School for Psychics: Book One

This book by K.C. Archer (a pseudonym) is obviously intended to be a multi-installment work as indicated by the subtitle, and the open ending--loaded with numerous mysteries still unsolved--makes that obvious as well. Although the cast of characters are all supposed to be in their 20's, I would agree with Kirkus' review that this "novel reads like it's written about teens for teens." That being said, if you like YA novels, this one is fun.
Teddy Cannon, adopted by a loving couple after her parents were ostensibly killed in a car crash, has failed at just about everything--except being an outsider and gambling. Unfortunately, her family lives in Las Vegas and Teddy has managed to accumulate several hundred thousand dollars in debt to a loan shark. Moreover, because Teddy has often beat the house, she has been banned at all the casinos on the strip, leaving her no opportunity to win back the money she needs. Teddy does not cheat, but she does read people's non-verbal behaviors really well; at least that is what she thinks. She also thinks she suffers from epilepsy, although the medications prescribed for her don't seem to help much with the "episodes." When she dons a disguise and sneaks back into the Bellagio, she is nearly caught by both casino security and the loan shark, but is inexplicably rescued by someone who is obviously a cop. He offers Teddy a way out of debt and a way into being accepted for who she is, which, he claims, is an undisciplined psychic. He offers her a chance to attend the Whitfield Institute for Law Enforcement Training and Development, where psychics are trained to help law enforcement officials at all levels. Desperate to save her adoptive parents the grief of losing their savings--which she "borrowed" from in order to gamble--and seeing her in trouble again, Teddy decides to accept the offer. At Whitfield she falls in with the self-described "misfits" who are pitted against the other first year students, the "Alphas," by one of the instructors. Her colleagues include an ex-cop who can start fires, her room mate who communes with animals, someone who is telepathic, and another who can foresee people's deaths. Teddy has to train her body as well as her psychic skills;  her occasional uncontrolled bursts of astral telepathy shock both fellow students and instructors. Teddy discovers that Clint, the head of the school, is keeping information from her, and when two of the senior students disappear, Teddy begins to unravel a conspiracy to pervert the mission of the school. She will have to overcome her lifelong habit of being a loner and learn to trust her fellow misfits if she is to not only reveal the conspirators, but also survive. I stayed up late to finish this one, which I haven't done in a while and I will definitely read the sequel when it comes out. Additional review from Publishers Weekly.