Beware the Little White Rabbit by Shannon Delany

The imagination of the reader easily goes to a more powerful place when we allow certain things to remain ‘off screen.’ ” Leap Books publisher Shannon Delany admits she’s “far more willing to consider smartly written thrillers for YA readers than things including vividly written vivisections or dripping disembowlings. “Literature is the best place to explore and test boundaries, and that is especially true for young people.” “I think human beings want to be thrilled,” says Laura Lescaro, author of “White Is a Human Construct,” one of several creepy short stories in Beware the White Rabbit, an anthology that pays tribute to the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carrol’s Alice in Wonderland. Readers love horror because it forces them to experience reading in a visceral-sometimes terrifying-way, but because what traumatizes one reader may be vanilla to the next, finding the right balance can be challenging.

The sense of fear is palpable-as many readers can attest.Īdams’s novel has tapped into one of the most sought-after trends in today’s young-adult thriller market-gripping, emotionally charged stories that deal with the heart-stopping core of teen fears rather than the typical “monster of the week” presented during the paranormal heyday.Īs D4E0 Literary agent Mandy Hubbard notes, editors and readers alike are chomping at the bit for good psychological horror-“something really character-driven with killer writing.”

At a remote cabin, deep in the mountains, Ruth comes face-to-face with her captor, the infamous “Wolfman” believed to have already raped and murdered six young girls.Īt its core, Ruthless is about survival, but Adams transcends any genre clichés with a series of boundary-pushing plot twists and an intimacy that draws us deep into the character’s mind. In Ruthless, published by Simon Pulse this summer, we meet tough, ambitious Ruth Carver at a time of ultimate vulnerability-as she wakes up bound and blindfolded in the bed of a moving pickup truck. In the end, I wrote the novel I wanted to write.” “I never thought about how it would be perceived by anyone, and I didn’t think about how it would fit into the marketplace.

“My marriage was falling apart and this novel was free therapy,” Adams says.

Instead, her chilling young-adult debut began as a way to cope with the claustrophobic darkness invading her own life. How TV Shows like “Scream” Fuel the Young Adult Horror SurgeĬarolyn Lee Adams didn’t write Ruthless with the intent of getting it published.

Beware the Little White Rabbit by Shannon Delany