"An exciting and compulsively readable work about a teen's empowerment." Kirkus Reviews
"Witty, refreshing page turner!" Amber Duell, Bestselling author of Fragile Chaos
"An exciting new story world with hidden depths." Emmy winning writer, Jay Bushman
2022 16th Annual National Indie Excellence Award Finalist
2021 Reader's Choice Award Nominee
A Barnes & Noble weekly #1 Bestseller!
Teacher & reader recommended YA series! Teachers call Hidden City "Engaging," and "Delightful!" Readers say "I couldn't put it down!" Stacy is "A heroine I wish I was friends with," and the story is "A rockin' good time!" A must read for fans of Supernatural, The Queen's Gambit and old school Buffy: The Vampire Slayer.
Hidden City is addictive, modern fantasy at its most enjoyable. Thought-provoking and entertaining with a cast of diverse and honest characters who mix coming of age heart with supernatural action, Hidden City satisfies and "totally delivers!" This debut novel is a suspenseful dip into the supernatural world underlying the reality we see every day. Fresh. compelling and page turning, this book is a gem.
Summary:
Stacy Goldman is a garden-variety Jewish girl from New York. Except she's a chess champion. And she doesn't believe in anything she can't prove. Especially vampires.
When Stacy moves from NYC to Richmond, Virginia in the wake of 9/11, she enrolls in the academically aggressive St. Ignatius Prep in order to graduate early and get home to New York. At St. Ig's, she falls in with two other outsiders, Finder, the only Black girl and owner of the highest GPA in school and her white boyfriend, Tully, a vegetarian fencer and rugby star with a secret even Finder doesn't know.
After Stacy interrupts a strange attack outside a diner, Finder & Tully reveal Richmond's biggest secret - the city is home to a supernatural subculture run by a monster as old as the city itself. Ruled by logic and strategy, but having seen something she can't explain, Stacy struggles with what is real and what is not, including her own faith.
When an alleged supernatural creature comes to Stacy needing help to defend himself and his children from the city's cruel and manipulative vampire leader, she employs her undeniable chess prowess and must discover her own untapped belief in the unimaginable to save not only his life but those of herself and her friends.
Furlong, J. S.: - J.S.(Jen Selby) Furlong is an author, producer and actor. Raised in the Washington DC professional theatre, Jen spent her teenage years inhabiting other people's lives on stage and making them real. Her first published book was a LARP guide to playing truly evil bad guys: Antagonists for Mind's Eye Theatre, the LARP for Vampire: The Masquerade from White Wolf Publishing. Written under her maiden name, Jennifer Albright, this book was a natural integration of both writing and acting. The largest portion of her writing began when she took a hiatus from acting to have children. A college professor once read a story she wrote and wrote on her paper "Not bad. You should publish this." Those words stuck with her. Hidden City was first drafted in 2004 just before the birth of her second son as an effort to write something her children could eventually read. Jen's teenaged heroines struggle with truth, possibility and who they are. Now mother to four of them, Jen loves teenagers and writes books that she hopes teens, tweens and adult lovers of YA will enjoy. A few random facts about Jen: 1. While writing this book initially she was also writing for and producing modern theatrical circuses, one of which she co-wrote with Neil Gaiman. 2. Jen's career in television and film includes a tiny but pivotal role on Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. 3. Jen is a graduate of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and attended both Ithaca College and The University of Mary Washington. One of her goals is to speak as many languages as she needs to run circuses and buy goats around the world. She lives in Virginia with her animals, her adorable husband and whomever else happens to be home. Follow Jen on IG at @iamjenfurlong. Hidden City is her debut novel.
