Let Slip the Beasts

Kaliope Dearborne, a customer service nobody for a pharmaceutical mega-conglomerate, wants only to escape her cubicle and find true meaning for her life. But after accidentally killing her little sister’s bully, she’s taken captive by The Warren, a ragtag group of runaway medical test subjects.

Kaliope learns that she and her captors are experiments owned by the VyroGen corporation. Locked away and evolving, pieces of her slough off as she grows stronger, faster, and hungrier. Only Thresher—not quite man, not quite animal—keeps her from losing her grip on reality.

When Kaliope discovers the hidden truth of her genetic code, she joins the Warren in the war against VyroGen. With chemistry-altering pheromones and brain-tampering, she’s converted into a sleeper agent. But deep inside the dark heart of the corporation, Kaliope finds something that drastically changes her role in the war. She might win back her memories, her body, and her life, but will Kaliope lose her humanity in the process?

LET SLIP THE BEASTS is a soon-to-be-published, fast-paced, action-driven sci-fi story set in a near future about found families, sacrifice, love and violence.

Description

A not too distant future. The world is ravaged by fires, floods and destructive thunderstorms. Humanity has huddled together in sprawling megacities, with ghettos that are overrun with
climate refugees. The rich and powerful are safely tucked away in their towers and repurposed oil rigs. Corporations have replaced governments in all but name and can get away with anything – murder being the least of it.

Officially, the pharmaceutical mega-conglomerate VyroGen researches cancer and cancer treatments. Unofficially, they conduct experiments on the poor and undesired to unlock the full human potential, to unlock immortality.

After doing a Very Bad Thing – murdering her little sister’s well-connected bully – Kallie Dearborne finds herself being held captive by the charismatic Leon – The leader of a ragtag group of runaway medical test subjects calling themselves the Warren. They have been locked in a war of attrition with VyroGen for years, and believe Kallie to be the latest test subject to escape their clutches.  And Leon wants to use her to destroy VyroGen from within, in a bid to get their memories, bodies and lives back.

Kallie, naturally, thinks they are quite mistaken. She is a loser who can help no one with absolutely nothing, and is definitely not important enough to have been experimented on. She isn’t entirely wrong. As it turns out, she’s somewhat of an accident.

Story of her life.

Still, Leon sends her on a mission to retrieve some important files. The mission goes sideways in a rather spectacular manner and Kallie is captured yet again. Her new captors are far more terrifying, and strangely familiar, than the Warren ever was. But the more time she spends with them, the more she realizes Leon may not have been entirely honest about his motives, the Warren or even VyroGen.

When the dust settles, whose side will Kallie be on?

 

Found familiy

Kallie is all about family. But when she is faced with the truth about her own, she has to redefine what that word really means. Is blood the only thing that binds families together?

Love

You can find love in the weirdest, most disturbing places, as Kallie will soon discover. Familial, platonic, romantic - which one will compel Kallie the most, and propel her towards her destiny?

Sacrifice

Kallie will have to make tremendous sacrifices in order to save the ones she cares about. Is she a pawn, or is she the mastermind? And who will be left standing when Kallie is done?

 

The Let Slip the Beasts recipe: A pinch of X-Men, a sprinkling of Orphan Black and one solid dose of kickass female heroine.

Mia, book expert

A blood-splattered, merciless delight!

Line, author

It’s The Shape of Water meets Fight Club. Lots of fighting and one sexy fishman.

Odd Karsten, karate champion