The Progeny: A Novel
by Tosca Lee
Series: Descendants of the House of Bathory (Book #1)
Genre: YA Fiction
Pages: 352 pages
Categories: Thriller, Slight paranormal
Publisher: Howard Books
Release date: May 2016
Content Rating: PG
Scroll down for giveaway!
Book Description: From New York Times bestselling author Tosca Lee comes a story of love, ancient secrets, and survival. Book 1 in the House of Bathory duology.
When you wake up, you remember nothing. Not your name, or where you were born, or the faces of the people you knew. Just a single warning written to yourself before you forgot it all:
"Emily, it’s me. You.
Don’t ask about the last two years… Don’t try to remember and don’t go digging. Your life depends on it. Other lives depend on it.
By the way, Emily isn’t your real name. You died in an accident. You paid extra for that."
You start over in a remote place with a new name, a fresh life. Until the day a stranger tells you you’re being hunted for the sins of a royal ancestor who died centuries before you were born.
You don’t believe him, until they come for you. Now you’re on the run.
Every answer you need lies in a past you chose to erase. The only thing you know for sure is that others are about to die and you need those memories back.
But first, you have to stay alive.
Praise for The Progeny:
"Be warned: once you start this book, it’s impossible to put down!” - Maria V. Snyder, New York Times bestselling author of Poison Study
“Intriguing and romantic, I literally couldn’t put it down.” - Jennifer L. Armentrout # 1 New York Times bestselling author
"Irresistible..." - Publishers Weekly
"[A] complex thriller with various turns and twists...A great choice for readers who enjoy their psychological thrillers with a historical twist." - Library Journal
"Exciting...action-packed…intriguing.” - Romantic Times Book Reviews
"Filled with intrigue, romance, and reversals fans are sure to love." - Family Fiction
"The Progeny has risen to the top of my favorites list…I devoured every word of it.” - Book Reporter
Buy the Book:
Begin Reading Now!
EXCERPT:
No one speaks when you enter the Center for the last time. There’s no need. You’ve gone through the counseling, tests, and a checklist of preparations to get the plastic bracelet you wear the day of treatment. The one that saves a life. They don’t need to know why you’re doing it any more. Or that you lied about it all. Just the scratch of the stylus as you sign your name on the screen one last time.
A nurse takes me into a room and I lie down on the table. I give her the sealed packet—the only thing I brought with me. There’s cash, meds, and an address inside, the one for “after.” It’s a thousand miles away. She’ll pass it to the companion assigned to me. No point meeting her now.
I’m 21 years old and my name doesn’t matter because it’s about to be erased forever. I’m choosing to forget the ones I love, and myself, in the process.
They say your life flashes before your eyes when you die. But they don’t tell you that every detail comes screaming back to life. That you taste each bite of every meal you savored, feel the shower of every rain you walked in… smell the hair against your cheek before that last, parting kiss. That you will fight to hold on to every memory like a drowning person gasping for poisoned air.
Then everything you knew is gone. And you are still alive.
For now.
Continue reading the first four chapters FREE.
Author Interview:
Meet the Author:
Tosca, on the
Writing Life
1. Tosca, between deadlines, family, book signings, speaking at writing
conferences, and book releases, your plate seems full. How do you fit
everything in?
Haha. I keep wondering
this, and the answer is: I drop a lot of balls. My standard e-mail signature
line should read: “I’m so sorry for the massive delay in getting back to you…”
After getting married two
years ago and becoming an insta-mom to four, it’s definitely been a learning
process for me! But they are teaching me well. :D
2. You’re not only a newlywed and new
mom, but you also moved to a farm! What has surprised
you most? What have you grown to love? Look forward to?
I love the quiet, the wide-open space, the smell of the seasons... did I mention
the quiet? The surprises happen out of the blue: a raccoon in the barn, a
neighbor’s rogue chicken in the yard (and the boys won’t touch it, so who ends
up having to catching it? Yup—this girl.). It’s an entirely new life for this
city girl, and I love it. One of the things I look forward to every morning is
fresh farm eggs that we get from our neighbor. And every summer: sweet corn.
3. What do you enjoy most about writing?
Getting to work in my
pajamas. J
4. Do you have any writing rituals or quirks?
I have to clean out my desk, closets, bathroom drawers, and computer files
between each project. I think it makes me feel like I’ve put in order
everything that got messy in the process of obsessively working on my latest
project. And when I’m working, I have to begin with prayer.
5. Who is your favorite author to read?
Do you know how many friends of mine are authors? Are you trying to get me
killed?
6. What is the most valuable piece of advice you’d like to give to
unpublished authors?
If you’re not published
yet, this is a special protected time. Write a lot. Be bold, experimental, and
audacious. It gets harder to write this way as you publish and become
constantly aware of those reading your work, which is why my #1 Rule of Writing
is “write like no one will ever read this”—like you’re writing secret stuff in
your closet. It helps keep fear from getting in the way.
7. Tell us about the premise of The
Progeny.
It’s the story of a 21-year-old girl named Emily who has erased the last two years of her memory and
started over in the North Woods of Maine. Through a quick series of events, she
comes to learn she’s being hunted as one of the descendants of the “Blood
Countess” Elizabeth Bathory—and now everything she erased is what she needs to
survive.
8. How did you decide to write about the
descendants of Elizabeth Bathory?
A fan suggested it! I was
signing books in Orlando and a reader wanted a picture but didn’t have a
phone/camera, so I got his info., and we took a photo and I sent it to him.
When he wrote back to thank me, he said, “How about a book about Elizabeth
Bathory?” While this book is more about her descendants than Bathory herself,
the idea came from him. (Thanks, Keith!)
9. What do you find most interesting
about Emily?
I like her gutsiness, her
smarts, priorities and integrity. After erasing her memory, she doesn’t know
what’s going on in her life any more, and she’s a little weird (aren’t we
all?), but she relies on her intelligence and her integrity to make right
decisions.
10. You visited Croatia, Hungary, Italy, and Bratislava as part of your
research. Tell us a little about your
visit.
The best part of that was
getting to take my mom with me. We have a history of globetrotting—from India
to Ixtapa, Transylvania to Peru. My mom loves to travel and really instilled
that love in me. So when I asked her to come with me, her bags were packed
before I even booked the tickets LOL.
We ate Istrian beef in
Croatia and walked along the Adriatic in Croatia. We sampled pizza and wine in
Trieste, Italy, tromped through castle ruins in Slovakia, visited “ruin pubs”
in Budapest and wandered churches an hour from the Ukranian border. All the
locations that made it into the book are included on my “Real Life Progeny”
Pinterest board (https://www.pinterest.com/toscalee/real-life-progeny/?lp=true)
so you can follow along!
11. You speak at writing conferences and teach, too, right?
I do, when my schedule
allows. I’m just back from Florida and am gearing up to head to Omaha and St.
Louis this spring and summer.
12. Where can readers keep up with your future adventures, teaching
schedule, and book releases?
Through my newsletter,
which you can sign up for here: http://bit.ly/subscribetoTosca (including an option to receive From the
Asylum, my newsletter just for writers) and my website, www.toscalee.com!
Meet the Author:
"Superior storytelling." - Publishers Weekly
"One of the most gifted novelists writing today." -Steven James, bestselling author
Tosca Lee is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of the House of Bathory Duology (The Progeny and Firstborn, currently in development for television), Iscariot, The Legend of Sheba, Demon: A Memoir, Havah: The Story of Eve, and the Books of Mortals series with New York Times bestseller Ted Dekker (Forbidden, Mortal, Sovereign). A notorious night-owl, she loves watching TV, eating bacon, playing video games and football with her kids, and sending cheesy texts to her husband.
You can find Tosca on her website, on social media, or hanging around the snack table. (And be sure to check out Ismeni, the free e-short prequel to The Legend of Sheba!)
Connect with the Author:
Enter the Giveaway!
Win 1 of 15 Progeny Swag Packages! Each swag package includes: Set of Progeny Character Cards; Progeny necklace; Progeny bookmark; and a Progeny button.
(open to USA only / 15 winners total)
Win 1 of 15 Progeny Swag Packages! Each swag package includes: Set of Progeny Character Cards; Progeny necklace; Progeny bookmark; and a Progeny button.
(open to USA only / 15 winners total)
Ends April 21, 2018
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