Feigning Strength Query

A budding biologist, Kathryn knows a few things about HGH and steroids: (1) when used to enhance performance in a sport, they are absolutely, wholly illegal, and (2) her estranged Uncle Richy ruined his life doing just that.

Outside of the occasional awkward Thanksgiving dinner, Kathryn barely knows her uncle. But when an unexpected call results in an invitation to visit Richy’s Papua New Guinea research lab, Kathryn can’t help herself. After all, Richy’s drug-abuse days are far behind him - replaced by decades of research on how the illegal HGH64 compound that destroyed his sports career and marriage can enhance a pair of Siberian tigers. And the experience would look great on her college applications.

It isn’t until Kathryn is whisked away to Richy’s private island research lab that she discovers the tigers aren’t the only ones receiving HGH64 - Richy has been testing the drugs on himself, and forcing them upon his hostage research team. Even Kathryn is now a pawn in his scheme, as Richy forces her to pretend she is his biological daughter, to convince a team of visiting FDA workers that HGH64 has no generational side effects.

Kathryn quickly realizes that Richy is a madman, convinced that HGH64 can bypass evolution to determine the potential of humankind. But when an escape attempt lands her directly in the Siberian tigers’ enclosure, she finds herself hunted not only by the tigers, but also by a team of research workers who want to take her hostage in exchange for their freedom from Richy’s island prison.

 To survive the trip, Kathryn will have to be more than strong. She’ll have to be cunning, brave, and determined to beat the odds.

Feigning Strength is a 45,000 word YA contemporary science fiction thriller with a hint of romance. It's a tightly-written tale of intrigue and conspiracy that takes readers deep within the jungles of Papua New Guinea, as Kathryn discovers her own inner strength - and leaves us to wonder what strength lies within ourselves.