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About The Book

Since mankind began, civilizations have always fallen: the Romans, the Greeks, the Aztecs…Now it’s our turn. Huge earthquakes rock the world. Cities are destroyed. But something even more awful is happening. An ancient evil has been unleashed, turning everday people into hunters, killers, crazies.

Mason's mother is dying after a terrible car accident. As he endures a last vigil at her hospital bed, his school is bombed and razed to the ground, and everyone he knows is killed. Aries survives an earthquake aftershock on a bus, and thinks the worst is over when a mysterious stranger pulls her out of the wreckage, but she’s about to discover a world changed forever. Clementine, the only survivor of an emergency town hall meeting that descends into murderous chaos, is on the run from savage strangers who used to be her friends and neighbors. And Michael witnesses a brutal road rage incident that is made much worse by the arrival of the police--who gun down the guilty party and then turn on the bystanding crowd.

Where do you go for justice when even the lawmakers have turned bad? These four teens are on the same road in a world gone mad. Struggling to survive, clinging on to love and meaning wherever it can be found, this is a journey into the heart of darkness – but also a journey to find each other and a place of safety.

Excerpt

Dark Inside NOTHING
I’m standing at the edge of existence. Behind me, a thousand monsters descend. Their disguises change with each stride.

When they look in a mirror do they see their true selves?

Arms open wide. In front of me is nothing. No one ever knew how existence would end. Sure, they made assumptions: fire, flood, plague, etc. They studied the skies for locusts and watched for rain. They built their cities, destroyed the forests, and poisoned the water. Warning signs left behind in the ruins of ancient civilizations have been misinterpreted. The sins of mankind are always to blame. But who would have guessed it would be so gray? So empty.

Is there really a way back?

Hello? Is there anyone there?

Sorry, wrong number.

There are too many thoughts to cover in such little time. I knew they would find me. I’m glowing in the moonlight. My darkness was too bright to hide forever. They find all of us eventually. They play the odds, and they’re up a thousand to one.

In front of me is nothing. No bright lights, no darkness. No energy. Just nothing.

There is no future because we no longer have a past. Our present is devised of basic survival, and it’s about to end.

They have made sure of that.

I am Nothing.

I am existence.

I am pain.

I kneel down in the dirt and write some of my last words. I’d speak them, but there is no one left to listen.

GAME OVER

About The Author

Photograph by Cindy Moleskki

Jeyn Roberts is the author of Dark Inside and Rage Within. Her first story was published in a middle-grade anthology called Let Me Tell You when she was sixteen. She graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in writing and psychology and received her MA from the prestigious creative writing graduate course at Bath Spa University. Jeyn is a former singer, songwriter, actress, bicycle courier, and tree planter. She lives in Canada.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (November 1, 2011)
  • Length: 336 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781442423510
  • Grades: 9 and up
  • Ages: 14 - 99

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Raves and Reviews

"Roberts...masterfully [keeps] suspense high as the teens search for food, clothing and hiding places while fighting off attacks. The simple details of survival, such as living without electricity and refrigeration, fascinate as much as the fight scenes. Overall, a spirit of optimism wins through the post-apocalyptic despair. The four separate threads share enough common elements that, although distinct, they merge into a coherent narrative. Well-balanced, realistic suspense."--Kirkus Reviews

"A fascinating blend between Matheson’s I Am Legend and Collins’s The Hunger Games, Dark Inside will engross readers from the first written words, leaving them captivated by strong, compelling characters as well as the savage, destructive world they have to survive. Told from split narrations, a sense of unity is established that furthers the plot considerably and brings urgency and life to the book. Well-written and brilliant, Dark Inside will not disappoint."--VOYA

“The suspense and frissons [are] offered up in abundance by this successful debut.”--Booklist

“Amidst the recent glut of doomsday scenarios, Roberts makes her story stand out by focusing both on the physical challenges of finding safety in a world gone mad as well as the psychological devastation experienced by each of the teens. The terror of seeing friends suddenly transformed into monsters is keenly felt, but it is the teens’ disillusionment with themselves, and particularly their ability or willingness (or lack thereof) to lead that is most affecting. … Readers looking to prepare themselves for the end of the world might do well to start here.”--BCCB

Awards and Honors

  • CA Westchester Fiction Award Winner

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