next council meeting. Astrid discovers this and she and Sam argue, and they break up. Astrid tells the council to claim that Orsay is lying and leading them to suicide, as they believe "stepping-out" results in death. The townsfolk learn she has lied and lose faith in the council. The reader is informed that the outside world is attempting to break the FAYZ barrier, and all the adults from inside the FAYZ are alive. Children who "step-out" at fifteen appear outside the barrier in the normal world. Meanwhile, on an island far out to sea, several children attempt to survive in the abandoned but well-stocked mansion of their adoptive celebrity parents. Caine, Diana and the remaining Coates academy students struggle to survive and resort to cannibalism. They hear of the island with the mansion and plan to steal boats from Perdido beach undetected, to go to the island to find food. Caine makes a plan with Zil. Zil riles up a mob and sets fire to a large section of the town at night, creating a diversion and allowing Caine to reach the Marina undetected. Sam attempts to stop the "Human Crew" but fails. Sam and many others believe they have seen Drake, who is dead. Unsure how to proceed, Sam leaves Perdido Beach. Zil wished for chaos to ensue after the fire but instead calm prevails. Astrid announces a set of laws and steps down, knowing she will no longer be trusted. Drake then appears and Zil uses the opportunity to cause anarchy, before panic ensues as most of the townsfolk flee to the highway and the beach. Dekka confronts Zil, and the Human Crew leader dies of his injuries upon being dropped from her anti-gravity field. Little Pete, who has been playing on his GameBoy (which has been out of batteries for months), is revealed to be controlling events in the FAYZ through the game, and it is hinted that Pete himself is the Gaiaphage, which was not killed in the last book. Nerezza eventually attempts to kill Pete, but fails when Astrid intervenes. Nerezza is an avatar of the Gaiaphage, created by Pete, who manipulated Orsay. Mary, who is turning fifteen, intends to "step-out" and lead all the daycare children off a cliff, convinced that killing them will cause them to reappear alive outside the FAYZ. Dekka suspends gravity and rescues the children, but Mary "steps-out". In the chaos, Little Pete's GameBoy is broken. He screams, causing the energy barrier surrounding the area to disappear for a brief moment. Astrid and many others see the normal world beyond, but Pete regains control and the barrier reappears. The Gaiaphage is revealed to have been attempting to use Brittney's immortality and Lana's healing powers to bring Drake back from the dead, sharing the same body as Brittney. Sam returns, fighting Drake long enough for him to turn into Brittney. Unable to kill her, Sam decides to lock Drake / Brittney away with Orc as their jailer, as he experiences no pain at being whipped by Drake. Caine, Diana and the two remaining Coates children reach the mansion island and meet the five children there. Throughout the book, many characters have fallen sick by a flu-like disease, foreshadowing events in Plague.

Plague

Perdido Beach is now run by Albert, whose introduction of money and paid labor to the town has placed him in a position of considerable power. Water supplies are running out and Albert sends Sam with Dekka, Jack and Taylor on a mission to find a new water source, Lake Tramonto, on the far side of the FAYZ. Meanwhile, an infectious plague leading those who catch it to almost certain death is spreading in Perdido Beach, and everyone is instructed not to leave their homes to stop the spread. On the way to the lake, Sam's group encounters Hunter, who was banished from Perdido Beach. He has become infested with parasitic bugs, which have begun to eat him from the inside out. After revealing that he was unable to use his powers on himself, Hunter tearfully begs Sam to kill him, believing the bugs to be his punishment for being bad (accidentally killing someone). Sam agrees, but Hunter's death releases bugs that cannot be killed by Sam. A coyote then leads them to the creatures that are causing parasitic insect infections. The group attacks the creatures, but Dekka becomes infested with insects in the process, even though Sam burned off her shoulder in order to protect her. When near the lake, Sam and the others find a building from a nearby military airbase (the barrier cuts off the remainder of the base) They find a lone boy, Toto, whose mutant power is to tell truth from lie. They also find a train, with valuable supplies of Pepsi and Nutella, as well as Apple devices, lawn appliances, and a train car full of handheld missile launchers. Turk and Lance (what remains of the Human Crew) assault Albert and shoot him in the eye. Drake, who has been locked up in a basement, escapes, as his guard, Orc, is drunk. Meanwhile, Astrid realizes that she can kill Little Pete and end the FAYZ. Thirsty, Little Pete destroys the top floor of Astrid's house and creates a rain cloud (it never rains in the FAYZ). Once free, Drake travels to the gaiaphage and is met by an army of bugs, who begin to clear the way into the mine shaft. When they reach the lake, Sam and his group are confronted by the bugs. The bugs have grown to the size of SUVs and are being commanded by Drake. The group escapes back to Perdido Beach. The town is in chaos: the plague overwhelms the town and hospitalizes many kids; Albert is attacked by the "Human Crew" and is only saved when his maid finds him near death. The bugs have grown again and Edilio instructs Quinn to row to the island and find Caine, as he has the power to kill the bugs. Caine accepts the challenge, hoping to become king after saving the town. Drake is instructed to bring Nemesis (Little Pete) to the gaiaphage and travels to Coates Academy, where Astrid and Orc are hiding. The bugs arrive in Perdido Beach, but Caine and Brianna cannot fight them. Dekka uses her powers to levitate Sam and the train car of missiles to Perdido beach to fight the bugs, but they do not reach the town in time as Dekka is infected with the parasites, and is only saved when Sam cuts her open to kill the bugs inside her, using large rocks to crush them. When threatened by Drake, Astrid throws Pete to the insects, who realizes the danger and vanishes both the insects and himself; her hope was that Pete's death would cause the energy barrier to dissipate, which does not happen. Pete is later revealed to be without a body, but alive. Caine attempts to install himself as king of Perdido Beach, but Sam offers to form a community at Lake Tramonto (where the water is drinkable and there are boats campers can get shelter). Around 80 kids decide to go with Sam, along with Diana, who has become sick with Caine's constant need for power, with two-thirds of the population of Perdido Beach staying behind, under Caine's rule. Between these two camps, Lana is granted free access to both places, being the Healer, as well as there being free trade, a condition laid down by Albert. Diana then reveals to a stunned Sam, Brianna and Dekka that she is pregnant with Caine's child. The plague proves to fatal only in one out of ten cases, but many have died.

Fear

Pete experiments with his new state of existence by tampering with the inhabitants of the FAYZ, resulting in gruesome deaths as he clumsily changes their DNA. This also causes Taylor to be turned into some sort of a 'plant-mammal' with skin of gold. Meanwhile, Sam's new 'city' at Lake Tramonto is flourishing and all is going fine. Astrid, though, has left her friends at Lake Tramonto, and lives alone now. The energy barrier begins to turn black, gradually filling the FAYZ with darkness. On the outside of the barrier, Connie Temple (Sam and Caine's mother) learns that a small part of the army plans to nuke the barrier. Meanwhile, Cigar accidentally kills a boy in a fight. He is punished by Caine and is sentenced to spend a full day with Penny (who has the powers to make people hallucinate). She tricks Cigar into sucking blood out of his veins and clawing his own eyes out. Cigar is only rescued by Quinn, who hits Penny and later goes on a strike, demanding Penny to be exiled from Perdido Beach. Lana tries to heal Cigar, but his eyes grow in a strange way, and he begins to see the world in a different way, also being able to communicate with Pete. He runs into Astrid, who has run away from the town at Lake Tramonto and is trying to deliver Sam's message (signifying his interest in putting up 'Sammy Suns' or balls of light in Perdido Beach) to Caine. Later, he is killed by mutated worms(or zekes), in a field. Through mental communication with Pete, Astrid learns that the barrier is connected to the gaiaphage. Drake captures the pregnant Diana and brings her to the mine shaft, as per the bidding of the gaiaphage. Diana gives birth to her baby, whom the gaiaphage then inhabits, hypnotizing Brianna (who attempted to rescue Diana) into putting the baby on the gaiaphage. Drake, Diana, Penny and the gaiaphage, now known as Gaia, head to the energy barrier, where they encounter Sam and Caine. Gaia plans to open up the barrier. They battle, killing Penny, and Sam attacks Gaia, who is seemingly unhurt. The barrier becomes transparent, allowing the kids to see the world outside, and vice-versa.

Light

Light is the final book in the series. The dome around the FAYZ has become transparent, allowing the kids inside to converse with their parents. Some, such as Brianna, are thrilled to have the attention, while others, like Orc, are ashamed of what they have become and pray that the dome never comes down. In the thrill of being able to converse with the outer world, the kids lose interest in their duties, which leads to sending Quinn to the island to get Albert, as he is the only one who can get them back to work. Annoyed at Brianna, Sam and Astrid send her on a mission to hunt for Drake. She succeeds, and scatters the chopped off parts of his body across the landscape, keeping his head in a chest below the boats on Lake Tramonto. Meanwhile, Gaia and Diana are out in the desert, where a rapidly aging Gaia schemes to take out all of the FAYZ residents in order to put an end to Little Pete's powers, who can fight Gaia by inhabiting a person's body, like Gaia. Intending to stop Gaia and rescue Diana, Sam and Caine go on a hunt for Gaia together. Gaia, meanwhile, goes to the town at Lake Tramonto and starts slaughtering people there, killing 'normals' first and mutants later. She, though, is stopped by Brianna and is forced to retreat. Sam and Caine run into her at the Stefano Rey national park, and attempt to stop her, but Gaia, who is alone as Diana has escaped, mentally attacks Caine and escapes. Sam and Caine attempt to run Gaia over with a bus, but she escapes and takes Caine hostage, and leaves Sam heavily injured and unable to do anything. Sam is rescued by Taylor (who was slowly healed by both Sinder, who has the power to make plants grow faster, and Lana, who has the power of healing living things. This also proves that Taylor is now a cross between plant and animal). The kids regroup at the town and discuss what to do next. It is revealed that Gaia, though possessing every power of every living person in the FAYZ, loses that power when the person dies. Sam contemplates whether he must sacrifice himself in order to stop Gaia. Meanwhile, after an adult, that Gaia brought into the FAYZ to use as food, brings Drake's head to Gaia, she kills the man and attaches Drake's head to his body and gives him his tentacle arm back; Gaia attacks the town and kills Brianna. Computer Jack is shot by a stray bullet and killed by Gaia during the battle while trying to save Sam, who was healed by Lana and tries again to stop Gaia and is taken prisoner. With the situation desperate, Caine goes to get Albert's missiles and launches them at Gaia. They hit the FAYZ wall and kill Orc, who was fighting Gaia at the time. Realizing that there is only one option left, Caine invites the spirit of Little Pete to take control of his body, and using it, Little Pete fights Gaia, destroying each other in the process, due to which the FAYZ wall comes down as Little Pete is dead. After the FAYZ wall comes down, Sam has a final encounter with Drake, but Drake dies as when the FAYZ wall opened, all mutant powers, and thus their effects, were gone, removing Drake's head from the body and killing him. The remaining kids reunite with their parents and mourn their losses. Connie Temple (Sam's mother) tells him how Caine and Sam were fraternal twins, though Caine looked more like her husband, and thus gets distant from Sam. Lana visits Astrid and Diana in their hospital, where Astrid decides to write a book on the events. Sam, who is being guarded, makes contact with Quinn and escapes with him. Edilio goes into hiding to avoid being deported back to Honduras, though he is later given a visa, as he is seen as a hero in the FAYZ. Albert is now in the sights of every major business person in the world, and does an advertisement for McDonalds in Perdido Beach, telling the people that all the graves in the plaza were real. Lana returns to her family in Vegas. To get them out of legal trouble, Caine had written a confession note prior to his death claiming that he was controlling the kids and making them do all of the things that they did, thus taking the blame off the other kids. Astrid decides to write a book, and later, signs off her rights for a movie, starring Todd Chance and Jennifer Brattle, who were, ironically, really living in the FAYZ before the events of Gone, about life in the FAYZ. There, she is reunited with Sam. They have a memorial to all the deaths of the FAYZ, including Orc, Jack, Brianna, Duck, E.Z., Howard, Hunter and Little Pete, with Sam, Astrid, Quinn, Diana, Edilio and Dekka present. The series concludes with Sam and Astrid inviting Diana to come and live with them in their house (next to Quinn's house), paid for with money Astrid had gotten from the 'Toddifer' couple to write her book; she agrees.

Characters

Peter Ellison

Peter Ellison (referred in the series as "Little Pete") is autistic, and the most important individual person in the FAYZ, and also the one who caused it. He is the brother of Astrid Ellison. He is constantly fighting the Gaiaphage and stopping it from taking over the FAYZ and its inhabitants throughout the series. He stopped a nuclear meltdown in the nuclear reactor as there was "too much noise" while the workers were trying to shut it down, and he took all the adults out of the newly created FAYZ, so he would face no disturbance. He was the FAYZ's "little, ignorant god", as once referenced in the series. Although he could do anything he wished to do through his power, he cannot, because of his autism. He is the only five-bar mutant in the FAYZ, along with Gaia. Also, even though Astrid tries to kill him, he does not die, although the FAYZ wall only disappears when he chooses to die, which is after he takes over Caine's body and kills Gaia. During the series, all the actions he takes are directed only to solve an immediate problem of his, and he does not care for any effects his actions may have in the future because of his autism.

Sam Temple

Sam Temple is the main protagonist of the series. He is one of the four avatars Astrid sees in Little Pete's game. His avatar is a male pointing a single palm into the air releasing a ball of light, representing his power. Sam is described as of medium build with tanned skin and dirty blonde hair, sky blue eyes and is "quite handsome." He is a very determined boy, who always persuvaires and never gives up in addition to this when he is in a hard situation he always stays courageous and thinks of a quick plan. Before the FAYZ, Sam lived in Perdido Beach with his mother, Connie Temple. He remained under the social radar at school, not belonging to any clique, and having only one true friend, Quinn, with whom he liked to go surfing. Sam first realizes he had powers when he accidentally burned off his stepfather's hand, because he thought his stepfather was going to hurt his mother. This led to the divorce of his mother and stepfather. The identity of Sam's biological father remains a mystery. His birth certificate says that his father's name is Taegen Smith, and Caine notes that Taegen is "an unusual name", although Smith is very common - "the type of name someone might use if they wanted to hide their real name". Sam is known as 'School Bus Sam' to the kids at school. This is because when he was in the seventh grade, the school bus driver had a heart attack, so Sam took control of the bus and saved the lives of other kids by driving the bus to the side of the road. This made people later support Sam being the leader of Perdido Beach while in the FAYZ, but when Caine Soren came to town, some lost their loyalty.

Astrid Ellison

Astrid Ellison is the main love interest of Sam Temple. She becomes his girlfriend in Gone and is one of the people who pushed Sam into becoming a leader. She is incredibly intelligent, taking AP physics and college courses. In Gone, after she, Sam, Quinn, and Edilio go to look for her little brother, Peter "Little Pete" Ellison, they find him in the Nuclear Power Plant where Astrid's father worked. It is during this time that Sam reveals his power. Astrid also reveals that Little Pete has a few powers of his own. Later they realize that the FAYZ wasn't created by chance, but by Little Pete, who became scared after a meltdown occurred at the power plant, removing all the 'worrying and troublesome' adults from the then-created FAYZ, and also stopping the meltdown. Later, she is tortured by Drake and then sides with Perdido Beach at The Thanksgiving Battle. She is often the voice of reason when it comes those with powers, and most people believe her to be a "normal," due to the fact that her power is not displayed.

Caine Soren

Caine (born David Temple) is the son of Connie Temple and Taegan Smith. Before the FAYZ, Caine lived with his adoptive parents and went to Coates Academy. When the FAYZ started, Caine took advantage of other children's vulnerability. He started by getting rid of the powerful kids he thought he couldn't trust, by letting Drake "plaster" (encase) their hands in blocks of cement, preventing them from using their powers. Shortly after the start of the FAYZ, Caine and his supporters arrived in Perdido Beach. Caine made a charismatic but obviously rehearsed speech, then declared himself Mayor of the FAYZ. At the meeting in the church, he demonstrated his telekinetic powers by making the Crucifix fall off the wall and badly injure Cookie Glider, one of the town bullies. He set up a list of laws, a law-enforcement group, a fire department, and other necessary organizations. After a short time of peace, Caine had the town's birth certificates stolen, and through this, he discovered that he and Sam had the same birthday, Caine being only three minutes younger, making them twins. After Diana was healed, the two of them left. Caine, with some information from Bug, decides to steal a boat from Perdido Beach to reach San Francisco De Sales Island (where, according to Bug, lived two famous actors) where they can possibly find food. During a fire, Caine and Diana see the shadow of Drake, but decide to keep it to themselves, not knowing what they saw exactly. In "Plague", he has sex with Diana, and gets her pregnant. In "Light", he leaves with Sam to find and kill Gaia (his daughter), but he is traumatized and runs away. He eventually returns, allows Little Pete to possess him and kills Gaia, but dies himself in the process.

Diana Ladris

Diana was sent to Coates Academy when her mother tripped and fell down the stairs, and she blamed her father for it, therefore sending him to jail. The police eventually realized she had tricked them and she was sent to Coates. Diana has long black hair and brown eyes. In Lies, the reader finds out that Diana has a good side when she throws herself of a cliff to stop Caine from attacking the kids who were previously on the island. During Plague, she becomes pregnant when she has sex with Caine Soren and gives birth to a daughter, Gaia, who is later taken over by the gaiaphage in Fear. In the end, she lives with Sam and Astrid in their new home.

Lana Arwen Lazar

Lana has the power of healing. Because of this, she becomes one of the most important people in the FAYZ. It is said that Lana's dog, Patrick, is the only remaining pet of the FAYZ, since no one would dare kill the Healer's dog to eat. She uses her power to heal the injuries suffered by children at the Coates Academy who have been punished for having the power. After the Thanksgiving Battle she helps by healing the wounded. She secludes herself from town in order to avoid the demands of kids wanting her to erase the smallest of pains, and takes refuge in Clifftop Resort. She is influenced by the Darkness throughout the story and plots to destroy it. Her plans fail, though, and the Darkness completely takes control over her. Under its influence, she attacks Dekka and nearly kills Edilio. She heals Dekka, Edilio, Sam, Diana, and Brianna. She seems to still be struggling with the darkness. She becomes addicted to cigarettes and alcohol, which is a luxury in the FAYZ. Towards the beginning Lies, she has a confrontation with Sam when he asks her if the Gaiaphage is gone. She flies into a fit of rage, but later she realized that the Darkness has been using her healing powers all along to regenerate Drake Merwin, mending him and Brittney Donegal together in one body. Lana continues her secluded life at Clifftop, but is drawn back to town because of the flu. She is working overtime alongside Dahra Baidoo to heal the ill, the ones with the "Supernatural Death Cough", which she cannot cure. When Brianna finds Lana and drags her back to where Sam, Quinn, Toto, and Dekka are, Lana heals Dekka after Sam decides to do last minute surgery in order to rid her of the bug infestation. She, with Sam's help, saves Dekka. Sanjit and Virtue Brattle-Chance are her and Dahra's helpers during the illness. By the end of the book, she is dating Sanjit. Her, Patrick, and the Brattle-Chances follow Sam to the lake. She and Albert Hillsborough are the only ones allowed to travel in between the lake and the town.

Dekka Talent

Dekka Talent is a fifteen-year-old, tall girl. She is, according to Brianna, curvy although she doesn't "show it off". She does not dress very femininely and prefers to wear what she finds comfortable. Dekka is found intimidating by most of the kids because of not only her power and close relationship with Sam, but also for her strong physique. Dekka is an African-American girl with the ability to 'cancel gravity' from a small area, causing everything in the area to be lifted into the air. She was part of the Coates 'freaks' who were trapped by Caine. She, along with Brianna and Taylor, were saved by Sam. Dekka is a very internal person who does not talk about herself, especially not about her thoughts or feelings. Because of this, people consider her threatening and scary, but she's really not. She claims that being a little scary at Coates Academy isn't a bad thing. She's tough and always there to help, even in dangerous situations. She is a lesbian and has a crush on Brianna. She has been faced with homophobia and racism, but she is comfortable in her own skin. Sam thinks of Dekka as an ally and thinks of her as possible leader of the FAYZ if he dies. In the series, it is discovered that she fancies Brianna, who rejects her. For a while, Dekka and Brianna don't talk due to the awkwardness between the two. She is one of Sam's best friends, and helps him fight against Caine and any other threats. Her full name is Dekka Talent, which is found out later in the series, Sam admitting that he never knew that she had a second name and "thought she was like Beyoncé".

Edilio Escobar

Edilio was originally from Honduras, until he moved to Perdido Beach as an immigrant. People also continually make fun of him any different than confuse him for being Mexican. He is introduced as a character that Sam found "potentially interesting". Edilio and Sam become close friends and allies, while Quinn begins to feel left out of his and Sam's original friendship. He is shot and seriously injured but healed by Lana. A council forms to rule Perdido Beach and determine laws, and Edilio makes up one of the six members. He is also appointed Sheriff of Perdido Beach. He is seen at the end of the book painting over the Human Crew tags that were spread around town. When the fires appear in town, he helps saving people. Afterwards, he faints in Astrid's office from exhaustion. When he wakes up, he starts crying and reveals that he doesn't want to dig the graves for the dead kids anymore. After Astrid steps down as head of the council, Edilio takes charge instead, proving himself to be a good leader. During the course of Plague, Edilio often states how he never wanted to be a mayor, and how Astrid had Sam put the job upon him when he found the pressure of being leader too great. He finds Albert to be power hungry, and he becomes, in his own silent way, enraged, when he finds out that he had sent Sam, Dekka, Taylor, and Computer Jack out to find water. Not only did Albert not tell him how dangerously low the water supply has gotten, but also because Drake/Brittney had escaped, leaving Perdido Beach defenseless against them. He becomes dangerously sick, soon afterwards but manages to survive at the end of Plague, Edilio follows Sam to Lake Tramonto. Edilio lives on a houseboat at Lake Tramonto. He is seen to be running things in Fear, even though Sam is officially the mayor. It is revealed in the later points of Fear that Edilio is gay and his love interest is Roger. He takes over the running of the lake officially after Sam goes off to find Astrid, which later becomes permanent.

Quinn Gaither

Quinn was Sam's best friend before the FAYZ. He and Sam love to surf and it is shown that they understand and care for each other. Quinn is an only child and lives with his parents. When the FAYZ occurs, Quinn becomes scared and expresses this through mean and rude comments towards the characters and mainly Edilio. Quinn later betrays Sam and Astrid by telling Caine where they were, leading to Sam being tortured by Caine. Quinn frees him and apologizes, saying that he did not know what Caine would do. Quinn spends the rest of the novel trying to make up for betraying Sam. He plays a big part in defending the Daycare in the Thanksgiving battle. In the second novel, Quinn and Sam grow apart not seeing each other at all until the middle of the book. It is then were Quinn shows a love interest for Lana. He also discovers that you can produce food in the FAYZ by fishing. Quinn then becomes head fisherman in the FAYZ and has a respectable position. He is said to have been well known and respected through the FAYZ as the head fisherman for the FAYZ. He is referred to as 'the Fisherman'. He grew much since the first book, showing in how he stood up to Caine to defend Sam towards the end of the series. In the finale book, Sam calls Quinn for help to break him out of the hospital and Quinn helps him. Astrid said that Quinn has grown a lot from the first book and has become a better person. After the FAYZ ends, Sam, Astrid and Diana move close to Quinn's new house with his mom.

Drake Merwin

The darkest character in the series, Drake learned how to shoot a gun from a young age and when he purposefully shot a neighbor in the leg, he was sent off to Coates. At Coates, he became known as a bully, and Caine used to think of Drake as a henchman. Later in the series, Drake harms Diana and makes an enemy out of Caine. Caine kills Drake in "Hunger", but in Lies, Drake returns in an undead state that links with Brittney. Drake then turns to the Gaiaphage (the Darkness) and becomes its servant, which he enjoys as it gives him control over the coyotes that roam the woods. The Darkness gives Drake a whip arm when his arm is sawed off by Diana after it was burned by Sam. He enjoys making people cry as he whips them viciously. Drake is shown as a psychopath that purposely harms people and is sexist towards girls. When Brianna chops off his head and it melds with dead lizards, he is still alive. So with the help of Dekka and Astrid, they put his head in a cooler and sink it in a lake. Then the Gaiaphage eats an adult from outside the FAYZ and fuses Drake's undead head to its shoulders. Then Astrid bites off his nose and pokes out his eyes; puncturing one and ripping out the other one. After the barrier falls, Sam finds Drake and nearly shoots him, but his head falls off his shoulders, thus killing him once and for all.

Gaia Ladris-Soren

Gaia is the daughter of Diana Ladris and Caine Soren. The Gaiaphage makes Drake kidnap Diana in Fear, so that it could possess Diana's unborn child and use the body as a vessel, of sorts. When Diana has her baby inside the cave, Brianna (who had been trying to rescue her) set the newborn baby on the mass known as the Gaiaphage because she became hypnotized by the Gaiaphage's powers, due to which she thought she was setting the baby on a cot. The Gaiaphage swarmed over the baby and manifested itself inside it, the baby instantly became a five-bar mutant. Diana then names the child Gaia, even though she later thought she wanted to name her something like 'Sally', 'Chloe' or 'Melissa', but she felt compelled to call her Gaia at that time, which most likely happened due to the powers of the baby. The only book she appears in is Light, where she punches Little Pete and also showcases phenomenal power when she causes an adult known as Alex, climbing the FAYZ wall from the outside appear inside the FAYZ; she then rips his arm off for food and later beheads him to provide a new body for Drake, who was taken out by Diana. Gaia has no special power of her own, but she can use any mutant's power in the FAYZ as if it were her own, but only as long as they are alive, because in Light, she prefers to kill normal humans before she kills those with powers, and she also loses her ability to travel faster when she kills Brianna, who had that power.

Charles Merriman

The original school bully in Perdido Beach, before Caine showed up with Drake. When Caine in initially took reign over Perdido beach he recruited Orc to be the town sheriff. Orc doesn't take this too seriously so instead he believes he can do whatever he wants to who ever he wants. He beat one girl to death with a baseball bat because she was using her supernatural powers, which was banned. When he starts to get out of line Caine interrupts him and puts him back in his place. After being attacked by coyotes and having most of his body being turned into gravel, though, he joins Sam. He is often seen with Howard, his only friend. It is revealed that his real name is Charles Merriman, but he is often referred to as Orc, .Astrid tutored him in detention, and it is evident that he has a soft spot for her. He is seen drunk several times, but meets God, and begins to clean his act. He is also shown to be embarrassed of his rock-gravel physique, originally refusing to be seen by the public when the barrier became transparent. He is killed by a rouge missile as he fights Gaia, and his legacy will never be forgotten for those throughout the FAYZ. For, in the end, Orc redeemed himself and may have saved many of the kids.

Brianna

Before the FAYZ Brianna had always been brave. Her parents divorced sometime before her ninth birthday. Her mom remarried- "a jerk" and had twins with him. Brianna liked the twins OK. Brianna was enrolled at Coates Academy because her stepfather stated her grades were too low. Her mother convinced her stepfather to let her move back home, and this was to be her last year at Coates. Next year she was going to be back at Nicolet Middle School, back home in Banning.

Gone Brianna first appeared, along with other mutants such as Taylor and Dekka, when Andrew's Poof was being filmed. Her hands are encased in cement, and she is starving to death. She later appears, unnamed, when Drake "Whip Hand" Merwin captures Sam Temple, Astrid "The Genius" Ellison, Peter Michael "Little Pete" Ellison, and Lana Arwen "Healer" Lazar. When Astrid pretends to crush Pete's GameBoy under her cement-block hands, Little Pete panics and makes all the blocks disappear. She, along with the others, follow Sam back to Perdido Beach. She's the third mutant to pledge herself to Sam.

Brianna (4) Brianna carried messages during the battle. She was the first to see Drake's whip hand. Brianna was labeled as a potential threat by Diana Ladris - a tribute to her Power. During the battle in the town square, she is fighting alongside Edilio Escobar.

Hunger Brianna appears with Computer Jack in an open space near the town. Jack fires a bullet, and Brianna races alongside it. The bullet beats Brianna by several feet, but she allows Jack and everyone else to believe she outran it. It is noted that she runs with her hands facing back instead of pumping her arms, so she can run faster.

Brianna goes to the McClub, somewhat inviting Jack to come along. When she is there, Zil Sperry tells her to stop showing off while she was dancing, and Dekka stops a fight from breaking out. She offers to teach Jack how to dance, but ends up getting mad at Jack when he leaves to go find Diana.

She goes with Sam, Dekka, Taylor, and several others to the Power Plant to fight Caine Soren. While trying to jump onto a roof, she (foolishly) attempts to fly and knocks herself out, also getting rather bad injuries. Everyone at Perdido Beach believe she is dead, nearly causing Dekka to break down. She later recovers, and discovers her speed allows her to catch birds for food. She catches a pigeon and eats it after cooking it over a fire. Dekka later helps her escape from the roof she was trapped on, and later she lets herself be known to be alive.

When Drake attacks Sam inside the plant, Brianna severs part of his whip arm and saves the FAYZ from a nuclear meltdown. However, she is forced to touch the radioactive pool while diving to save the remote that controls the radioactive pool. Brianna becomes very ill, and Lana later heals her. Sam tells her to fetch Duck, in order to help kill the Gaiaphage. She brings him to the mine shaft.In Hunger, we also find that Brianna's shoes are size six.

Lies Brianna has a much smaller part in Lies. She is known to be dating Computer Jack, who moves in with her when he catches the flu. She takes care of him for most of the book. Brianna also brings Sam back to Perdido Beach when the battle starts. Later she rescues Justin from dying when Mary Terrafino leads the little kids off the cliff. She catches the flu from Jack, and they are still living together at the end of the book.

Plague Brianna starts this novel out attempting to kill Drake. She attacks him at the church, and seemingly kills him, but he puts himself back together and severely injures her before giving way to Brittney Donegal. Drake's part-time henchman, Jamal, then shoots her in the face with a rifle. Edilio Escobar finds her later, almost dead, and Lana heals her. Drake escapes. Brianna's main role is in battling with the Bugs. She rescues Caine from the bugs after he retakes the town. They fight together, Caine flipping over the bugs as she opens a cut in their vulnerable chin and uses her gun to shoot into the wound, thus killing the bugs. Brianna is the most efficient at killing the bugs.

Brianna (3) She's also present when Sam and Lana are trying to heal Dekka. Dekka was infected by the parasitic bugs, and they are attempting to do surgery. Believing she will die, Dekka reveals to Brianna that she loves her. After this, Brianna avoids Dekka.

Brianna is one of the 82 people who follow Sam to the lake, and she urges others to do so as well.

Fear In Fear Brianna is living with Sam at Lake Tramonto and hasn't spoken to Dekka in four months. She goes with Sam to go get rid of the missiles they found in Plague and then when Drake attacks goes after him. She and Dekka have a falling out in the desert after Drake slits Jacks throat, where she admits she doesn't know whether she likes boys or not as she's just a kid. She and Dekka manage to patch up her friendship (Brianna calls them 'bad-ass sisters') and then go after Drake and Penny together.

Penny manages to incapacitates both of them, leaving Dekka in the desert and Brianna at the mouth of the cave where the Gaiaphage lives. She manages to save Justin after he is kidnapped but is rendered powerless when the FAYZ goes dark. She delivers Diana's baby Gaia Soren-Ladris but is brainwashed into believing the Gaiaphage is a crib and lays Gaia onto it. When the FAYZ wall turns transparent she tells the others Gaia, Diana and Drake are heading towards the desert. She lightens the mood at this stage, by posing for the cameras outside the barrier.

Light Brianna's determination to destroy Gaia proves useful in the last book, but ultimately unsuccessful. When the lake was attacked by Gaia, Brianna attacks and cuts Gaia into as many pieces as she can, saving the people at the lake. Later, she fights again with Gaia, but after Brianna's shotgun fires a dud shell at her, Gaia has the opportunity to grab Brianna and blast her with Sam's deadly light, killing her instantly.

Power Super-speed Brianna's power is that she can run so fast that she cannot be seen. Her top speed is just under the speed of sound. She runs in an odd way, turning her palms back as she pumps her arms. It is estimated that her top speed is about 700 miles per hour, just slower than a bullet. This was found out in an experiment done by Jack. Because of this, she is used alongside Taylor as a messenger during emergencies. Since Diana has last read her, her power was at 3 bars. Brianna loves having powers and is very confident about her ability. She calls herself "the Breeze" because of this. She used to only run at top speed but sometime in Lies that speed translated to the rest of her movements.

20-30mph -walking pace 50-60mph -low gear 80-90mph -pokey She snores at normal speed

Critical Reception

Reviews have generally been mixed to positive, though many note Gone's success in its intended demographic. Mal Peet, for The Guardian, pointed to the series' "rave reviews, most of them posted on websites by teenagers", though noting that such success stemmed from literary sacrifices that made characters into "crude two-dimensional digitisations".^[4]

Amanda Craig, for The Times, noted that Gone was "heavily influenced by TV series such as Lost and Heroes, and described the book as "Clever but a little too predictable."^[5] Jayne Howarth, for the Birmingham Post, called Gone "superb" and said she found the book "full of suspense, action and the supernatural. Think of a potent mix of Lord of the Flies, Heroes and Lost and you get an idea of the audience this will appeal to." Describing the pace of the novel as "frantic and frenetic" Howarth summed up: "This is an incredible mystery story, with twists and turns, cameos and protagonists, to keep readers engrossed... Violent in parts, Grant does not hold back at showing the feral nature of humans when faced with a world without order. Unputdownable."^[6]

Dinah Hall, reviewing Lies for The Sunday Telegraph, also drew comparison with Lord of the Flies and Lost, and wrote: "While it's never going to make it on to the GCSE syllabus, it definitely has the addictive pull of a cult television series... I would sell my soul for the next instalment."^[7] Toby Clements, reviewing Hunger for The Daily Telegraph, wrote: "Grant's world is hard-edged but thought-provoking, a Stephen King novel for youngsters in which the children are challenged with reshaping society while fighting off evil. Hunger ought to be required reading for any teenager who thinks adults suck."^[8]

Stephen King has also praised the series, writing: "These are exciting, high-tension stories told in a driving, torrential narrative that never lets up. There are monsters, there are kids with mad-crazy super powers, there’s the mystery of where all the adults went. Most of all, there are children I can believe in and root for. This is great fiction.^[9]

Television adaptation

On July 30, 2013, author Michael Grant announced that Sony Pictures Television had acquired rights to produce Gone as a TV series.^[10] So far no concrete plans have been announced.

References

External links

• "michael grant - gone".