Part of Series
In the last moment of their captivity on board the alien ship, Star, Noah, and Paco are made separate offers: they will be returned to earth, but they each must abandon the other two. Star and Noah refuse outright, but Paco … Does he believe the other two have already betrayed and abandoned him? When the three are returned to the places they were abducted from, their ability to read minds begins to fade, but Paco struggles to hold on, trying to use his newfound mental power to dominate the prison inmates and get revenge on Spade. But is he damaging his own brain every time he wields his power? Star and her grandfather attempt a perilous journey from New Mexico to Kentucky to find Noah because Star can’t stand being separated from him—but they are kidnapped and turned into slave labor for a warlord. There’s something special about Star now and when she is threatened, the other captives rise up to defend her. Are they strong enough to beat the kidnappers? A few days after Noah is returned to Kentucky, an alien shuttle crashes near his hometown. The Astrals are injured and then attacked by a truck full of drunk humans. The Astrals retaliate, destroy the town and the survivors regroup in a monastery. A gang of outlaws attacks the monastery to steal their supplies. They have taken Noah hostage—will they actually hang him from the archway out front unless the survivors surrender? Noah cries out to Star telepathically for help. She’s coming, trying to get there with an army … but will she get there in time?
Authors
I was born in Socorro, New Mexico, sometime shortly after the earth cooled off. It’s clear that from the outset my parents never intended for me to amount to anything. How could I? With a name like “Ninie?” Please. Fame and fortune do not come to people named Ninie Bovell (My maiden name.) Gabriella Bovary? You could work with that. Even something as pedestrian as Madeline Bovell or Rebecca Bovell or (though you’d lose points here for lack of originality) Elizabeth Bovell. But Ninie? I never had a chance. If I sound a mite hostile, bear in mind that in one decisive stroke my parents sentenced their precious newborn daughter to a lifetime of explanations that began my first day at Muleshoe Elementary School. (Yeah, Muleshoe. The hits just keep on coming.) After a painful week, I had a rap down that I still use today: “No, it’s not Ninnie like skinny and penny. It’s Ninie—rhymes with tiny and shiny. 9e…get it? And no, it doesn’t mean anything, it isn’t short for anything, long for anything, or a substitute for anything. It just is. (Pause here for the inevitable ‘Why?’) You got me, pal, I couldn’t tell you.” I grew up in Texas, got a BA in English and theatre from Texas Tech University and snagged a job as a newspaper reporter. Didn't know a thing about journalism, but my editor said if I could write he could teach me the rest of it and if I couldn't write the rest of it didn't matter. I hung in there for a 25-year career as a journalist. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world, but as soon as I figured out that making up the facts was a whole lot more fun than reporting them, I never looked back. Now, I write suspense—every flavor except pistachio: psychological suspense, inspirational suspense, suspense thrillers, paranormal suspense, suspense mysteries. In every book I write I try to keep this promise to Loyal Reader: I will tell you a story in a distinctive voice you'll always recognize, about people as ordinary as you are—people who have been slammed by something they didn’t sign on for, and now they must fight for their lives. Then smack in the middle of their everyday worlds, those people encounter the unexplainable—and it's always the game-changer."
Avery Blake is obsessed with all things sci-fi. She writes stories about the things that fascinate and occasionally terrify her and the potential futures humanity might have. She expresses her hopes and fears through gripping tales where everyday people face extraordinary enemies, opportunities, and decisions. Her stories suck the reader into worlds where strange alien races have taken over, tech designed to make our world better gets out of hand, and robots make us question what it means to be human. You’ll be hard pressed to find Avery, as she’s always on the move, staying one step ahead of the tracking bots (that are coming soon, if not already here).
