Specials by Scott Westerfield

First of all, I must inform you that this book is the third one in a series of four by Scott Westerfield, and you probably shouldn't read this book if you haven't read the first two.
The story starts out pretty much like the rest of them, smack-dab in the middle of an event that Tally Youngblood, the main protagonist, is diving into. You start out sort of blind, but everything is explained as the book progresses. 
Basically, this clique's members were Shay's Cutters and anyone else special enough to fight off the brain lesions on their own. Dr. Cable engineered them specifically to find and put a stop the New Smoke, at any cost. Besides the normal special abilities like strength and reflexes, they were built for the wild. Judging by the other books and Tally's actions, they probably have new brain lesions, which cause heightened anger and other over-reactants. 
In the beginning, some of their fellow Cutters are kidnapped and that provides fuel to the fire that yearns for revenge inside both Tally and Shay. Tally causes some trouble with Shay and there are some tense situations between them, because Tally's main goal is to help her boyfriend Zane, while Shay wants to use him to find the New Smoke.
All eventually get to the New Smoke, and are surprised when they find out they hadn't planned for what the New Smoke had been up to. This triggers a series of events that include imprisonment (multiple times), and a new cure made just for specials.
I gave this book a B, because other than some surprising twists and turns, the book is pretty repetitive and predictable. The few action-packed scenes didn't quench my thirst I gained from the previous books. It took me the longest time to get into it, and by that time it was over.
I did pick up on a few themes in this book. One was how damaging plastic surgery could be. Of course, I'm sure the surgeons today don't put "bubblehead" lesions in your brain (well, as far as I know). But I meant how dangerous being a special made the cutters, and even without lesions, plastic surgery can't be doing such a favor for your mindset of yourself. Another was how often our generations are cutting themselves to feel something, and how misleading it can be. 
I only recommend this book if you really liked the previous books, because I wanted to quit reading that series right then and there.