Summary: The Doctor said I should be dead.
My heart beat furiously. I looked up at the flashes of lightning in the sky. Yes, I should be dead.
Why wasn't I?
Seventeen year old Lisa Brown’s life is falling apart. First, her mother and father divorce, then their house forecloses and now, her mother has decided to commit herself to a psychiatric hospital.
If that weren't enough, she must leave sunny south Florida to attend a boarding school full of geniuses in cold, Lynn, Massachusetts. The city where the locals chant “Lynn, Lynn, city of sin; you never come out the way you went in.”
And, they aren't kidding. Lisa must live in a tiny shack with two strange teenagers, a dog named Pig who growls when you look at him and a cat named Rat. “Mind the cat,” everyone says. What the heck is wrong with this place?
Lisa thinks she’s landed in her own house of horrors with the anti-social Alex and his facetious sister Ally. But, the real drama begins the day she is struck by lightning…
C I N is a wonderful beginning to the series. It’s an
introduction into the life of Lisa Brown and the strange life that she begins with
her Aunt Millie. This is a very fast paced read, easy flow with a great variety
of characters. It is a very enjoyable young adult read and a mystery from the
start.
Lisa Brown is having it tough, first of all her parents
separate, her mother is unstable and cannot hold down a job, so their house
forecloses and they are forced to move. Lisa’s Mum is admitting herself into a
psychiatric facility and Lisa is forced to stay with her Aunt Millie. She has
never met this woman and has only ever spoken to her once. Lisa is anxious
about the whole thing and she has right to be. Her Mother is eager to get Lisa
on the train and out of her life, why can’t her Mother say “I LOVE YOU”? It
would be really painful that your own mother couldn't say those three little
words. What has happened to her mother?
Lisa arrives at the train station and Aunty Millie is
nowhere to be seen. A young boy is lounging around and starts yelling out her
name. Aunty Millie had a meeting and sent Michael to collect Lisa from the
train. This is the beginning of their friendship and the start of the strange
behaviour of Lynne. There are 2 cottages near the lake with two kids living in
one and while their parents are apparently away, Aunty Millie watches over them
and she lives in the other. They have a cat, Rat and a dog, Pig. Rat and Pig
are two of the strangest animals alive. They will not allow you to touch them
and have personalities of their own. Rat eats at the kitchen table like a
human. Right off the bat, these two kids are not likeable. Alex and Ally are
the strangest kids she has ever known. They are hateful, paranoid and weird in
their behaviours. Lisa cannot stand living with them and can’t wait for her
mother to come back for her.
Lisa is to start attending the school that Aunt Millie is
headmistress of, C I N Boarding School. This is a special school for gifted
teens with high intelligence levels. She is not looking forward to it at all. After
a few days of enduring these horrible teenagers, her Mother does come back and
they all go to lunch. Lisa was leaving with her Mother and not going to look
back. Alex and Ally didn't want this to happen and they all went out into the
street as they left. A huge lightning bolt struck the Lynne sign and a huge
hole is in the road, trying to find a way around, Lisa and her Mother get out
of the car, big mistake. Lisa looks up into the sky and BAM she is struck by
not one, but two lightning bolts.
Lisa wakes up in the hospital and feels amazing. She has
never felt this alive, this energised or this healthy. What happened and why isn't she dead? How could she be struck by TWO lightning bolts? There is a
massive secret that Ally and Alex are hiding and Lisa is the only one that doesn't know.
What is this huge secret? Why do Alex and Ally speak as if
they are centuries old, but are only teenagers? Where is Lisa’s Mother and why hasn't she come back for her daughter again? Where does Aunty Millie disappear
to every night? Where are Alex and Ally’s parents, why don’t they return? Why
is she starting to have feelings for Alex? There are so many questions that
Lisa has and she is determined to find the answers.
I loved the original story in this book and cannot wait to
read book 2. And don’t you love the tag line? “Lynne, Lynne the city of sin,
you never come out the way went in.” I didn't want to give away the secret so you can all read this fantastic book and
find out for yourselves. The characters are fantastic, just like typical
teenagers, annoying, self-absorbed and their moods changing every minute. The
easy flow of the story and the lovable Lisa Brown will make the reader want to
find out all of the answers for her. It is quite addictive and I recommend it
to everyone who wants to read something different from the normal young adult
paranormal books.
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~****~
Excerpt
When we reached the dirt road, I spotted Pig. He jumped high in the air and barked hysterically. Had he missed me? How cute.
“Hi, Bipolar Pig,” I hollered out the window. He raced alongside the car. I got out and knelt down. He wagged his tail but would not come to me. I stood up, disappointed. “I could've died,” I told him. “The least you could do is let me pet you.”
Alex sat on his purple swing. He glanced up at Pig and I. “You’re back,” he said.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“Your Mom called. I told her what happened and she sent you a card via Fed Ex. It is on the shelf in Ally’s room.”
“Thanks.”
I went into Ally’s room and there were clothes folded neatly on the bed. There was a note on top of them.
“Sorry you got fried; here are some clothes I don’t wear anymore. Ally”
That was nice of her I guess. I shoved them over so that they were out of my way. Pig sat near my feet, panting and wagging furiously. “Well, do you want me to pet you or not?” He raced out of the room. “Figures,” I laughed, putting the flowers on the shelf alongside the photo frames. Amber’s card sat nestled in the shell frame covering up the picture of her and Jimmy. I pulled it out and opened it up.
“Get better, Lisa, as soon as I can I will send for you……Mom.”
She really wasn't going to come back for me. I nearly died and all she’d done was send a card? I crumpled her note into a little ball and tossed it behind the bed.
I rubbed my eyes and swallowed hard. When Amber put me on the train and said goodbye, it wasn't temporary as she claimed. It was the kind of goodbye that lasted forever. She was never coming back.
Watch the book trailer! http://youtu.be/yRdrGVinWdQ
About the Author
Christina Leigh
Pritchard was born and raised in South Florida. Her first stories were written
at the age of nine in $0.15 wide ruled spiral notebooks (which were supposed to
be used for class) ;o)~ and in the various diaries she kept. Stories she wrote
from age nine to twelve fill about four storage boxes!
Since she's
upgraded to a computer, she's completed over fifty books and still going
strong. Her genre's include dark fantasy, young adult, drama, suspense,
historical romance, multicultural, comedy, poetry and many more.
Her main
aspirations in life are: her dog, Teacup; the beach, writing and well, writing!
The author says, "I breathe novels. Is there really anything else
worthwhile besides writing and of course faith?"
What she says the most rewarding thing a person can do:
1. "Give all
of your excess. You don't need it so why store it and allow it to collect
dust?"
2. Listen to the stranger next to you whether on a bus, plane, park
bench-whatever. Learn all you can about them and then notice how in such a
short amount of time they had the ability to teach and/or change you! 
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