Release Date: 06/2015
Flux Publishing
Summary from Goodreads:
Everyone at Singer, a boarding school for underprivileged kids, knows the urban legend of the Society of Seven. Decades ago, the original members of the secret guild for elite students murdered the school's founder and then perished in the fire they lit to hide the evidence. Or so the story goes.
Talan Michaels doesn't care about Singer's past. He's too focused on his future and the fact that he'll be homeless after he graduates in May. To take his mind off it, he accepts a mysterious invitation to join a group calling itself the Sevens.
He expects pranks, parties, and perks. Instead, he finds himself neck-deep in a conspiracy involving secret passages and cryptic riddles about the school's history. Even worse, he's now tangled in web of lies someone will kill to keep hidden.
Excerpt;
I cut across the
quad toward the oldest building on campus. Why would they want to see
me here? Except for the Pillar thing, I can’t think of anything
I’ve done wrong recently. That they know of, anyhow.
I open the front
door and flash my pass at the security guard. He reads the note over
a couple times as I sign in. “Room 07? I don’t see a lot of
passes for rooms in the basement.” He hands it back and points to a
doorway. “Take that stairwell there.”
The muscles in my
shoulders stiffen as I ramble down the rickety steps into a dark
corridor. The air is humid and musty. There’s a single dim bulb
hanging from the ceiling in the center of the long hallway.
Unnerved, I squint
to read the faded numbers on the old wood doors. The darkness in the
narrow hall is starting to trigger my claustrophobia. When my shoes
squeak like a bad speaker, I twist around, thinking someone’s
behind me. What am I freaking out about? There’s no one else here.
I’m alone.
Alone.
In a strange
building.
For a meeting I knew
nothing about.
In an empty hallway…
in a dimly-lit basement… that no one ever uses.
The hairs on my arm
stand up. My eyes shift around, searching the walls for anything
familiar.
“Hello?”
No answer.
All the classroom
lights are off except for one at the very end of the hall. A strip of
light glows from under the door. I drift toward it like an insect to
a bug zapper.
The door to room 07
creaks as I open it and wander inside. The room is empty, except for
a chalkboard on one wall with a message:
Yes,
Talan. The letter is for you. And it’s real.
My breath catches in
my throat. What letter? What’s going on? I look around the room
and then peer out into the hallway, but there’s still no one
around.
Scanning the room
again, I spot a black velvet envelope with a red wax seal sitting on
the ledge of the chalkboard. I go over and grab it, just as a cold
sweat starts to collect under my shirt.
Inside is a card
printed with fancy writing:
Master Talan
Michaels,
You have been
chosen for membership in the resurrected Society of Seven.
Participation in The Society requires absolute loyalty, a lifelong
oath of silence, and a commitment of sacrificial service to the true
purposes of our brotherhood. In return, pledges are bestowed the
secrets of The Society, including access to fraternal wealth and
wisdom. Upon final initiation into The Society, each member is
assigned the Great Responsibility and awarded the Great Reward—the
use of society resources to fulfill your greatest desire.
Choose or
refuse, you will have until midnight tonight to decide. If refusing,
destroy this card and speak of it never, lest ye choose to invite
misery upon yourself. Be warned: Do not take this vow lightly.
If accepting,
return this invitation by way of the mausoleum of Mary Harper Singer,
behind the Chapel ruins in the cemetery off Rucker Road. Slide this
card under the palm of the weeping angel that watches over our
beloved matriarch.
Noblesse
Oblige: “To whom much is given, much is expected.”
About the Author
Lynn Lindquist lives in a suburb of Chicago with two overly-social sons and a mutt named Slugger who wisely hides under the bed most days. The hordes of teenagers that regularly frequent her house (think Panama City Beach during spring break) provide fodder for her young adult novels and growing anxiety disorder. Ever since her sons broke the Guinness Record for Largest-Rager-Thrown-While-a-Parent-Was-Out-for-the-Night, she enjoys spending her free time at home entertaining friends, cooking, reading, and writing. Thankfully, her favorite things in life are her sons, words, and kids, so she wouldn’t have it any other way. She is represented by Katherine Boyle at Veritas Literary Agency.
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