Eighteen-year-old Emily Heath
would love to leave her dead-end town, known locally as ‘The Sham’, with her
boyfriend, Jack, but he’s very, very sick; his body is failing and his brain is
shutting down. He’s also in hiding, under suspicion of murder. Six
months’ ago, strange signs were painted across town in a dialect no one has
spoken for decades and one of Emily’s classmates washed up in the local floods.

Emily has never trusted her instincts and now they’re pulling her towards Jack,
who the police think is a sham himself, someone else entirely. As the town
wakes to discover new signs plastered across its walls, Emily must decide who
and what she trusts, and fast: local vigilantes are hunting Jack; the floods,
the police, and her parents are blocking her path; and the town doesn’t need
another dead body. 

**This book is unsuitable for younger readers; it
contains discussions about murder scenes, conversations about sex and
profanity.    

This book is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Itunes.

As I was
writing the book, I had these songs in my mind at key scenes in the plot; they
make a great album: 

1.
Thomston, Burning out

Emily is
forced to watch as four of her classmates bully a small boy in the local
playground. She meets Jack and, together, they are able to save him. Everyone
is traumatized but Jack helps her to feel better: “I’m   coming  up,
 I’m  too  young  to  worry  bout  burning
 out”. 

2. Girls in Hawaii, Where do your tears come from?

This is
a very moody and atmospheric song for when Emily finds out that her classmate –
one of the playground bullies – is dead. 

3.
Snakehips (ft. Sinead Harnett),

Days
with you After tourists claim Jack is their long lost nephew, someone called
Matthew, Jack disappears and Emily convinces  herself  that  she
 really  is  “better off without you”. It has a great vibe and
it’s   very upbeat, even though  it’s  sad. 

4. Ed Sheeran, Thinking out loud

This
 is  the  music  playing  for  Emily  and
 Jack’s  first  kiss; “Take me into your loving arms. Place your
head on my beating  heart.”  Aaaah.   

5. Ella Eyre, Deeper

Jack
 doesn’t  give  away  his  emotions  easily
 and  this  song   perfectly encapsulates what Emily thinks
Jack is feeling – that  he  doesn’t  want  to  commit
 – and how he should “dig  a  little  deeper”. 

6.
Lennie Kravitz, The Chamber 

The
police manage to convince Emily that Jack is actually  Matthew.
 She’s  angry,  hurt,  upset  and  feels  
betrayed: “You killed the love that was once so strong. With no regret to what
you did wrong”. 

7.
Jessie Ware, Wildest moments  

This
song is playing over the speakers of the supermarket café when Emily finally
finds everything out – about who Jack really is and who killed the girls. It
manages to perfectly encapsulate the complexity of Jack  and  Emily’s
 relationship  and  the  situation she has to deal with at
the end of the book;  “we could be the greatest, we could be the worst of
all”. 

8. Clean Bandit (featuring Jess Glynne), Rather Be

This
song conveys the end of the book brilliantly and leaves us on a really upbeat
tone. It’s  a  tip top tune!

I’ve loved reading ever since I was tiny and discovered
Enid Blyton in a corner of my classroom – The Magic Faraway Tree, anyone? I
later went on to develop a trilogy to rival Tolkien, based on The Hobbit (er,
only it wasn’t quite as good!).

As a grown up, my dream is to see my book in a book shop or to read a good
review that some kind soul has left online for others to read. I live in the
south of France with my small daughter and would, one day, like to be able to
master the French subjunctive.

I’m author of new YA novel The Sham, a keen outdoor swimmer (whatever the
weather), an avid reader and I also like to collect quotes, articles, tips etc.
on how to write, submit & publish really good fiction. (www.writingright.net).

Oh, and did I mention that I LOVE books…? 

For more
information about ‘The Sham’ and Ellen Allen please visit her blog, Goodreads,
Amazon, Twitter and Facebook.

**This book is unsuitable for younger readers; it
contains discussions about murder scenes, conversations about sex and
profanity.     

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