Out of Control
by Sarah Alderson
Release Date: April 15th, 2014
Publishers: Simon & Schuster UK
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 240
When 17 year old Liva witnesses a brutal murder she’s taken into police custody for her own protection.
But when the police station is attacked and bullets start flying it becomes clear that Liva is not just a witness, she’s a target.
Together with a car thief called Jay, Liva manages to escape the massacre but now the two of them are alone in New York, trying to outrun and outwit two killers who will stop at nothing to find them.
When you live on the edge, there’s a long way to fall
But when the police station is attacked and bullets start flying it becomes clear that Liva is not just a witness, she’s a target.
Together with a car thief called Jay, Liva manages to escape the massacre but now the two of them are alone in New York, trying to outrun and outwit two killers who will stop at nothing to find them.
When you live on the edge, there’s a long way to fall
We run, Jay clearing a path with his free arm and shouting at people to get out the way. We slam through a fire escape by the toilets, ricochet off the brick wall in front of us and then hurdle a couple of stunned people sitting on the ground outside having a smoke. Behind us I can hear yelling and doors bashing against concrete. We hit the street, the noise of the club blazing around us. The security guy on the door frowns at us as we go steaming past him and I feel the familiar spurt of adrenaline pushing me on, pounding through my veins, making my legs feel like they’re made of air. Jay’s hand is tight around my wrist and he yanks me hard around a corner and down another alleyway.
He pushes me behind an enormous dumpster that offers us some cover from the street and crushes his chest against mine as he presses us both back further into the shadow. His forearms come up on either side of my head, as though he’s bracing us for a crash, and he ducks his own head so I can feel his breath hot and fast against my cheek. My heart is hammering hard and sweat trickles down my back. I strain to listen. Are they following? Just then we hear footsteps pounding the sidewalk. They come to a halt right by the entrance to the alleyway and Jay presses further against me, the buttons of his jeans cutting into my waist, my forehead against his collarbone. Neither of us breathes. My hand slides down Jay’s back and closes around the butt of the gun. He hadn’t thought to draw it. I ease it out as he tenses and pulls back enough that I can see the whites of his eyes. He gives a tiny shake of his head and puts a finger to his lips.
I stare up at him and we wait, listening, me with the gun still in my hand, my finger sliding the safety free, Jay still pressing me tight up against the wall.
The voices start arguing about which direction we’ve gone in. Someone takes a few steps into the alleyway but stops just an inch or so shy of seeing us. I hear the sound of a zipper and then the sprinkle of urine spraying against metal. I wrinkle my nose and press my face into Jay’s T-shirt.
If he takes one more step he’ll see us. I picture what I’ll need to do. If I can push Jay aside I can aim the gun and we can hopefully hold them off until we’re far enough away to make a run for it.
We listen in absolute silence as the guy re-zips himself and heads back out towards the street. The three of them talk some more – though I can’t make out what they’re saying – and then finally, after what feels like an eternity, they walk away. Jay’s shoulders drop fractionally, but he doesn’t take
a step back. No, he keeps me pressed up against the wall. And I notice that we’re both breathing fast again – as though we’re still sprinting. I tip my head back against the brick behind me so I can see his face. He’s looking down at me, and in the shadow all I can make out is the strong line of his jaw, the soft curve of his lips. I can’t read his expression. But I can guess at it.
He shifts his weight slightly and his thigh presses against my hip. I draw in a breath. My free hand – the one not holding the gun, rests on his upper chest. I slide it up and over his shoulder and with my eyes still on him I pull him even closer, until he’s pressed completely against me and I can feel
the hardness of muscle through his T-shirt and his jeans. My heart explodes in my chest as I tilt my head back further, reaching on tiptoe, and his mouth finds mine in the darkness.
AUTHOR BIO
Having spent most of her life in London, Sarah quit her job in the non profit sector in 2009 and took off on a round the world trip with her husband and princess-obsessed daughter on a mission to find a new place to call home. After several months in India, Singapore, Australia and the US, they settled in Bali where Sarah now spends her days writing by the pool and trying to machete open coconuts without severing a limb.
She finished her first novel, Hunting Lila, just before they left the UK, wrote the sequel on the beach in India and had signed a two book deal with Simon & Schuster by the time they had reached Bali.
A third book, Fated, about a teenage demon slayer, was published in January 2012.
The Sound, a thriller romance set in Nantucket, was published in August 2013. She has a further three thrillers due for release in the next few years.
You can find Sarah on facebook and at www.sarahalderson.com or follow her blog at www.canwelivhere.com
