Author: Emma Pass
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 368 Pages (April 14th, 2015)
Add to: Goodreads
Order here: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository, Amazon UK
Synopsis: For fans of The Hunger Games, Matched, Divergent, and The Fifth Wave, this fast-paced futuristic thriller tells the story of seventeen-year-old Cass and her fight to protect her younger brother from an unimaginably terrifying enemy.
The Deadliest Enemy feels no fear.
When the Fearless invaded, they injected everyone in their path with the same serum that stripped them of humanity.
Life became a waking nightmare.
Cass has the invasion seared in her memory. Seven years later, she and her brother, Jori, are living on Hope Island in a community of survivors. No one can enter, and no one can leave.
It's the only way to stay safe.
But when Hope Island's security is breeched and Jori is taken by the Fearless, Cass will risk everything to get him back.
Author Interview:
Hi Emma, welcome! It’s great to have you here today and for taking the time out to visit with me about your up and coming release – The Fearless.
Hi! Thank you for having me, it's great to be here.
1. Can you tell us in your own words what The Fearless is about?
Troops from the UK and their allies are given a drug to stop them suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, which is a big problem in the military. It's soon discovered that the drug has an unexpected side effect – it helps prevent whoever's taking it from feeling fear. Then the enemy get hold of the formula and strengthen it, and start forcing everyone to take it. This creates the Fearless, psychopathic super-soldiers who invade every country in the world.
When Cass, the main character, is 10, the Fearless arrive in the UK and she and her pregnant mother are forced to flee to Hope, an island off the south coast of England which has been set aside as a refuge for a chosen few. On the way, her mum gives birth to her brother, Jori. Ten years later, Cass's mum has died and she's been left in charge of Jori, who's now a cheeky 7-year-old. One day, a mysterious boy called Myo arrives on the island. The islanders are suspicious and lock him up. Then Jori is kidnapped by a Fearless, who somehow got onto the island at the same time as Myo. Myo says if Cass releases him, he'll go with her to the mainland and help her get Jori back. So Cass returns to the mainland for the first time in 10 years, to a world very different to the one she left behind and a fight for survival against an unimaginably terrifying enemy…
2. What was the easiest and hardest part in writing this title?
The hardest scene was when Cass, Myo and the people they're with meet someone called the Ragged Man – and he has a person with him that Cass recognises. This was a hard scene to write emotionally because I couldn't stop thinking about how I'd feel if it was me.
The easiest was when Jori is kidnapped by the Fearless. I could see it all so vividly, it was playing like a film in my head as I wrote!
3. Can you talk to us about the world you created in which your character Cass lives in?
It's all based on places I know – I grew up in the south-east of England, so I had a vivid picture of what her childhood home and the countryside around it would look like, and how she'd feel when that almost idyllic existence was shattered. And part of the book is set in Sheffield, a city close to where I live now. It was fun – and quite chilling – imagining what it might look like after 10 years of the Fearless being here: ruined buildings, roads cluttered with old vehicles, everything overgrown and wild.
It's a brutal world, and a dangerous one, but one you might still recognise, which will make you long for the life you used to have. As long as you survive, that is…
4. Could you describe Cass in 3 words?
Loyal, courageous, determined.
5. If the Fearless were alive and walking the planet, what would you tell people how to protect against being given the serum?
I'm not sure what you could do except try to keep out of the Fearless' way! Trouble is, the serum makes them stronger and faster than the average person. They're very dangerous. If you were cornered by one, your only chance of escape would be if you had a weapon of some sort, like a gun.
6. What do you hope readers take away with them after reading Cass’s story?
That in even the darkest of situations, there's always hope. And that scentists don't always get it right!
7. And lastly, can you tell us anything about what you’re currently working on and when it’s supposed to be published?
I am working on a new book, but I don't have a publishing contract for it yet. I'm very superstitious about my books when they're at that stage, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to say it's top secret at the moment. Sorry!
Thanks for hanging out with me today Emma! It was great getting to know more about The Fearless and Cass. Feel free to stop by again sometime!
Thank you! They were great questions – I really enjoyed chatting to you.
About the Author:
Emma Pass grew up at an environmental studies centre near London, went to art school in Cornwall and now lives in the north-east Midlands, UK. Her YA dystopian thriller ACID is out from Random House Children's Books on 25th April 2013 (UK), Mondadori on 13th June 2013 (Spain) and Delacorte on 1st April 2014 (US). Another standalone thriller, The Fearless, will follow in the UK in 2014.
Find Emma Online:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
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