In 1987, when sixteen-year-old Mayhem and her mother leave her abusive stepfather and return to Santa Maria, California, May learns she is heir to magical power, destined to stop evildoers.

1987. When Mayhem Brayburn's stepfather finally goes too far, Mayhem and her mother flee to Santa Maria, California. The coastal beach town holds the answers to all of Mayhem's questions about who her mother is, her estranged family, and the mysteries of her own self. It also opens the door to the magic that runs through the female lineage in her family. When May gets wrapped up in the search for the man who has been kidnapping girls from the beach, she is forced to face the price of vigilante justice and to ask herself whether revenge is worth the cost. -- adapted from jacket