GREENHAVEN
Greenhaven is an affluent, isolated northwestern suburb, pleasantly oblivious of a world teetering on ecological self-destruction.
16-year-old Tara Petrie is a sick girl, struggling with unpredictable seizures and freakish hallucinations, when a shockingly gruesome murder shakes the peace and quiet of her community.
Skye, a bad girl from the poor side of the wall, shares a revelation with Tara… evidence that her father is connected to the murder.
As the two unlikely friends seek answers to the murder mystery, they encounter frightening obstacles, leading them to discover a society of extra-terrestrial shapeshifters who have been living among us for a generation. Tara also discovers she isn’t entirely human herself. Her unique DNA, the secret her parents have kept from her since she was born, has made her the target of a team of deadly alien assassins.
But if Tara and Skye can stay alive, there’s a chance they could stop the extinction clock before midnight comes for both species.
Tara Petrie spends most of her time trying not to feel sick and broken. Sixteen years of monstrous hallucinations and violent seizures have robbed her of any real chance at a normal childhood and social life. Monitored carefully by her parents and maintained by cutting-edge medical technology, Tara has always felt like a burden on the family.
At Greenhaven high school, Tara avoids human connections, and all the potential embarrassment and shame they’re known to cause. She dreams of a life where she feels ‘whole’…but the scary part is, sometimes she feels more like ‘herself’ in the middle of her episodes than when she‘s ‘well’.
Tara can’t shake the nagging tingle in her mind… a feeling that tells her everything around her is about to crumble.
Our fragile environment marches toward self-destruction, and the world boasts record-breaking income inequality. Welcome, Skye. Born in lowly Batesville, a blighted town on the fringes of Greenhaven, Skye is a poor, angry girl gifted with immense intellect, uncanny technological skill, and no direction whatsoever.
Skye took to her first computer like a fish to water, then used her talents to rage against the system. Making the most of limited resources, Skye uses her hacking ability to turn the vices of the wealthy Greenhaven elites into cold cash.
She’s angry at the universe for taking her Mom before she could know her. She’s angry at her Dad for being a pathetic excuse for a parent. She’s drawn to Tara in many ways, and their partnership has provided Skye with things she didn’t realize she lacked – like mystery, and purpose…
And maybe love.
Scientist. Geek. Scholar. Intellectual Romantic.
Randall Petrie is a forward thinker and expert problem-solver in the lab. Outside of it, he’s just like any other nerdy alien shapeshifter father-figure geneticist: Torn between the urgent survival-related needs of his species, and the guilt accumulated from years of deceiving his most successful experiment…otherwise known as his daughter, Tara.
As Tara unwittingly approaches the day when her life will be taken from her without her consent, Randall is discovering a new element of his personality: A FATHER.
Sometimes, the needs of the many do not outweigh the needs of the few – or the one. Randall is going to have to betray someone – the only question is ‘who’…
Emma is the picture of an accomplished professional and overachieving supermom.
Emma is also a highly-trained killing machine whose alien shapeshifting ability makes her the perfect guardian for Tara. Emma comes from a long line of military achievers. She follows orders and values the smooth workings of a society in which everyone accepts their role.
Emma plays the role of a suburban mom expertly. One might call her an extreme method actor – complete with an authentically suburban sexless marriage to Randall. But soon, Tara’s actions and those of the Dire Man will force Emma to venture beyond roleplay – where she’ll find out whether or not a real mother’s heart beats within her.
PhD, CEO, Family Counselor. That’s the surface of Doctor Alora Stone.
Beneath the mask, Alora is the indomitable leader of a race of alien shapeshifters, stranded on this strange and lovely blue planet.
Earth’s human tenants display little respect for their home. The extinction clock ticks away loudly as Earth becomes less and less habitable for either species. This keeps Alora awake at night, wrestling with hard moral choices that will send shockwaves through her race as well as humanity.
Alora swallows her own fears daily in order to stand tall for her people, projecting confidence in her plan to save this planet – an extremely fragile plan that revolves around a teenage girl named Tara.
He was the protector. No opponent could match his instincts, strength or tactical skill. Tasked with keeping his people alive on alien worlds, he trained his officers in the art of shapeshifting combat under the most trying circumstances. He was the architect of his people’s safety… Until the day came when he committed genocide in the line of duty. Billions of innocent lives ended as a result of a careless reaction.
Something shattered within the mind of the protector. Crushing guilt metastasized into a fanatical conviction that the universe had pronounced judgment on ALL his people for their meddling. When a fatal radiation leak destroyed the mother vessel, he was one of the unlikely survivors. Stranded now on the lonely blue planet Earth, ostracized for his suicidal zealotry, he has relinquished the role of protector. He knows the radiation exposure has made them all sterile. He accepts this as the judgment of the universe. His species must end – before they taint this world any further. He will make sure this is done.