Ilsa J. Bick – författare

A highly-charged Star Trek tale of a largely unknown ship, captain, and crew, in which the Enterprise-C comes up against mysterious alien forces unleashed by a fledgling crime cartel. For twelve years, Rachel Garrett was captain of the Federation’s flagship. But while her exploits as commander of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-C are legend, little has been revealed about Garrett, her vessel, or the unusual men and women of her crew. Until now. When the archaeological find of the decade offers possible hints about an earlier Cardassian civilization, it attracts not merely those seeking to quench their thirst for knowledge, but also parties with far less noble interests. Among the latter is the Asfar Qatala, a notorious criminal cartel with a disturbing connection to one of the Enterprise’s highest-ranking officers. Now Captain Garrett and her crew are swept into a maelstrom of kidnapping, extortion, and murder. And beneath the surface of the frozen world on which the proto-Cardassian discovery was made, another drama is playing out that will force Garrett to make the most difficult decision of her career.

There are things the people of Winter, Wisconsin, would rather forget. The year the Nazis came to town, for one. That fire, for another. But what they''d really like to forget is Christian Cage.Seventeen-year-old Christian''s parents disappeared when he was a little boy. Ever since, he''s drawn obsessively: his mother''s face...her eyes...and what he calls "the sideways place," where he says his parents are trapped. Christian figures if he can just see through his mother''s eyes, maybe he can get there somehow and save them. But Christian also draws other things. Ugly things. Evil things. Dark things. Things like other people''s fears and nightmares. Their pasts. Their destiny. There''s one more thing the people of Winter would like to forget: murder.But Winter won’t be able to forget the truth, no matter how hard it tries. Not as long as Christian draws the dark...

There are stories where the girl gets her prince, and they live happily ever after. (This is not one of those stories.)Jenna Lord''s first sixteen years were not exactly a fairy tale. Her father is a controlling psycho and her mother is a drunk. She used to count on her older brother—until he shipped off to Iraq. And then, of course, there was the time she almost died in a fire. There are stories where the monster gets the girl, and everyone cries for his innocent victim. (This is not one of those stories either.) Mitch Anderson is many things: A dedicated teacher and coach. A caring husband. A man with a certain...magnetism. And there are stories where it''s hard to be sure who''s a prince and who''s a monster, who is a victim and who should live happily ever after. (These are the most interesting stories of all.)Drowning Instinct is a novel of pain, deception, desperation, and love against the odds—and the rules.

STARFLEET CORPS OF ENGINEERS Almost a year after the S.C.E. crew on the da Vinci helped Lieutenant Nog of Deep Space 9 ™ salvage the hulk of DS9''s sister station Empok Nor, a booby trap left behind by the Androssi threatens the Bajoran system. But the potential damage may be greater than the combined crews of the da Vinci and DS9 can handle, as the threat stretches across two universes -- and their only hope for survival may rest with their long-dead crewmates 111 and Kieran Duffy! LOST TIME

While traveling to a medical conference, the Runabout Missouri encounters a strange anomaly that sends the runabout crashing to the surface of an unknown planet, leaving its two passengers -- Dr. Elizabeth Lense of the U.S.S. da Vinci and Dr. Julian Bashir of Deep Space 9™ -- separated. Each physician thinks the other dead, and each winds up trapped with the factions of a decades-old conflict between those who want to replace dying limbs with cybernetics, and those who want to remain pure. Trapped with no hope of rescue, both Lense and Bashir must find their way on a primitive world -- or die....

Starfleet Corps of Engineers Trapped on a strange world, Dr. Elizabeth Lense finds herself aiding the Jabari freedom fighters as their new medic, working with equipment she finds primitive on people wounded in their fight against the Kornak. All the while she hopes that her crewmates on the da Vinci might rescue her -- and not blame her for the death of Julian Bashir.... Unknown to her, though, Bashir is alive, recovering in a Kornak military facility, where he becomes the focus of a power struggle between the medical and military personnel in the hospital. When the Jabari attack the hospital, Lense and Bashir find themselves on opposite sides of a conflict that can only end in tragedy....

Continuing the adventures of the U.S.S. da Vinci, as Captain David Gold, Commander Sonya Gomez, and the rest of the Starfleet''s miracle workers solve the problems of the galaxy, one disaster at a time. Dr. Elizabeth Lense has left the da Vinci, returning to Earth to have the child conceived in another universe. But she arrives home to find that her estranged mother - renowned archaeologist Jennifer Almieri - is dead, and the investigation into her death is being handled by Starfleet. Soon Lense finds herself entwined in a web of intrigue, where everything she thought she knew about her mother is called into question. Also returning to Earth is Bart Faulwell, recovering from the near-fatal injuries sustained in Signs from Heaven, and looking forward to a reunion with his lover Anthony Mark. But the reunion is far less satisfying than he''d been expecting. Two crew members face major crossroads in their lives...

WOUNDS is the eleventh compilation of stories from the original, bestselling e-book series Star Trek: Corps of Engineers, which chronicles the assemblage of Starfleet technical personnel, a group of specalists consisting of extraordinary humans and exotic aliens that can build, program and figure out everything from alien replicators to doomsday machines. While the Dominion War has been over for a year, its legacy lives on. A mysterious murder on the Starship da Vinici leads to the Gamma Quadrant, and a pre-warp planet occupied by the Dominion still has scars from both sides of that conflict. Plus, Corsi, Soloman and Gomez are haunted by demons from their past. But the greatest threat of all comes from a visit to space station Deep Space 9, where a fissure has opened up between realities, endangering the very existence of the Bajoran system - and also stranding Doctors Lense and Bashir on a war-torn planet from which they may never escape...

The Dominion War has been over for a year, but its legacy lives on. Commander Sonya Gomez, former Starship Enterprise™ engineer, and her crack Starfleet Corps of Engineers team on the U.S.S. da Vinci find themselves dealing with many permutations of that legacy. Two mysterious murders on the da Vinci lead to the Gamma Quadrant and a Dominion base. A pre-warp planet occupied by the Dominion still has scars from both sides of that conflict. Plus Gomez, computer expert Soloman, and Security Chief Corsi are haunted by demons from their past. But the greatest threat of all comes from a visit to Deep Space 9™. A fissure has opened up between realities, endangering the very existence of the Bajoran system -- and also stranding Doctors Lense and Bashir on a war-torn planet from which they may never escape.

People in Merit, Wisconsin, always said Jimmy was . . . you know. But people said all sorts of stupid stuff. Nobody really knew anything. Nobody really knew Jimmy. I guess you could say I knew Jimmy as well as anyone (which was not very well). I knew what scared him. And I knew he had dreams—even if I didn''t understand them. Even if he nearly ruined my life to pursue them.Jimmy''s dead now, and I definitely know that better than anyone. I know about blood and bone and how bodies decompose. I know about shadows and stones and hatchets. I know what a last cry for help sounds like. I know what blood looks like on my own hands. What I don''t know is if I can trust my own eyes. I don''t know who threw the stone. Who swung the hatchet? Who are the shadows? What do the living owe the dead?

Some true crimes reveal themselves in bits and pieces over time. One such case is the Florida School for Boys, a.k.a. the Dozier School, a place where—rather than reforming the children in their care—school officials tortured, raped, and killed them. Opened in 1900, the school closed in 2011 after a Department of Justice investigation substantiated allegations of routine beatings and killings made by about 100 survivors. Thus far, forensic anthropologist Dr. Erin Kimmerle and her team from the University of South Florida have uncovered fifty-five sets of human remains. Follow this story of institutional abuse, the brave survivors who spoke their truth, and the scientists and others who brought it to light.

"Bick''s compelling tale manages to be a blistering confessional and a page-turning whodunit . . . all in one. . . . Readers won''t be able to look away." —Kirkus Reviews, starred reviewPeople in Merit, Wisconsin, always said Jimmy was . . . you know. But people said all sorts of stupid stuff. Nobody really knew anything. Nobody really knew Jimmy.I guess you could say I knew Jimmy as well as anyone (which was not very well). I knew what scared him. And I knew he had dreams—even if I didn''t understand them. Even if he nearly ruined my life to pursue them.Jimmy''s dead now, and I definitely know that better than anyone. I know about blood and bone and how bodies decompose. I know about shadows and stones and hatchets. I know what a last cry for help sounds like. I know what blood looks like on my own hands.What I don''t know is if I can trust my own eyes. I don''t know who threw the stone. Who swung the hatchet? Who are the shadows? What do the living owe the dead? "A powerful tale of bigotry and murder in small-town Wisconsin. . . . a potent examination of teenage emotions . . . peer and parental pressures, and . . . the evil that people are capable of." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

There are stories where the girl gets her prince, and they live happily ever after. (This is not one of those stories.)Jenna Lord''s first sixteen years were not exactly a fairy tale. Her father is a controlling psycho and her mother is a drunk. She used to count on her older brother—until he shipped off to Iraq. And then, of course, there was the time she almost died in a fire.There are stories where the monster gets the girl, and everyone cries for his innocent victim. (This is not one of those stories either.)Mitch Anderson is many things: A dedicated teacher and coach. A caring husband. A man with a certain...magnetism.And there are stories where it''s hard to be sure who''s a prince and who''s a monster, who is a victim and who should live happily ever after. (These are the most interesting stories of all.)Drowning Instinct is a novel of pain, deception, desperation, and love against the odds—and the rules.

For twelve years she captained the flagship of the Federation. But while her exploits are legend, little has been revealed about Rachel Garrett, her vessel, or the unusual men and women of her crew. Until now. When the archeological find of the decade hints at an earlier Cardassian civilization, it attracts not merely academics and knowledge-seekers but also those with far less noble interests. Among them is Asfar Qatala, a notorious criminal cartel with a disturbing connection to one of the highest-ranking officers on the Enterprise. Captain Garrett and her crew find themselves swept in to a maelstrom of kidnapping, extortion and murder -- as well as a desperate, secret struggle between the Qatala and its chief rival, the fledgling Orion Syndicate. And beneath the surface of the frozen world on which the proto-Cardassian discovery was made, another drama is playing out that will force Captain Garrett to make the most difficult decision of her career...amid ruins reputed to link the living with the dead.

An electromagnetic pulse flashes across the sky, destroying every electronic device, wiping out every computerized system, and killing billions. When it happens, Alex was hiking in the woods to say good-bye to her dead parents and her personal demons. Now desperate to find out what happened after the pulse crushes her to the ground, Alex meets up with Tom—a young soldier—and Ellie, a girl whose grandfather was killed by the EMP. For this improvised family and the others who are spared, it''s now a question of who can be trusted and who is no longer human.Author Ilsa J. Bick crafts a terrifying and thrilling novel about a world that could be ours at any moment, where those left standing must learn what it means not just to survive, but to live amidst the devastation.

The Hunger Games mixes with The Walking Dead in this post-apocalyptic YA series that comes to a hair-raising conclusion in Monsters.The Changed are on the move. The Spared are out of time. The End...is now. When her parents died, Alex thought things couldn''t get much worse—until the doctors found the monster in her head. She headed into the wilderness as a good-bye, to leave everything behind. But then the end of the world happened, and Alex took the first step down a treacherous road of betrayal and terror and death. Now, with no hope of rescue—on the brink of starvation in a winter that just won''t quit—she discovers a new and horrifying truth. The Change isn''t over. The Changed are still evolving. And...they''ve had help.With this final volume of The Ashes Trilogy, Ilsa J. Bick delivers a riveting, blockbuster finish, returning readers to a brutal, post-apocalyptic world where no one is safe and hope is in short supply. A world where, from these ashes, the monsters will rise.

The Apocalypse does not end. The Changed will grow in numbers. The Spared may not survive. Even before the EMPs brought down the world, Alex was on the run from the demons of her past and the monster living in her head. After the world was gone, she believed Rule could be a sanctuary for her and those she''d come to love. But she was wrong.Now Alex is in the fight of her life against the adults, who would use her, the survivors, who don''t trust her, and the Changed, who would eat her alive. Welcome to Shadows, the second book in the haunting apocalyptic Ashes Trilogy: where no one is safe and humans may be the worst of the monsters.

An electromagnetic pulse flashes across the sky, destroying every electronic device, wiping out every computerized system, and killing billions. When it happens, Alex was hiking in the woods to say good-bye to her dead parents and her personal demons. Now desperate to find out what happened after the pulse crushes her to the ground, Alex meets up with Tom—a young soldier—and Ellie, a girl whose grandfather was killed by the EMP. For this improvised family and the others who are spared, it''s now a question of who can be trusted and who is no longer human.Author Ilsa J. Bick crafts a terrifying and thrilling novel about a world that could be ours at any moment, where those left standing must learn what it means not just to survive, but to live amidst the devastation.

The Apocalypse does not end. The Changed will grow in numbers. The Spared may not survive. Even before the EMPs brought down the world, Alex was on the run from the demons of her past and the monster living in her head. After the world was gone, she believed Rule could be a sanctuary for her and those she''d come to love. But she was wrong.Now Alex is in the fight of her life against the adults, who would use her, the survivors, who don''t trust her, and the Changed, who would eat her alive. Welcome to Shadows, the second book in the haunting apocalyptic Ashes Trilogy: where no one is safe and humans may be the worst of the monsters.

The Hunger Games mixes with The Walking Dead in this post-apocalyptic YA series that comes to a hair-raising conclusion in Monsters.The Changed are on the move. The Spared are out of time. The End...is now. When her parents died, Alex thought things couldn''t get much worse—until the doctors found the monster in her head. She headed into the wilderness as a good-bye, to leave everything behind. But then the end of the world happened, and Alex took the first step down a treacherous road of betrayal and terror and death. Now, with no hope of rescue—on the brink of starvation in a winter that just won''t quit—she discovers a new and horrifying truth. The Change isn''t over. The Changed are still evolving. And...they''ve had help.With this final volume of The Ashes Trilogy, Ilsa J. Bick delivers a riveting, blockbuster finish, returning readers to a brutal, post-apocalyptic world where no one is safe and hope is in short supply. A world where, from these ashes, the monsters will rise.

CONTINUACIÓN DE SOMBRASCuando Alex se adentró en el bosque, lo hizo convencida de que los Cambiados eran la única amenaza. Sin embargo, ahora ha comprendido una revelación brutal.Primero fue el zumbido. Después, los dispositivos electrónicos dejaron de funcionar. Y entonces los hombres se convirtieron en monstruos que redujeron el mundo a cenizas y sombras.Para seguidores de LOS JUEGOS DEL HAMBRE y THE WALKING DEAD."Podría pasar mañana. ¿Sobrevivirías?".

Alex entra en el bosque con una pistola. Cuando sale, el mundo ha cambiado.Primero fue el zumbido. Después, los dispositivos electrónicos dejaron de funcionar. Y entonces...Para seguidores de LOS JUEGOS DEL HAMBRE y THE WALKING DEAD"Podría pasar mañana. ¿Sobrevivirías?".SINOPSIS: Cuando Alex se adentra en el bosque tiene diecisiete años, un tumor cerebral, una pistola... y una única idea en mente. Entonces se topa con un anciano y su nieta Ellie, una niña que acaba de perder a su padre en la guerra de Iraq.Justo cuando están a punto de separarse, un zumbido comienza a extenderse por el lugar y un fuerte dolor se apodera de Alex. Después, todo se vuelve extraño: pájaros muertos llueven del cielo, los aparatos electrónicos dejan de funcionar...Cuando por fin el dolor cesa, el abuelo ha muerto y Alex está sola con Ellie. Y en el bosque se oyen disparos.

CONTINUACIÓN DE CENIZASCuando Alex entró en el bosque, jamás pensó que necesitaría usar su pistola. Ahora ya no la lleva, y ojalá lo hiciera.Primero fue el zumbido. Después, los dispositivos electrónicos dejaron de funcionar. Y entonces los hombres se convirtieron en monstruos...Para seguidores de LOS JUEGOS DEL HAMBRE y THE WALKING DEAD"Podría pasar mañana. ¿Sobrevivirías?".