Feral dogs are blamed when a popular teen is killed. Is it just coincidence that he disappeared after infuriating 14-year-old Haley, who is torn between her anger and her desire to belong? More attacks implicate a creature of Northwoods myth she befriended in its summer form. As the DNR leads a cougar hunt in town, Haley makes a desperate plan to steal a car and use their empathic bond to lead the creature away from the city -- driving alone into the fangs of a blizzard that makes roads hazardous even for experienced drivers. If she fails, either her monster or more members of her community will die.
Genre: FICTION / Coming of AgeRanking on Amazon overall has ranged between a low of 1,552,447 and a high of 48,733 depending on discounts and promotions.
The night held its breath on these residential side streets, so still and quiet. Hardly any traffic. No birds or dogs out in the cold. His home, like those of surrounding neighbors, stayed sealed tight against the killing cold. Everyone had windows of insulating glass, with another layer of storm windows inside that, then more layers of blinds and heavy drapes. His mother worked in the kitchen, radio tuned loud to the college jazz station. Dad hid in his den. Every house on the block would be as closed and insulated as theirs.
A door slammed somewhere down the block as he lifted the lid of the dumpster. The first bag went in fine, but, as he hefted the second, the dumpster lurched to the side and he barely snatched his hand out of the way in time as the lid slammed down again.
He didn’t have time to curse. Whatever had moved the dumpster rushed him, something white as the snow. He saw only gaping jaws lined with sharp white teeth, before those jaws closed on his leg.
He fell backward, scrabbling ineffectually at the icy tarmac beneath him while an unrelenting strength dragged him deep into the heavy snow piled behind the dumpster. He had barely time to cry out. Pain drove all else from his mind. In a split second George’s scream cut off as the snow closed over his head. That single, choked-off cry echoed on the chill night air and faded to silence.
The piled snowdrift was far from soft or fluffy. Thick chunks and clods of packed snow had been shoveled from the drive and piled into a miniature mountain. It made hard going, but the jaws clamped on his leg held tremendous strength. That grip cut into his leg like knives.
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French
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Already translated.
Translated by Justine Reverdy
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Portuguese
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Translation in progress.
Translated by Sofia Cordeiro
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Spanish
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Already translated.
Translated by Luis Manuel Camacho Salgado
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Author review: Thank you to the translator for excellent work! |
