Everneath  

Nikki Bennett, an ordinary teenager living in an ordinary town, suddenly disappears one day. When she reappears months later, it’s assumed by everyone, including her politician father, that she has developed a drug habit. Only her former boyfriend Jack refuses to give up on the love of his life.

In fact, Nikki has spent the lost time in an underworld, where Everlivings feast relentlessly on the emotions of despairing people. Nikki decides to return to her former life, but in doing so finds that she has just six months to say goodbye to all that she cares about, before being reclaimed by the Everneath for eternity. Throughout this time, she is followed, taunted and harassed by Cole, the Everliving who first enticed her below by absorbing her grief over the death of her mother and her mistaken perception that Jack had cheated on her.

As her allotted time inexorably ticks away, Nikki rebuilds her relationship with Jack, discovering at the same time that, whilst Cole is manipulative and persistent, he also has a weakness. Together, Nikki and Jack plan a way to exploit this and escape from the claims of the Everneath. Even though it is foreshadowed, the final outcome is still a shock.

This novel is both gripping and powerful. It is, of course, a modern interpretation of Greek mythology, in particular the legend of Persephone. Aspects of this are woven into a narrative which effectively recreates the suspense, drama and thrill of the original myth in a thoroughly contemporary context. Two further novels are planned.