The Telepaths:

David Strorm--Main character of the book, and a telepath. He finds himself at odds with his family and community, perhaps because he can percieve thoughts and feelings of those around him. He hides his compassion and difference at first just to avoid his father's abuse, but later because he understands and sees the consequences to anyone who is different.

Walter Brent--He was the telepath who "stopped" because of a logging accident before the group shared their names with each other. David's uncle found out who it was. He was nine, and he was related to David on his mother's side... her maiden name was Brent.

Michael--He is the telepath that is the oldest in the group. He goes off to school and teaches them all what he is learning. He volunteers for the posse that is riding out to capture David, Petra, and Rosalind in order to spy on them and keep his fellow telepaths informed. At the end of the book he stays behind for Rachel... they appear to be a couple.

Anne--Very much a realist who tries to have a life with a "normal" person. It is a tragedy because it doesn't work out, and the book makes it seem like it couldn't have from the start. She also marries the man that turned Sophie in, so David thinks it is a bad idea because of that as well.

Rachel--Anne's sister, and the person who saves the telepaths when Anne commits suicide, by taking the note that revealed all of them and burning it. She is afraid of being left behind/being alone, and is the person that Michael goes back for. She and Michael appear to be a couple at the end.

Rosalind Morton--David's half-cousin and girlfriend later in the book. She is exposed when Katherine and Sally are captured, and escapes with David and Petra.

Katherine--She and Sally are the last to ride to the defense of Petra's second large meltdown, and this causes them both to later be captured. Katherine is tortured for the names of others, and she reveals David, Petra, and Rosalind. She is later killed.

Sally--She and Katherine are the last to arrive at Petra's second mental meltdown, and this gets her and Katherine later captured by the community. She stays in touch long enough to warn the group about what Katherine has told them and who needs to flee. Later, presumably during torture, the anti-mutationites harm her in some way that destroys her ability to think and communicate anything but garble mentally. She never reveals Michael or Rachel, but we can't be sure about Mark, because (like Walter), his mental voice just stops, and we aren't sure why.

Mark--Mark remained hidden during all of the novel that we know about, but in the end he stops mentally communicating with the others, and we are not sure what happens to him.

Petra Strorm--David's sister. Her telepathy is much stronger and perhaps a little bit different from the main group's... she also has a much larger range at which she can hear people's thoughts. Her mental meltdowns are what destroys the group and gets some of them killed and hunted.

Woman from Zealand--She recognizes Petra's strength and comes to rescue her so that she can breed and produce stronger telepathy in the Zealand community. She saves the other telepaths and welcomes them, and murders everyone else.

Non-telepaths:

Joseph Strorm--leader of the community, abusive father of David. He tries to live as close to the rules as possible, and believes that mutation will harm the community, with some reason, but his love for his son and the rest of his family is conditional upon them fitting into the mold he wants them to fit into.

Emily Strorm--David's mother. She refuses to help her own sister hide a defect in her child, and although she expresses some sympathy or regret at the extremity of the consequences, she seems to also believe in purity and fighting mutation and deviance.

Aunt Harriet--David's aunt and Emily's sister. She gives birth to a slightly deviant infant and, because it is her third (and last) chance, travels to visit her sister in the hope that she will help her preserve her life. She is disappointed in this desire, and is later found dead. David and Uncle Axel discuss the fact that though it is termed a suicide, it was assuredly not one.

Uncle Axel--David's uncle. He is the only one that David trusts about his ability. He protects David as much as he can, including killing Alan Ervin and warning him about the inspector asking about him. He is the first to bring up the idea that perhaps David's deviance is actually superior to normal.

Spider Man--David's uncle, who looks a lot like his brother Joseph. He was sent to the Fringes as a boy because of a mutation, making his arms and legs much longer than normal.

Mary Strorm--David's older sister. She want to protect and comfort him when possible, but is also scared of their father, and outside the telepathic group, so never invited into David's confidence.

Sophie Wender--Childhood friend of David. Alan comes upon her footprint and turns her in. David tells her parents (Martie and Johnny) and they prepare to flee. David tries to protect them after begging to go with them, but they are captured.

Angus Morton--Rosalind's father. Feuds with Joseph Strorm over how radical they can be in preserving purity.

Old Jacob--Keeper at the Strorm farm. Very radical believer in purity.

Alan Ervin--Anne's husband. The one that reported Sophie, and who was apparently planning to blackmail all of the telepaths. Is killed by Uncle Axel.

Jerome Skinner--The person who rides after Katharine and Sally and turns them into the Inspector.

The Inspector--A government official who is responsible for enforcing purity. He is a nicer man than David's father, and doesn't approve of the abuse. He let's David off the hook for protecting Sophie, but later is the reason that David prepares to flee, because Uncle Axel hears that the inspector has been asking about him.

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