Though Jacqueline Carey's latest novel, Santa Olivia, has content in science fiction/fantasy, it reads like a literary novel, with nuances of language, character development, and multiple themes. It is no wonder then that Carey's work has placed her on the New York Times bestseller list.

Santa Olivia tells the tale of Loup Garron, the daughter of a genetically modified father, who is born on St. Olivia's feast day in an Outpost town stuck in a no man's land between the US and Mexico. Ruled by the US military and the local bosses, the town has survived in the aftermath of a global pandemic of bird flu, but only barely. Loup is taken in by the local church after her mother dies, and her half-brother Tom trains at a gym to become a boxing champion in order to earn tickets north for the two of them. But Loup is more like her father than even Tom knows and she suffers ridicule and isolation because of her difference, even among her fellow orphans at the church. However, these children offer her some hope of family even after they come to know all that she is, and encourage her to take on the mantle of Saint Olivia to right some wrongs in the town. But this is a child's vengeance. Loup takes this role a giant step forward as she grows into womanhood.

Jacqueline Carey has crafted a sensitive novel of the near future whose heroine is strong, powerful, and mostly at sea with other people. She suffers as Saint Olivia did with a grace that no male could—and maybe no fully human being could. Loup's courage is the stuff of legends and hope.

I really couldn't put this book down. The characters were well drawn and the plot was intricate and often surprising. And as I closed the pages of Santa Olivia, I wondered if Jacqueline Carey had more plans for Loup Garron since there seemed to be more left to be said about this heroine. Carey is capable of crafting a series that has a strong readership as in her historical fantasy series Kushiel's Legacy and her epic fantasy duology, The Sundering. I would not be surprised to see another Loup Garron story in the future.