Numbers

Jem Marsh is fifteen and has hidden one fact about herself since she was small. When she meets someone's eyes, a number surfaces in her mind. It is a date, and she has learned that it is the day that person will die.

She lives with her foster mother, Karen, and keeps everyone at a distance, since closeness only gives her more to lose. That changes when she meets Terry, who goes by Spider, and an unlikely friendship begins to form.

The two take a day trip into London. In the queue for the London Eye, Jem looks at the people around her and sees the same date in every pair of eyes. The crowd of tourists is about to be caught in a terrorist attack.

Jem and Spider run through the city, and the flight forces Jem to face what her ability means and what using it costs her. This is a contemporary young adult thriller with a supernatural premise, told close to Jem's point of view. The pace quickens sharply once the London trip begins, and the mood is tense and fearful. It is the first book in Rachel Ward's Numbers trilogy.