When They Fade

In the tradition of The Lovely Bones comes a haunting tale of two girls—one dead, one alive.

TATUM is the only person at school who knew the truth about the affair her best friend, Claudette, has been having with Mr. Paracini, their married teacher. And at the time, confiding in an adult seemed like the right thing to do. But now, everyone in town has turned against Tatum, painting her as a liar and a rat. As the bullying from her classmates escalates, it seems that nowhere is safe for her anymore.

MOLLY, a hitchhiker, was brutally murdered in the early 1970s, but there is no afterlife for her. Instead, she has found herself marooned with a crowd of other people who have also died tragically. Molly is able to fade back to earth for a few fleeting moments, and when she fades, she finds herself hitchhiking once again, and telling the unsuspecting drivers who stop for her things about their future that only she can see.

One foggy night, Tatum sneaks out for a drive. The teenage hitchhiker she picks up doesn’t talk much, until she suddenly turns to Tatum and says: “You’re going to die. It will hurt and you’ll be alone. And no one will help you.”

And then she disappears. As the two girls’ stories converge, Tatum and Molly will discover that they must first figure out how to help the other in order to save themselves.

Jeyn Roberts is the author of the acclaimed novels Dark Inside, Rage Within, andThe Bodies We Wear. Born in Saskatchewan, she graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in writing and psychology and received her MA from the prestigious creative writing graduate course at Bath Spa University. She lives in Vancouver, Canada.