Editorial Content for Deadly Animals
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Reviewer (text)
Fourteen-year-old Ava Bonney has what many would call an unhealthy, obsessive interest in biology, specifically the decomposition of dead animals. She makes regular pilgrimages to her special place, a secluded spot where she can transport roadkill she finds along the highway and study them up close. She then records her findings and observations in a notebook that she keeps safely tucked away from prying eyes.
"Readers of DEADLY ANIMALS will be treated to a good story and will be given many short lessons on anatomy, particularly bones."
One night, when she is supposed to be in her room, Ava sneaks out of her house so she can take a walk. Along the way, she stumbles upon the corpse of one of her classmates, who had been missing for several days. After clinically examining the body, she notifies the police anonymously. As she disguises her voice, she creates an adult-like persona. This discovery sparks her native curiosity, but it also sparks the interest of the authorities as they try to figure out not only who killed the boy, but the caller's identity as well.
Readers of DEADLY ANIMALS will be treated to a good story and will be given many short lessons on anatomy, particularly bones. As Ava likes to say, “We are our bones.” For instance, did you know that a fox has 170 bones and 42 teeth? You will find this fun fact and many other biological tidbits as you progress through the pages.
Because Marie Tierney’s debut novel involves so many dead animals, not to mention dead humans, please keep in mind that some of the descriptions here are quite detailed. If you’re squeamish about such things, don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Teaser
Ava Bonney is a compassionate and studious 14-year-old girl with a dark secret: she has an obsessive interest in the macabre. She is fascinated by the rate at which dead animals decompose. The highway she lives by regularly offers up gifts of roadkill, and in the dead of night she loves nothing more than to pull her latest discovery into her roadside den and record her findings. One night, she stumbles across the body of her classmate. Fearing that her secret ritual could be revealed, she makes an anonymous call to the police. But when Detective Seth Delahaye is given the case, Ava won’t step back --- not while teenagers continue to go missing. Racing alongside the police or against them, Ava is determined to figure out who is hunting her classmates before she becomes the next prey.
Promo
Ava Bonney is a compassionate and studious 14-year-old girl with a dark secret: she has an obsessive interest in the macabre. She is fascinated by the rate at which dead animals decompose. The highway she lives by regularly offers up gifts of roadkill, and in the dead of night she loves nothing more than to pull her latest discovery into her roadside den and record her findings. One night, she stumbles across the body of her classmate. Fearing that her secret ritual could be revealed, she makes an anonymous call to the police. But when Detective Seth Delahaye is given the case, Ava won’t step back --- not while teenagers continue to go missing. Racing alongside the police or against them, Ava is determined to figure out who is hunting her classmates before she becomes the next prey.
About the Book
Finding a dead body is not normal. But Ava is not a normal teenager. In this chillingly beautiful mystery, only the obsessive spirit of youth can save a desperate town from the savagery within.
Ava Bonney is a compassionate and studious 14-year-old girl with a dark secret: she has an obsessive interest in the macabre. She is fascinated by the rate at which dead animals decompose. The highway she lives by regularly offers up gifts of roadkill, and in the dead of night she loves nothing more than to pull her latest discovery into her roadside den and record her findings.
One night, she stumbles across the body of her classmate. Fearing that her secret ritual could be revealed, she makes an anonymous call to the police. But when Detective Seth Delahaye is given the case, Ava won’t step back --- not while teenagers continue to go missing.
Racing alongside the police or against them, Ava is determined to figure out who is hunting her classmates before she becomes the next prey. How hard can it be to track a killer?
Audiobook available, read by Olivia Dowd
