Jaimie Vane’s promising career as a cellist came to a screeching halt when chronic illness took over her life, leaving her dealing with a disability her doctors don’t understand. Then her vibrant sister Sybil, an influencer turned wellness consultant at an exclusive health retreat, leaves her a series of distressing messages that contain hidden cries for help…and a voucher for a free stay. Determined to find her sister, Jaimie finds herself chartering a tugboat across the frigid winter sea to the black-sand shores of Creag Dhubh, the tiny island that houses the elite Saoghal Spa and its enigmatic founder, Cyan Blache. Searching for her sister under the premise of being a regular guest, Jaimie is pushed far out of her comfort zone, both physically and mentally, by the group healing activities and luxurious treatments. As time wears on and Sybil is nowhere to be found, Jaimie is shocked to find herself feeling…better. There is something at Saoghal, in the treatments and tinctures and the black mud itself, that has her chronic fatigue and pain melting away. And as she gets closer to the people around her, including the ethereal Cyan Blache, whose perfection seems to defy reality, she finds herself with more questions than answers. But everything comes at a price, and transformation, it seems, requires sacrifice. When Jaimie’s investigation leads her to discover that something darker than mud baths and salt scrubs is twisting the residents of Creag Dhubh into something more than themselves, she must face an evil beyond reckoning in order to escape with her life.
Author
Dawn Kurtagich is a writer of creepy, spooky and psychologically sinister YA fiction, where girls may descend into madness, boys may see monsters in men, and grown-ups may have something to hide. Her debut YA novel, THE DEAD HOUSE, was called "an evil and original story" by bestselling author R.L Stine and ""...a haunting new thriller..." by Entertainment Weekly. Her second novel, AND THE TREES CREPT IN (US) / THE CREEPER MAN (UK) received two starred reviews and was called "A must-read for horror fans everywhere!” by bestselling author, Susan Dennard, while Kirkus called it "frightening and compelling". By the time she was eighteen, Dawn had been to fifteen schools across two continents. The daughter of a British globe-trotter and single mother, she grew up all over the place, but her formative years were spent in Africa—on a mission, in the bush, in the city and in the desert. She has been lucky enough to see an elephant stampede at close range, a giraffe tongue at very close range, and she once witnessed the stealing of her (and her friends’) underwear by very large, angry baboons. (This will most definitely end up in a book . . . ) While she has quite a few tales to tell about the jumping African baboon spider, she tends to save these for Halloween! Her life reads like a YA novel.
