Premonitions (novel)

Premonitions is a young adult novel by Jude Watson, first published in 2005, in which a teenage girl has to cope with disturbing visions.

Plot summary

Gracie knows when bad things are about to happen. Or sometimes when they have already happened. She begged her mother not to leave for a trip that ended with her dying when her car was hit by a truck delivering oranges, and now, living in Washington with her aunt Shay, Gracie has visions that involve her best friend Emily. Gracie would prefer that her psychic powers did not exist, but when Emily disappears, she has to use every vision she gets as a clue to solving the mystery.

The problem with Gracie's visions is that she does not know exactly what she is seeing. Sometimes she sees the past, sometimes the present, and sometimes she misinterprets her visions completely. Assisted by her cousin Diego, Gracie follows her visions in hopes of finding Emily. After a few false starts and a little research, she finds Emily's trail and is taken captive by Emily's kidnapper. Trapped in a guarded and gloomy house, Gracie begins to see the dark childhood of her kidnapper and his kins in unstoppable visions, the kidnapper is a madman who regrets not saving his ill sister Nell. This leads to the house being set ablaze by his enraged father and most of his brothers and sisters are killed in the fire including his dear sister Lizbet. This disillusioned madman wants to end this properly this time and so plans to die with his foster 'family'.

Characters

Gracie: The main character who has psychic abilities. The book is from her point of view.

Shay: Gracie's aunt who, after a while, Gracie comes to like. She likes to cook and tries to make Gracie welcomed in her house.

Diego: Gracie's cousin, who until Emily disappears does not talk to Gracie much.

Supporting characters

Joe Fusilli: A detective on the case of finding Emily. Although Shay doesn't know it (until the last page), has a crush on Shay.

Zed: A young man, who Gracie kind of has a crush on, and for a while Gracie thought Emily had a crush on him, and that he was the one who took Emily, but after he gets arrested, she sees it wasn't him.

Emily Carbonel: Gracie's friend who Gracie did not care much about in the beginning.

Marcus: Jonah Castle's friend and the computer camp's host.

Jonah Castle: 25-year-old billionaire, owner of the computer camp.

Ryan: A member of the computer camp with a big crush on Emily, who Gracie befriends for information about Emily's disappearance.