HEARTSICK by debut author Caitlin Sinead is out today and we couldn't be more thrilled for everyone to get their hands on it!
Synopsis
Quinn
is looking forward to her senior year at Poe University. She has big plans to
hang out with her best friend, flirt with a certain boy genius, party at her
favorite dive bar and figure out what she’s going to do after graduation with her
not-so-useful art major. But that’s before she meets Luke, a hot townie who’s
moved back home to help take care of his dying sister. And it’s before a weird
epidemic sweeps across campus, mysteriously turning people’s eyes purple.
Is
it an odd side effect from a new party drug?
Is
it a rogue virus developed in a campus lab?
Is
it the mark of the devil?
Soon
the town starts blaming the university and the student religious group becomes
frighteningly aggressive in their on-campus accusations. Quinn and Luke are
caught in the middle—until a tragic accident forces Luke to reveal the one part
of himself he’s kept carefully hidden. That he’s so much more than the
happy-go-lucky boy next door Quinn had believed him to be isn’t a surprise…but
this truth might be too dangerous for her to handle.
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Kobo | Google Play | iBooks
“This
unique read–containing a boatload of likable characters and a few
spine-tingling chills–plays out like a mystery movie on the big screen. The
author really keeps readers guessing with each flip of the page–and it gets
more and more exciting all the way up to the last chapter, which has the
potential to make jaws drop.” – RT Book Reviews
“HEARTSICK
is destined to become a go-to example of great, speculative NA.” – Carrie
Butler, author of the award-winning Mark of Nexus series
“A
snappy, suspenseful plot balanced with stellar writing, brimming with chemistry
and full of unique, nuanced characters. Quinn is the sort of strong, believable
heroine I want to spend hundreds of pages with, and the mix of sci-fi-tinged
mystery, small-town social tensions and a sweet-and-sexy love story kept me
engaged until the end. Caitlin Sinead just made my auto-buy list.”–A.J.
Larrieu, author of Twisted Miracle
Excerpt
“Did
you go to college?”
His
jaw is tight. “Yes.”
“Do
you think I could guess your major?” I ask.
“Probably
not,” he says.
I
don’t like that I don’t even get a hint at what he did before or what he
studied. I shrug, start on my second hotdog and then lean back, really aiming
for a glint in my eye, if that’s possible to control. I’ll make this a game.
“Well, do you think you can guess mine?”
He
smiles. “Do I get something if I guess right?”
I
hop up onto a stool and let the tip of my toe brush against his knee. When I
make contact, he starts, before leaning in. “What do you want?”
“I
want a lot of things…” He stares at me. “But for now, I’d settle for a second
date.”
“Okay,
if you can guess my major, on the first try—” I emphasize that bit with a
pointed finger, “—then I’ll reluctantly agree to go out with you again.”
“I
don’t like the reluctant part, but I’ll take what I can get. Now, let’s see…”
He rubs his chin as though he’s an old-timey detective. He’s ready to pace back
and forth across the room with a pipe and a deerstalker hat. “You like
photography.”
Shit,
he does know that. I start to hum the Jeopardy! theme song. Maybe if
time is running out he’ll be more likely to guess quickly and get it wrong? Do
I want him to get it wrong?
“Okay,
I got it.” He rubs his hands together. “You’re an art major.” His cheeks swell
with the weight of his smile.
“You
got that just because I take pictures?” I rub my forehead.
“I
know more than that.”
“Someone
told you,” I say. “If this bet was rigged, it doesn’t count.”
He
jerks back and shakes his head, frowning. “No, I wouldn’t do that,” he says. “I
noticed you had some pottery on your coffee table, with initials on it, a Q.
B.?”
I
nod. He’s talking about the bowl I made last year. Initials usually go on the
bottom, but I painted them big and proud in the middle. And the bowl is empty.
Mandy and I haven’t decided what to put in it. We narrowed it down to fake
fruit (lame), M&M’S (which we would devour) or Micro Machines. Clearly,
we’re leaning toward Micro Machines.
Luke
takes my hand. I think he’s trying to convey his earnestness, his
respectability and seriousness of not tricking me into a bet. The pads of my
fingers brush against his rough palms and I suppress a sigh. His thumb runs
along my pointer finger, sliding to the fingernail. “You also have paint under
your nails.” His victorious, smug smile is in full bloom.
I
pull my hand away, embarrassed. “Yeah, it’s hard to get all the paint off.”
“I’m
sure,” he says.
About Caitlin Sinead
Caitlin Sinead is represented by Andrea
Somberg at Harvey Klinger,
Inc. and her debut novel, Heartsick,
will be published by Carina
Press in 2015. Her writing has earned accolades
from Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery
Magazine, Glimmer
Train, and Writers
& Artists, and her stories have appeared in
multiple publications, including The
Alarmist, The
Binnacle, Crunchable, Jersey
Devil
Press, and Northern
Virginia Magazine. She
earned a master's degree in writing from Johns Hopkins
University.
No comments :
Post a Comment