BOOKS

INTO THE SUBLIME

(Henry Holt, July 26, 2022)

When the cops arrive, only a few things are clear:

•  Four girls entered a dangerous cave.

• Three of them came out alive.

• Two of them were rushed to the hospital.

• And one is soaked in blood and ready to talk.

AMELIE DESMARAIS’ story begins believably enough: Four girls from a now-defunct thrill-seeking group planned an epic adventure to find a lake that Colorado locals call “The Sublime.” Legend has it that the lake has the power to change things for those who risk—and survive—its cavernous depths. They each had their reasons for going. For Amelie, it was a promise kept to her beloved cousin, who recently suffered a tragic accident during one of the group’s dares.

But as her account unwinds, and the girls’ personalities and motives are drawn, things get complicated. Amelie is hardly the thrill-seeking type, and it appears she’s not the only one with the ability to deceive. Worse yet, Amelie is covered in someone‘s blood, but whose exactly? And where’s the fourth girl?

Is Amelie spinning a tale to cover her guilt? Or was something inexplicable waiting for the girls down there? Amelie’s the only one with answers, and she’s insisting on an explanation that is more horror-fantasy than reality. Maybe the truth lies somewhere in between?

After all, strange things inhabit dark places. And sometimes we bring the dark with us.

“This disorienting, claustrophobic, and genuinely frightening thriller follows the four girls as they descend into the darkness. With well-developed, sympathetic characters, a taut plot, and an unreliable narrator, the novel straddles the line between mystical and psychological horror to keep readers guessing to the end… A sublimely scary thriller.”

— Kirkus, starred review

 

“Boorman successfully spins a story that quickly disorients the reader, mirroring the characters’ experiences as they descend further into the unstable cavern, and the suggestive storytelling effectively builds upon the lore… This intriguing blend of paranormal lore and psychodrama will warrant a second read from genre-savvy readers who want to know if they missed clues or were misled down a rabbit hole.” 

— Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, starred review

 

“Claustrophobic and slippery with surprises, this supernatural thriller takes place in one of the most overwhelmingly eerie cave systems to exist on the page… The overarching tension becomes progressively tangible with an unreliable narrator and seriously creepy descriptions.”

— FANGORIA magazine

 

“Gripping and breathless, Into the Sublime is equal parts terrifying, claustrophobic, psychological, and cunning. What a ride! I found myself clutching the book, unable to put it down until I learned how it ended. Completely heartstopping! I’ll be haunted by this one for months.”

— Wendy Heard, author of She’s Too Pretty To Burn

 

“Heart-pounding action sequences keep the pages turning quickly and the vivid setting immerses readers inside the damp darkness believed to house paranormal monsters… Fans of atmospheric and psychological survival novels will race to the end of this horrific nonlinear adventure.”

— School Library Journal

 

“A well-constructed thriller that explores guilt, identity, and authenticity.”

— Booklist

 

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Local readers can order here or here and support an independent bookstore! 

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WHAT WE BURIED

(Henry Holt, February 2019)

DO YOU EVER JUST WANT TO BE BELIEVED?

SIBLINGS LIV AND JORY BREWER have grown up resenting each other. Liv–former pageant queen and reality TV star–was groomed for a life in the spotlight, while her older brother, Jory, born with a partial facial paralysis, was left in the shadows. The only thing they have in common is contempt for their parents.

Now, Liv is suing her mom and dad for emancipation, and Jory views the whole thing as yet another attention-getting spectacle. But on the day of the verdict, their parents mysteriously vanish, and the siblings are forced to work together. Liv feels certain she knows where they are and suspects that Jory knows more than he’s telling. . . which is true.

What starts as a simple overnight road trip soon takes a turn for the dangerous and surreal. And as the duo speeds through the deserts of Nevada, brother and sister will unearth deep family secrets that force them to relive their pasts as they try to retain a grip on the present.

Told from the split viewpoints of Liv and Jory, What We Buried is a psychological thrill ride that deftly explores how memories can lie, how time can bend, and how reconciling the truth can be a matter of life and death.

 

Bank Street College of Education Best Books of 2019

O: The Oprah Magazine’s 10 of the Best Young Adult Books You’ll Love in 2019

Cosmopolitan’s 11 Best Young Adult Books You’ll Be Obsessed With in 2019

Seventeen’s 10 Best YA Books of 2019 (So Far)

Bustle’s  12 Best YA Books Coming Out in February 2019

A February Must-Read by Hypable 

Bookish’s February Book Club Pick

 

“Fans of weird stories will love this Twilight Zone-esque mystery. Every page invites new questions about what is happening and what is real, sucking readers into a funhouse world they will not want to escape. . .  The journey this novel takes is compulsively entertaining.”

—VOYA magazine, starred review

 

“Nothing is scarier than utter disorientation, and Boorman’s road trip to hell wrings that fear for all its worth. It’s Twilight Zone by way of David Lynch—unclassifiable and deeply unsettling.”

—New York Times bestselling author Daniel Kraus

 

“A disintegrating distinction between life and death is a known marker of mental meltdown, but also of spirits haunting the scene of a crime. What We Buried skillfully alternates the two sides every story has, unafraid of clarity with one foot in bafflement.”

―The Center for Fiction

 

“The key to a truly successful mystery/detective story is the author’s clever use of misdirection, and in What We Buried, Boorman succeeds masterfully…[A] great read, one that will definitely play with readers’ minds.”

―CM Magazine

 

“…Liv’s and Jory’s alternating perspectives poignantly reckon with their individual and shared past and present. The author deftly handles a number of issues, including disability and the skeevy underside of pageants and reality shows, but the overarching theme is a sensitive exploration of child abuse and neglect. Vexing, poignant, and thought-provoking.”

—Kirkus Reviews

 

“Keep[s] readers on their toes all the way up to the intense ending, but the emotional reconciliation, which is clearly what’s been at stake here all along, enables a sense of just deserts for all involved.”

―The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

 

“A wild ride, taking the unreliable narrator to the next level.  What We Buried has an ending you won’t see coming or easily forget. Pay attention to the details and read this book twice.”

—Christy Jane, BookCrushin

 

“Fans of unreliable narrators and carefully crafted mysteries are in for a treat with Kate A. Boorman’s What We Buried, a relentlessly trippy narrative packed with family drama and unexpected chills. Their journey together is part mystery thriller, part mind-melting breakdown of time and space as we know it.”

—Kait Paquette, The Fandom

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WINTERKILL trilogy (Amulet/Faber & Faber Ltd.)

WINTERKILL: Book 1

IN THE WOODS OUTSIDE EMMELINE’S SETTLEMENT, a powerful enemy lurks, one that wiped out much of the population generations ago. Inside the walls, Emmeline is watched for Waywardness—the rule-breaking behavior that sent her grandmother to her death.

Emmeline knows she shouldn’t go into the woods or seek answers to the questions no one will ask. When one of the settlement leaders asks for her hand, she could wipe the slate clean, ridding herself and her family of the Stain of her grandma’s crimes.

But there’s something out in the woods…and it’s calling to her.