AustLit

'Ruby White has burnt her bridges. She has no job, no direction in life, and just enough money to last a month, if she eats only rice and her cat catches his own meals. When her best friend, Anise, holds a dress-up party, Ruby drowns her sorrows and meets Damien, whose vampire costume belies his sweet nature.

With time on her hands, Ruby soon finds herself at a seminar for those who are Hyper-Auto-Aware, a condition she never knew existed, run by the Jaasmyn Empire, a company she's never heard of. To Ruby's astonishment, and that of those who know her, she is offered a job. Providing everything from meditation CDs, candles and 'specialised sleeping aides' (otherwise known as pillows) to private classes with a psychic therapist (a parrot), the Empire offers solutions for every physical and metaphysical problem ever conceived, and many that haven't been. Ruby swiftly gains a reputation within the Empire for possessing extraordinary abilities even though her 'talents' are in fact no more than guesswork and sarcasm.

Attracting the attention of the charismatic head of the Empire, Jaasmyn, Ruby ignores her misgivings about the Empire's ethics and enjoys fitting in somewhere for the first time in her life. When the reactions of those outside the Jaasmyn Empire become more cynical and her cautious relationship with Damien wavers, Ruby begins to keep her job details secret. As her training progresses, her parents become even more concerned. It seems the zany girl who used to eat chocolate for breakfast and salted pretzels for dinner won't touch anything that isn't organic and the further Ruby penetrates the Empire, the more her behaviour begins to change.

As Ruby disappears into the mire of mind, body and spirit, her friends and family try numerous ways to lure her back but their efforts only push her more into the arms of the Jaasmyn Empire and its mysterious leader. Fortunately Ruby's friend at the empire, DeDe, is onto Jaasmyn and orchestrates an unforgettable media expose.' (From the publisher's website.)