She's done vampires, witches and shadow-creatures, and in this trilogy L. J. Smith tackles psychics, namely five psychics in particular - Kaitlyn Fairchild, Rob Kessler, Gabriel Wolfe, Anna Whiteraven and Lewis Chao (where does she get these names?)
In the first book 'The Strange Power' the five teenagers were united by Emmanuel Zetes and his lackey Joyce Piper under the pretence of helping them control and understand their individual psychic abilities whilst also educating them and supplying them with scholarships for university. However, the teens found out eventually that this was not the case - what Mr Zetes was really up to was to change them into a 'psychic swat-team' and sell their psychic services off to the highest bidder. Horrified, the teens flee the house, which is where 'The Possession' picks up, but with a few differences: all five of them are telepathically linked with each other, and one of their members - Gabriel - is now forced to feed off other people's energy in order to survive.

So where 'The Strange Power' was an introduction to the teens and their powers (which include healing abilities, animal communication, telepathy, future divination and telekinesis) and 'The Passion' is Kaitlyn's infilteration back into the Zetes Institute, 'The Possession' is the journey of the five runaways to find the mysterious house that they have all dreamt of - a white house over a strech of water where voices call out to them.

On their road-trip however, they have to deal with the continuous presence of each other in their minds, the police, their parents, the mysterious location of their white house, Gabriel's need for human substanence, a new arrival, and an onslaught of attacks from Mr Zetes and his 'dark psychics' - those students who had come before them under Mr Zetes's tutorledge. However they are not without their own resources - their own powers guide and substain them, and they find allies in Anna's parents, Tony - the brother of Marisol (who had been a helper at the Zetes Institute and purposely put in a coma by Mr Zetes), an intriguing newcomer by the name of Lydia, and of course the mysterious beings of the white house - a climax that does not disappoint.

L. J. Smith again creates good, solid, interesting characters - especially those of the psychics and their individual talents - and she is a master of creating the 'bad boy', in this case Gabriel Wolfe. You only need to have a look at some of the other reviews to see how he effects pre-teens. Likewise Kaitlyn is a strong heroine, though L. J. spends a bit too much time describing her appearance and how beautiful she is (just once I'd like to see an unattractive L. J. Smith heroine!) and backup characters are likewise interesting and realistic. I especially appreciated the 'shades of grey' L. J. places within the books - there are not simply black and white/good and evil characters but rather those that hover on the boundries such as Lydia, Gabriel, and even to some extent Kaitlyn herself. Gabriel's revelation at the climax of the books when he is faced with pure (though ridgid) goodness and realises he can never become part of it is especially thought-provoking.

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