Flashing back and forth between the future-the aftermath of a terrorist attack on Grand Central Station-and the present-a 20-week training course at the FBI Academy in Quantico, VA-we follow the lives of seven FBI recruits. These young adults are pushed to the brink as the class is gradually whittled down, until only the finest candidates remain. Haunted by questions about her late father and his mysterious career as an undercover agent, Alex Parrish joins the FBI searching for answers. Her fellow trainees include Ryan Booth (ex-military), Shelby Wyatt (an orphaned Southern belle), Eric Packer (a Mormon with a troubled past), Simon Asher (the first openly gay FBI recruit), Nimah Amin (an observant Muslim with a double life), and Caleb Haas (for whom the FBI is a family business). Their mentors at the Academy-Miranda Shaw and Liam O'Connor-have boundless experience but a complicated history with the Bureau and each other. When Alex Parrish learns that she's been framed for the terrorist event, she has to run for her life while trying to figure out which of her former classmates is the real terrorist before they strike again.
