In the wake of a failed coup, peace comes at a cost.

A new regime enforces order by erasing the memories of every Shifter. 

But Nivi remembers everything.

Immune to the memory-wiping tincture that silenced her kind, Nivi carries the weight of the past alone. Her powers set her apart, but so does the truth she can’t forget. Once again, Nivi finds herself isolated from her family and friends, and something begins to fracture, within herself and within the forest of her hometown Yuras.

Strange happenings are accumulating. A road of abandoned homes in Yuras. A missing crabbing crew in Alaska. A student abduction at the local Shifter school.

With danger creeping closer and reality unraveling for both Shifters and Statics, will the fight for what’s been lost be worth unearthing truths they fear?

Emily Renk Hawthorne was born and raised in Southern California. Her mother and father are from Taiwan and Illinois, respectively. Emily’s always had a special love for fantasy and sci-fi books.

In elementary school, Emily wrote a story about a lonely fish that joined a school of fish for companionship and safety in numbers. The story was selected by a traveling performance group and performed at an assembly in front of her school. From then on, Emily was hooked! (Pun intended!)

She continued to submit to writing contests in the children’s magazine, Cricket, placing a couple of times, but took a break from writing once she started college.

Emily worked as a general dentist on a Native American reservation in Northern California and in community health clinics in San Francisco and the Central Coast. After 11 years in full-time dentistry (with too many 6-day weeks), she was able to go part-time to focus more on her writing and to spend time with her child.