Fourteen-year-old Charley Grace was raised in secrecy—trained in martial arts, fluent in Mandarin, and never told who she really was. When assassins storm her villa in Mexico, and her aunt dies defending her, Charley must flee with only a clue: she is “Alpha Girl.”

What she doesn’t yet know is that she is the first human genetically edited to be

immune to disease and destined for an extraordinary lifespan. But she is also a target.

Those desiring unimaginable profits seek her biotechnology secrets for themselves: Chinese intelligence, Russian agents, the Sinaloa Cartel, big pharma, rogue billionaires,

and even factions within the U.S. government. Her only ally is Ray Nelson, an emotionally-scarred truck driver on the run from his wife’s killers with his dog, Patsy. As they flee across the Arizona desert to the Las Vegas Strip and beyond, they enlist an intrepid band of outcasts who become Charley’s shield—and her family. 

Building upon the success of Colin Kersey’s previous award-winning novel, Swimming with the Angels, The Secret of Charley Grace is a relentless page-turning thriller about greed, redemption, and a girl the world sees as a lab specimen—but who refuses to be anything less than fully human.

Growing up near a reservation in Washington State inspired Colin Kersey to write stories about fairness, underdogs, and spirituality. His first novel, Soul Catcher, featured a legendary, vengeance-seeking Native American spirit wind. His second, Swimming with the Angels, explored themes of loss, betrayal, and the search for an eden. It won Finalist Awards in the National Indie Excellence Awards and the American Fiction Awards.

In addition to degrees from the University of Washington and Western Washington University, Colin studied with best-selling mystery writer Elizabeth George and earned a certificate in Novel Writing from Stanford University. He now lives on the Southern California coast with his wife, Vicki.