Edge of Your Seat Fiction (Suspense, Action & Survival Stories)

Part Inferno, part Paradise Lost, and part Sunjiata epic, Song for Night is the story of a West African boy soldier's lyrical, terrifying, yet beautiful journey through the nightmare landscape of a brutal war in search of his lost platoon. The reader is led by the voiceless protagonist who, as part of a land mine-clearing platoon, had his vocal chords cut, a move to keep these children from screaming when blown up, and thereby distracting the other minesweepers. The book is written in a ghostly voice, with each chapter headed by a line of the unique sign language these children invented. This book is unlike anything else ever written about an African war.

Wyatt never really thought much about his dad—a hardened criminal, a lifer in a prison somewhere on the other side of the state. But then the economy had to go and tank, and the community had to go and cut the baseball program from Wyatt's high school. And then the coach had to go and show Wyatt a photograph of his dad at sixteen, looking very much like Wyatt himself. Through a series of unfortunate—or perhaps they were fortunate—events, Wyatt meets a crazy-hot girl named Greer with a criminal dad of her own. A criminal dad who is, in fact, in jail with Wyatt's own criminal dad. Greer arranges a meeting, and Wyatt's dad is nothing like the guy he's imagined—he's suave, and smart, and funny, and cool, and—Wyatt's pretty sure—innocent. So Wyatt decides to help him out. A decision that may possibly be the worst he's ever made in his life.

Max Cassidy can escape from anything

Only fourteen years old, Max is the world's foremost escape artist. Chained, handcuffed, locked in an airtight water tank, there's nothing he can't get himself out of. He learned the art from his father—a man who just two years ago was murdered, and Max's mother went to jail for the crime.

Now a mysterious man has shown up backstage after one of Max's shows, telling Max that not only is his mother innocent, but his father is still alive. He can provide only one clue: a slip of paper with eight digits written on it. It is this clue that will lead Max from his home in London to the exotic and deadly Central American country of Santo Domingo and the impenetrable fortress on the sinister Isla de Sombra. Max Cassidy can escape from anything–but given the chance to finally know the truth about what has torn his family apart, escape from Shadow Island is the last thing on his mind.

In this gripping story, four very different teenagers reveal their deepest feelings and fears during a day in which the hurts and struggles of high school escalate dangerously. There's Kurt, the "freek" who listens to loud music, trying to escape the kids who bully him; Tisha, the girl who feels "out of place" because she's biracial; Ryan, the football star who rules the hallways but hides a terrible secret; and Floater, who wields power over students by acting as the principal's eyes and ears. As tensions rise and emotions reach the breaking point, will Kurt, Tisha, Ryan, and Floater be able to reach out to one another in time to prevent a tragedy?

Alexis thought she led a typically dysfunctional high school existence. Dysfunctional like her parents' marriage; her doll-crazy twelve-year-old sister, Kasey; and even her own anti-social, anti-cheerleader attitude.  When a family fight results in some tearful sisterly bonding, Alexis realizes that her life is creeping from dysfunction into danger.  Kasey is acting stranger than ever: her blue eyes go green sometimes; she uses old-fashioned language; and she even loses track of chunks of time, claiming to know nothing about her strange behavior. Their old house is changing, too. Doors open and close by themselves; water boils on the unlit stove; and an unplugged air conditioner turns the house cold enough to see their breath in. Alexis wants to think that it's all in her head, but soon, what she liked to think of as silly parlor tricks are becoming life-threatening—to her, her family, and to her budding relationship with the class president.  Alexis knows she's the only person who can stop Kasey — but what if that green-eyed girl isn't even Kasey anymore?

When fifteen-year-old Alexander Cold accompanies his individualistic grandmother on an expedition to find a humanoid Beast in the Amazon, he experiences ancient wonders and a supernatural world as he tries to avert disaster for the Indians.

Andrew Bean might be a part of H.E.R.O., a secret organization for the training of superhero sidekicks, but that doesn’t mean that life is all leaping tall buildings in single bounds. First, there’s Drew’s power: Possessed of super senses – his hearing, sight, taste, touch, and smell are the most powerful on the planet – he’s literally the most sensitive kid in school. There’s his superhero mentor, a former legend who now spends more time straddling barstools than he does fighting crime. And then there’s his best friend, Jenna – their friendship would be complicated enough if she weren’t able to throw a Volkswagen the length of a city block. Add in trying to keep his sidekick life a secret from everyone, including his parents, and the truth is clear: Middle school is a drag even with superpowers. But this was all before a supervillain long thought dead returned to Justicia, superheroes began disappearing at an alarming rate, and Drew’s two identities threatened to crash head-on into each other. Drew has always found it pretty easy to separate right from wrong, good from evil. It’s what a superhero does. But what happens when that line starts to break down?

Since the beginning of the school year, high school freshman Melinda has found that it's been getting harder and harder for her to speak out loud: "My throat is always sore, my lips raw.... Every time I try to talk to my parents or a teacher, I sputter or freeze.... It's like I have some kind of spastic laryngitis." What could have caused Melinda to suddenly fall mute? Could it be due to the fact that no one at school is speaking to her because she called the cops and got everyone busted at the seniors' big end-of-summer party? Or maybe it's because her parents' only form of communication is Post-It notes written on their way out the door to their nine-to-whenever jobs?

Thirteen-year-old Gregory Buchanan receives a letter from his Uncle Max and tells his friend Brian, Uncle Max "lives in kind of a different world from the rest of us." Gregory and Brian discover just how different that world is when they accept Maximiliam Grendle's invitation to visit. The two boys discover a game board in the nursery and are swept into competition. But who is their competitor? There are no apparent rules to this Game, either. The mysterious and frightening Jack Stimple gives pointers, but refuses to reveal the rules. The Game takes the boys to fantastic places in the woods around Grendle Manor: Clock Corner, the Petroglyph Wall, Fundridge's Folly. They encounter an axe-wielding troll named Kalgrash, an ogre called Snarth, and a tiny man, Wee Sniggleping. As the boys advance in the Game, additional locations on the game board appear and they discover the mythical people for whom they compete.

Something very strange is happening in Vermont. It's not The Game of Sunken Places - Brian and Gregory have been through that before, and there's not supposed to be another Game until they say there's a Game. But still . . . when they go to visit a relative in the Vermont woods, they find many things are . . . off. Like, people aren't where they're supposed to be. And houses are everywhere. In fact, the houses seem to be taking over.

If anyone in the universe can make high adventure out of supernatural urban sprawl . . . well, it's M. T. Anderson. And in The Suburb Beyond the Stars he brings both humor and intelligence to a thrill ride that's part quest, part mystery, part fantasy, and part Abbott and Costello.
Tween & YA SF AND Anderson, M.T. The Empire of Gut and Bone

The land of New Norumbega is an unusual one--an empire of gut and bone, a kingdom of blood and mucus. At its dark, dry heart is a ruling class that doesn't care about much besides itself . . . and a ruler who is (literally) a one-eyed stump of flesh. Brian and Gregory have come to New Norumbega for a reason--to get the Norumbegans to help them thwart an alien attack back home on earth. But instead, the two boys find themselves caught up in both a robot rebellion and a murder mystery after one of the Norumbegan leaders is sent to sleep . . . permanently. In New Norumbega, it's very hard to know who to trust. There are assassins around every corner, and secrets pave every conversation. Brian and Gregory will be lucky to make it out alive, never sure if they are meant to catch the murderer . . . or be the killer's next victim.
YA SF AND Anderson, R.J. Ultraviolet

Anderson blends paranormal, science fiction, and scientific elements in an intriguing story about a teenager who is convinced that she’s crazy—and a murderer—though reality is even more unpredictable. Sixteen-year-old Alison Jeffries awakens in the psych ward of a hospital, and is soon transferred to a treatment center for “youth in crisis.” The police, meanwhile, believe Alison knows something about the disappearance of her classmate, Tori. She does. Alison had watched Tori disintegrate before her eyes, and she believes that her barely understood “powers” are to blame. With the help of Sebastian Faraday, a mysterious neuropsychologist, Alison starts to get answers: she is a synesthete—her senses of smell, taste, sight, and hearing intertwined in surprising ways—as well as a tetrachromat, able to perceive ultraviolet light

Luke was not eager to accompany his best friend, Hayden, and the cocky new kid, Russell, up to the cliff that night. The plan was to watch Russell jump off the cliff into the lake—his initiation to the Briar Academy fencing team. But instead, after an angry confrontation with Hayden, Russell falls to his death. Now Hayden is in jail and the pressure is on Luke to report what he saw. But what did he see? An accident—or a murder? Luke has always followed Hayden's lead, but this is one decision he'll be forced to make on his own. And to do it, he must face the truth about his friendship with Hayden and his own painful past.

The dead body found in the Chemanga River has nothing to do with Todd. He’s been busy making beds at the family motel and writing alien stories to entertain his friends. Sure, a murder is big news, but what would really interest him? A paying job and a story line free of UFOs and poop jokes. And then he meets Rat. Just a little older than Todd, Rat’s already been to Vietnam and back. He’s got a tattoo and a messed-up family life. And when he offers Todd a gig at the drive-in theater, Todd takes it. After all, it pays actual money. But hanging out with Rat leads to a host of strange experiences and perplexing questions. More and more, that corpse from the river is on Todd’s mind, and no matter how he shifts the pieces around, Rat is always part of the puzzle.

Sanctuary. A one-word text message: That's all Michal "Mike" Garcia needs to gather a crowd. Mike is a seventeen-year-old bookie, and Sanctuary is where she takes bets for anyone at Carson City High with enough cash. Her only rule: Never participate, never place a bet for herself.

Then Josh Ellison moves to town. He pushes Mike to live her life, to feel a rush of something—play the game, he urges, stop being a spectator. So Mike breaks her one rule. She places a bet, feels the rush. And loses. In an act of desperation, she and Josh—who has a sordid past of his own—concoct a plan: The pair will steal from Carson City's elite to pay back Mike's debt. Then they'll give the rest of their haul to those who need it most. How can burglary be wrong if they are making things right?
YA MYS BAR Barnes, Jennifer Lynn Golden

When Lissy James moves from California to Oklahoma, she finds herself in the middle of a teenage nightmare: a social scene to rival a Hollywood movie. And as if understanding the hierarchy of the Goldens vs. the Nons isn't hard enough, Lissy's ever-growing Aura Vision is getting harder and harder to hide. If she's not careful, she's going to become a Non faster than you can say "freak." But it's becoming clear that Emory High has a few secrets of its own. Around the halls, the term "special powers" goes way beyond one's ability to attract the opposite sex, and there may be something more evil than the A-crowd lurking in the classrooms. Lissy can see a lot more than the average girl, but she's about to learn the hard way that things aren't always as they appear and you can't always judge a girl by her lip gloss.

There are people in this world who are Nobody. No one sees them. No one notices them. They live their lives under the radar, forgotten as soon as you turn away. 

That's why they make the perfect assassins.

The Institute finds these people when they're young and takes them away for training. But an untrained Nobody is a threat to their organization. And threats must be eliminated. Sixteen-year-old Claire has been invisible her whole life, missed by the Institute's monitoring. But now they've ID'ed her and send seventeen-year-old Nix to remove her. Yet the moment he lays eyes on her, he can't make the hit. It's as if Claire and Nix are the only people in the world for each other. And they are—because no one else can really see them. 

In a satiric near future, privatization has taken over all aspects of public life-including schools, police, and government-and the world is divided among economic blocs. Surnames reflect the company people work for, and, increasingly, the alliance of corporations to which the company belongs. When hapless Hack Nike, a lowly Merchandise Distribution Officer, runs into the wrong people-John Nike and (yes) John Nike, Vice Presidents-at the watercooler, he is inveigled into a highly illegal, unethical merchandising act. When he goes to the police for help, they sell him a contract (which he can't afford) to take the job off his hands, and then subcontract the work to the NRA, which botches it, putting Field Agent Jennifer Government on the case. Jennifer is a single mother with a savvy daughter, Kate Mattel (children take the name of their school), who is a bit of a heroine herself. A hard-boiled detective with a soft heart and a ready wisecrack, Jennifer has an enigmatic tattoo, a mysterious past, and a mission to bring down wrongdoers-especially at Nike. The story takes her on a madcap chase across the United States Economic Bloc from Melbourne to London, culminating in a bizarre world war with a surprising outcome.

On Sophie Blue's 17th birthday, a nurse at her father's lab gave her a mysterious injection and her father disappeared, leaving behind a swirl of rumors about what really happened to Sophie, who has gone Goth. A year later, she has strange dreams that involve being smashed by a Popsicle truck, hears a constant hum ("gotothelabgotothelabgotothelab"), and copes with her comics-obsessed and increasingly obese younger brother O. S., as well as her out-to-lunch mom. Kenny Fade, basketball star and school heartthrob, also hears and sees bizarre things and, like Sophie, fears for his sanity. And his mother is a nurse!

Imagine being fourteen years old and suddenly being given a new name, a new appearance, a new family, and a new faith. All reminders of a former life are removed, leaving a completely new identity. This premise is the base of Beale's chilling novel, which was originally published in New Zealand. Kirby Greenland has lived a free and easy life in Auckland with her somewhat flaky widowed mother. When, out of the blue, her mother announces that she has to leave the country, Kirby goes to stay with relatives she did not know existed-members of a fundamentalist Christian cult known as the Children of the Faith. Kirby is renamed Esther Pilgrim, and she is forced to live by the strict Rule governing the members of this religious community. All details of her life, from her hairstyle and clothing to her choice of husband, are now governed by the Elders of Faith. Her freedom as an individual, something she previously took for granted, is instantly erased, and Kirby is left with little more than her struggle to resist.

One December night, 14-year-old Alex goes to  bed. He wakes up to  find himself in the wrong bedroom, in an unfamiliar house, in a different part of the country, and it's the middle of June. Six months have disappeared overnight. The family at the breakfast table are total strangers. And when he looks in the mirror, another boy's face stares back at him.  A boy named Flip. Unless Alex finds out what's happened and how to get back to his own life,  he may be trapped forever inside a body that belongs to someone else. 

Hope Tasker, an upper-class girl from Britain, is sick of her petty friends and distracted parents. She just wants to be free, to have fun, to live a little. So when she meets a mysterious foreigner named Natasha, something tells her that this could be her way out of her mundane life. Except Natasha is really Oksana, an impoverished girl from Russia, who was tricked into being sold into sexual slavery as a way to support her family. Oksana, far from being Hope’s way out, is instead a trap that lures Hope into an international prostitution ring. The two girls soon realize that if they are ever going to escape, they must learn to find enough common ground to work together—and to trust each other.