NOQS: OVERSEES, YA Thriller

Title: OVERSEES
Genre: YA Thriller
Word count: 82,000

My Main Character's Greatest Fear:

I’m not afraid of anything. I know, how cocky of me. But before you follow the trend and judge me, hear me out. I lost my dad to a car crash and my mom to a new husband. I lost myself in the aftermath giving my once friends this sick, unexplainable satisfaction. I thought a boarding school was what I needed. A fresh start, away from it all. But damn was I wrong. Everyone used me. Deceiving jerks. And now, because of them, I’m kidnapped and staring death right in the eyes. You think I’d be afraid, but I’m not. Hell, the only thing haunting me is making it out alive and facing them all, again.


Query:

One sixteen-year-old from every country in the world has been chosen to study at The Academy, an underground school on an island far away. These students have one thing in common: they can’t stand their lives back home. Coincidence? Don't bet on it.

Take the American girl, Jenna. She sees the opportunity to trade Rhode Island for a life at The Academy as her gift from above. And though she later finds out that strict rules, a confidentiality agreement, and “mind-training” sessions are included in the swap, Jenna's still wants The Academy. Yeah, Warwick was that bad.

But as she adjusts to life on the island, a native “friend” lures Jenna into a kidnap trap where unknown people torture, beat, and straight-up threaten Jenna for information about The Academy. Interrogations of what seem to be pointless questions fill her days, but all Jenna can wonder is who the hell would go through all this for some school?

Sifting through her past, Jenna realizes that even though it had classes, teachers, and homework, The Academy was never a school. Sure, the weird stuff had logical explanations before, but it’s clear now—The Academy is nothing but a science experiment. And Jenna is nothing but their lab rat.

Before her captors decide she’s worthless, Jenna must plot her escape, discover what her captors want from The Academy...and what The Academy wants from her.

Completed at 82,000 words, OVERSEES is a YA thriller in which nothing was ever what it seemed. Only problem is, Jenna might have found out a little too late. OVERSEES is a standalone manuscript with series potential.


First 250 words:

So this is what it feels like. Regret. Anger. Pain. Fear.
Can't say I'm a stranger to any of these emotions, but the intensity of them together makes all the difference. How did this happen? One minute I'm trying to be the hero, the next I become a victim. I was supposed to save him. I was supposed to do the right thing. But I screwed it up doing it the wrong way. I should’ve known. My plan wasn’t foolproof— it was flawed from the start. I just chose to overlook that.

Plastic restraints dig deep into my wrists with every move I make. Surely I’m bleeding by now. Of course, that would explain the numbing. And the iciness of the pole they’ve attached me to burns my skin. But the stench of saliva from the bag covering my head gives me hope. Perhaps the person who wore it before me is wandering out in the world as a free man now. Maybe it’s just a matter of time until they realize I’m worthless. That I’m just a high school girl who can’t give them what they want. Whatever that is.

I shouldn’t be here. I should be back at The Academy. Or at least back in Rhode Island, with my family. Whose fault is this, anyway? Mom? Kids at my old school? My captors? Evan? Oh, who am I kidding?! Even if I try to push away the thought in my head, it creeps back to make sure I know. The fault is my own.