About the Story
Tunnel Vision by Susan Adrian
Publication Date: January 20, 2015
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Jake Lukin just turned 18. He's decent at tennis and Halo, and waiting to hear on his app to Stanford. But he's also being followed by a creep with a gun, and there's a DARPA agent waiting in his bedroom. His secret is blown.
When Jake holds a personal object, like a pet rock or a ring, he has the ability to "tunnel" into the owner. He can sense where they are, like a human GPS, and can see, hear, and feel what they do. It's an ability the government would do anything to possess: a perfect surveillance unit who could locate fugitives, spies, or terrorists with a single touch.
Jake promised his dad he’d never tell anyone about his ability. But his dad died two years ago, and Jake slipped. If he doesn't agree to help the government, his mother and sister may be in danger. Suddenly he's juggling high school, tennis tryouts, flirting with Rachel Watkins, and work as a government asset, complete with 24-hour bodyguards.
Forced to lie to his friends and family, and then to choose whether to give up everything for their safety, Jake hopes the good he's doing—finding kidnap victims and hostages, and tracking down terrorists—is worth it. But he starts to suspect the good guys may not be so good after all. With Rachel's help, Jake has to try to escape both good guys and bad guys and find a way to live his own life instead of tunneling through others.
Summary
Jake Lukin just turned 18. He's decent at tennis and Halo, and waiting to hear on his app to Stanford. But he's also being followed by a creep with a gun, and there's a DARPA agent waiting in his bedroom. His secret is blown.
When Jake holds a personal object, like a pet rock or a ring, he has the ability to "tunnel" into the owner. He can sense where they are, like a human GPS, and can see, hear, and feel what they do. It's an ability the government would do anything to possess: a perfect surveillance unit who could locate fugitives, spies, or terrorists with a single touch.
Jake promised his dad he’d never tell anyone about his ability. But his dad died two years ago, and Jake slipped. If he doesn't agree to help the government, his mother and sister may be in danger. Suddenly he's juggling high school, tennis tryouts, flirting with Rachel Watkins, and work as a government asset, complete with 24-hour bodyguards.
Forced to lie to his friends and family, and then to choose whether to give up everything for their safety, Jake hopes the good he's doing—finding kidnap victims and hostages, and tracking down terrorists—is worth it. But he starts to suspect the good guys may not be so good after all. With Rachel's help, Jake has to try to escape both good guys and bad guys and find a way to live his own life instead of tunneling through others.
(Courtesy of Goodreads)
"The Footsteps I Follow: Authors I Admire"
A Guest Post by Karen Akins
There are so many authors I admire. I feel like I'm only one in a long chain of authors, passing knowledge and experience from one to the other…and I hope that I can be one of those authors who continue the chain and help other authors too.
The first authors I remember worshipping, when I was small, were Noel Streatfeild, L.M. Montgomery, Susan Cooper, and Madeleine L'Engle. I still do. I read all the Shoes books with my daughter as soon as she was old enough, and she reads the Anne books on her own. I loved The Dark Is Rising series so much that I memorized the poems in them, and can probably recite them to this day. And the Wrinkle in Time series? Amazing, still. I made charts of how all the family were related, and re-read them often. These are the writing heroes of my childhood. I was so thrilled to meet Susan Cooper at BEA last year, I think I was incoherent. Though she was, as I expected, very kind.
As I got older I added Jane Austen, Douglas Adams, and Mary Stewart to the list. An odd collection, but I admired each one for different reasons. Jane Austen is classic, and I always thought her books were witty and, of course, so romantic. Mary Stewart's books, mostly from the 50s and 60s, follow in that romantic vein, but add the element of thrillers and mystery that I now love, and try to emulate. Douglas Adams' books are just funny. I wrote a thesis paper once on the cleverness of his wordplay, and I think I learned that from him: it's okay to play around with words in new ways.
Diana Gabaldon was an important writing mentor to me when I first started, many years ago, and I will always be grateful to her for that. Also, I have no idea how many times I've read OUTLANDER, but it's a lot.
As for contemporary authors, there are some whose books absolutely thrill me with how good they are…while also making me groan, that I could never write that well. Laini Taylor's worldbuilding is astonishing, as is Kiersten White's. Stephanie Perkins nails romance, every time. Courtney Summers captures the contemporary experience, particularly of teens in turmoil, perfectly. Victoria Schwab's use of language is truly enviable. Holly Black and Maureen Johnson are the queens of plot.
I feel I have learned, and continue to learn, so much from these authors—from every author I read. I truly am just following in their footsteps.
About the Author
Susan Adrian is a 4th-generation Californian who somehow stumbled into living in Montana. She danced in a ballet company and worked in the fields of exotic pet-sitting, clothes-schlepping, and bookstore management. She’s settled in, mostly, as a scientific editor. When she’s not with her family, she keeps busy researching spy stuff, traveling, and writing more books.
Susan is represented by Kate Schafer Testerman of kt literary (kate@ktliterary.com). For film/television rights she is represented by Jon Cassir of CAA. She is a member of SCBWI.
Where to find her online: Website \\ Twitter \\ Facebook \\ Tumblr \\ Blog
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