In their latest collaboration, RAISED BY WOLVES, James Patterson and Emily Raymond introduce readers to two of the most unique and mysterious young protagonists you will ever encounter. Kai and Holo claim to have been raised by a pack of wolves in the Idaho wilderness.

It all starts when two wild-looking teens are found tearing up the Grizzly Grocery and Bait Shop. The call coming into the 911 dispatcher describes them as sounding like wolves. Police Chief Chester Greene of the Kokanee Creek police department arrives at the scene and with the help of his deputies is able to subdue and cuff them. The next visit is to the small jail cell where Chester and his wife, Lacey, attempt to communicate with the mute pair. Up to this point, they have received only grunts and wolf howls.

"In lesser hands, RAISED BY WOLVES could have been way too predictable. But Patterson and Raymond plot it out in such a way that you never truly know what to believe or what big secret is lurking around the next corner."

RAISED BY WOLVES is told mostly from Kai’s point of view. When she and Holo prove that they not only understand what they are hearing but also can speak, the story really gets interesting. To begin with, it brings up questions like “What happened to their family?” and “Were they really raised by wolves all these years?” The answers are at the heart of the novel and will drive the action straight through to a somewhat unpredictable finale.

Not having any known parents or guardians, Kai and Holo are taken in by Chester and Lacey, who eventually introduce them to a principal at a local high school. The goal is to have them enrolled there so they can integrate into society and hopefully bond with some of their fellow students. This turns out to be more trouble than it’s worth, especially when they bring on the ire of the “bad” kids from the infamous Hardy family. Kai befriends Waylon, a teen she briefly met while behind bars, and he becomes their only loyal defender on campus.

Chester and Lacey decide that they want to adopt Kai and Holo, who prove to be invaluable when they save Lacey from a deadly snakebite by using items only from the nearby forest and then drive a car for the first time so that Chester can get her proper medical attention. Their relationship has its ups and downs, but it seems like it could work.

However, that is all put to the test when two FBI agents show up seemingly out of nowhere and appear to know about Kai and Holo. This meeting will not be an isolated one and will play a big role in the reveals that take place during the last third of the novel. As more details come to light about Kai and Holo, the inevitable showdown between them, the town, the Feds and their unspoken past seems to be on a freight train that is picking up speed quickly and threatens to run off the tracks before being saved.

In lesser hands, RAISED BY WOLVES could have been way too predictable. But Patterson and Raymond plot it out in such a way that you never truly know what to believe or what big secret is lurking around the next corner.