Kristen Simmons – författare

Avatar: The Last Airbender meets Gladiator in the first book in this epic fantasy duology in which two warriors must decide where their loyalties lie as an ancient war between immortals threatens humanity—from Sara Raasch, the New York Times bestselling author of the Snow Like Ashes series, and Kristen Simmons, acclaimed author of Pacifica and The Deceivers. Perfect for fans of An Ember in the Ashes, And I Darken, and The Winner’s Curse.Ash is descended from a long line of gladiators, and she knows the brutal nature of war firsthand. But after her mother dies in an arena, she vows to avenge her by joining a rebellion to overthrow her fire god, whose temper has stripped her country of its resources.Madoc grew up fighting on the streets to pay his family’s taxes. But he hides a dangerous secret: he doesn’t have the earth god’s powers like his opponents. His elemental gift is something else—something that hasn’t been seen in centuries.When an attempted revenge plot goes dangerously wrong, Ash inadvertently throws the fire and earth gods into a conflict that can only be settled by deadly, lavish gladiator games, throwing Madoc in Ash’s path. This reluctant alliance forces them together as she realizes his powers are the weapon her rebellion needs—but Madoc won’t jeopardize his family, regardless of how intrigued he is by the beautiful warrior.But when the gods force Madoc’s hand, he and Ash become enemies to allies as they uncover an ancient war that will threaten more than one immortal—it will unravel the world.Gods and Goddesses: In a world ruled by elemental deities, Ash must defy her fire god to avenge her mother, while Madoc hides a secret power that could change everything.Elemental Magic: Ash’s control of fire and Madoc’s mysterious gift are put to the ultimate test when they’re forced into a series of deadly gladiator games where the prize is survival.Forced Proximity: Thrown together by the whims of warring gods, Ash needs Madoc for her cause, but he’s determined to protect his family at all costs, creating a sizzling tension between them.YA Fantasy Romance: He’s a street fighter with a secret; she’s a warrior bent on revenge. An undeniable spark ignites, but their loyalties could tear them—and the world—apart.

New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned. The Bill of Rights has been revoked and replaced with the Moral Statutes. There are no more police - instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behaviour - instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested usually don't come back. Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren't always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it's hard for her to forget that people weren't always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. That life in the United States used to be different. Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow. That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with "Article 5" of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings...the only boy Ember has ever loved.

And all that's left is a smoking ruin. Devastated by the demolition of their last hope, Ember and Chase follow tracks leading away from the wreckage - the only sign that there may have been survivors. With their high profile, they know they can't stay out in the open for long. They take shelter in the wilderness and amidst the ruins of abandoned cities as they follow the tracks down the coast, eventually finding refugees from the destroyed safe house. Among them is someone from Chase's past-someone he never thought he'd see again. Banding together, they search for a place to hide, aiming for a settlement a few of them have heard about...a settlement that is rumoured to house the nebulous organization known as Three. The very group that has provided Ember with a tiny ray of hope ever since she was first forced on the run.

Once there was a time when men and women lived as equals, when girl babies were valued, and women could belong only to themselves. But that was ten generations ago. Now women are property, to be sold and owned and bred, while a strict census keeps their numbers manageable and under control. The best any girl can hope for is to end up as some man's forever wife, but most are simply sold and resold until they're all used up.Only in the wilderness, away from the city, can true freedom be found. Aya has spent her whole life in the mountains, looking out for her family and hiding from the world, until the day the Trackers finally catch her.Article 5 author Kristen Simmons once again brings thoughtful social awareness to a riveting, page-turning adventure with characters you won't want to leave.

For too long our people have suffered, plagued by overcrowding, disease, and lack of work. We have only just survived for too long. Now we must take the next step and thrive. Pacifica. A new beginning.Blue skies. Green grass. Clear ocean water. An island paradise like the ones that existed before the Melt.A lucky five hundred lottery winners will be the first to go, the first to leave their polluted, dilapidated homes behind and start a new life. It sounds perfect. Like a dream.The only problem? Marin Carey spent her childhood on those seas and knows there’s no island paradise out there. She’s corsario royalty, a pirate like her father and his father before him, and she knows a con when she sees one. So where are the First Five Hundred really going?

Brynn Hilder is living a life she never dreamed possible: She lives in a mansion, getting a top-rate education at Vale Hall. She has friends and an almost-boyfriend. Anything she wants, she can have.The only catch? To stay in this life, she has to help the director of Vale Hall take down the bad guys of Sikawa City by collecting secrets and running cons.Getting everything she wants and fighting evil doesn’t seem like such a bad deal. The thing is, she’s not so convinced anymore that Dr. Odin is really going after bad people after all. And the friends and almost-boyfriend that have made her life so different are all liars and con artists - so can she trust that any of it is real?The stakes are higher. The cons are riskier. And nothing is what you think it is.

Brynn Hilder has conned a lot of people. From the spoiled rich kids of Sikawa City to her mom's loser ex-boyfriend, from a motorcycle gang to a senator's son. If there was money to be gained, or a secret to uncover, she figured out how to get it done. And thanks to Vale Hall and its director, Dr. David Odin, she's found a family of hustlers just like her.Together, Brynn and her friends have overcome doubt, deceit, and betrayal to unearth the truth - a truth even a group of professional scammers couldn't have predicted.And now they must tackle the biggest con artist of them all: the man who brought them all together.The series that began with the Edgar Award finalist The Deceivers concludes in this twist-filled thriller about a boarding school for con artists by acclaimed author Kristen Simmons.

Four years ago, five kids started a game. Not all of them survived.Now, at the end of their senior year of high school, the survivors - Owen, Madeline, Emerson, and Dax - have reunited for one strange and terrible reason: they’ve been summoned by the ghost of Ian, the friend they left for dead.Together they return to the place where their friendship ended with one goal: find Ian and bring him home. So they restart the deadly game they never finished - an innocent card-matching challenge called Meido. A game without instructions.As soon as they begin, they're dragged out of their reality and into an eerie hell scape of Japanese underworlds, more horrifying than even the darkest folktales that Owen's grandmother told him. There, they meet Shinigami, an old wise woman who explains the rules:They have one night to complete seven challenges or they'll all be stuck in this world forever.Once inseparable, the survivors now can’t stand each other, but the challenges demand they work together, think quickly, and make sacrifices - blood, clothes, secrets, memories, and worse.And once again, not everyone will make it out alive.

Four years ago, five kids started a game. Not all of them survived.Now, at the end of their senior year of high school, the survivors - Owen, Madeline, Emerson, and Dax - have reunited for one strange and terrible reason: they’ve been summoned by the ghost of Ian, the friend they left for dead.Together they return to the place where their friendship ended with one goal: find Ian and bring him home. So they restart the deadly game they never finished - an innocent card-matching challenge called Meido. A game without instructions.As soon as they begin, they're dragged out of their reality and into an eerie hellscape of Japanese underworlds, more horrifying than even the darkest folktales that Owen's grandmother told him. There, they meet Shinigami, an old wise woman who explains the rules:They have one night to complete seven challenges or they'll all be stuck in this world forever.Once inseparable, the survivors now can’t stand each other, but the challenges demand they work together, think quickly, and make sacrifices - blood, clothes, secrets, memories, and worse.And once again, not everyone will make it out alive.

It’s been one month since the hellish game of Meido ended, and Owen, Maddy, and Emerson are still reeling over the trials they endured there. With Empress Izanami destroyed, and the gate to the world of the dead closed, they take solace in the fact that they rescued Ian from that nightmare. There’s just one problem - Ian didn’t come home alone.While Maddy chases a lead to find their yokai friend, and Emerson is haunted by a new, deadly creature, Owen is forced to face the empress - now possessing Ian's body - by himself. She tells Owen that the only way to free Ian is to find the artifacts - three sacred objects - which have been hidden across the realms of Hell, Heaven, and Earth. Unwilling to leave Ian behind, Owen dives into a new deadly game, but even when he’s joined by Maddy and Emerson, the challenges prove impossible. If they don’t solve each terrifying task and get the artifacts by the time the giant’s eye closes, Ian will be lost forever, but if they do, it's the end of the world as they know it.There’s only one person who can help, but Dax hasn’t been human in a long time, and he’s got some serious yokai problems of his own.