Elite

Elite by Mercedes Lackey, 2016 Hyperion Books

     After Ace and his mysterious partner attempt to murder Joyeaux during her Elite trials Ace is taken into military custody. The partner remains a mystery but Joy and her uncle, the Prefect, continue searching.
    As part of the Elite Joy is sent on assignment with other Elite for more dangerous and bigger monsters. Working with Hammer and Strike, brothers who use shield walls as weapons, gives Joy a different perspective on both her tactical and her magical skills. She gets a more thorough look at the bigger badder monsters getting through the barriers - evens allows her to discover new creatures.
     When the Prefect designates Joy to patrol the sewer and maintenance tunnels under the heart of Apex City, she discovers there may be something even bigger than Otherworld monsters roaming the city. Joy encounters the murdered bodies of several psimons - humans with particular mind-control and reading abilities. The head of Psi-Corps appears to have it out for Joy; when she confronts both Joy and her uncle in his private office. After the meeting Joy thinks she may have a better idea of who wants to use her as a pawn against the Prefect.
     But the Apex has greater problems than internal jockeying for power. The Otherworlders are beginning to band together. After the entire Elite force is called out to protect a smaller city nearby the hunters notice the Folk among relatively run-of-the-mill monsters. With these more brazen attacks becoming more pointed attacks on Human installations. Joy is surprised to receive an offer of camaraderie from the Folk Mage who waylaid her train from the Monastery.
     "Things are not as they seem." He warns just as the army loses control of Ace and he is taken to the Otherside. Joy's minimal downtime is reduced even further when Ace vanishes and the mysteries begin to mount even as the hunters discover new abilities and band closer together to form a stronger defence for the humans of Apex.
     Intended for teen and young adult readers Elite features mounting tension as the unknown looms closer and closer. Political maneuvering and secrecy drive the story as Joy and her uncle try to piece together why the Otherworlders have become so bold, who is helping Ace, and what is the point of the increased attacks? Readers of all ages will enjoy Elite highlighted by Lackey's irreverent sense of humor.