ARLYA by Jack Lowe-Carbell ~ Guest Post & Giveaway

Arlya
by: Jack Lowe-Carbell
Genre: Teen/Young Adult Thriller
Release Date: January 8, 2024
Publisher: Tellwell Talent

Arlya, a small town in Southern Ontario, is rocked by a gruesome crime. Four friends must work together with Detective Dylan Grey to find a pattern, a bike, a clue, and a sister before it is repeated.

James and his three best friends, Owen, Tommy, and Mike, have just finished school for the summer. The plan is the same as every other year: they are going to build the biggest fort yet, deep in the Dhoon Woods. After stumbling across a tiny, seemingly unimportant wooden hut, a series of crimes take place and their plans change.

Arlya falls into itself. Doors are locked, curtains drawn, bikes are put away, strangers invade, and kids are off the street. In the first week of summer vacation, a dark and disturbing family history is uncovered; friends turn on each other; a storm rolls through town; and a monster is hiding just out of sight, smiling its toothy grin and crawling through the corn.

Arlya is named after a small fictional town in Southern Ontario. All of the characters, save a few unwelcome visitors, are residents of the town. I will only introduce four characters, as they are the backbone of the story and very much so a huge part of my life. Arlya is based off Ayr, Ontario, the town I grew up in, and the four friends in this story, James, Owen, Mike, and Tommy, were influenced heavily by the friends I grew up with in Ayr. These four friends were written as 12-13-year-old versions of my friends and I, an impactful age, one that usually shapes kids into the young adults they will become.

These characters mean a lot to me, they were easy to write as memories and moments of my childhood came flooding back as I typed away. Memories of summer in a small town, in sweltering heat, swimming in the river, and biking out into the fields surrounding Ayr. The only thing I did different with the story, was imagine my life with a sinister and terrifying edge to it, something I fear I have a knack for.

James, our protagonist, is smart, empathetic, a little mischievous, and the backbone of the friend group.

Owen is James’s best friend, he’s smart and caring, and a wounded soul. He has a temper but would do anything for the ones he loves.

Mike is a nervous, loving kid. He follows James’s wake in awe, everything he wants to be is right in front of him. But he is not jealous of his friends, he just feels lucky to be with them.

Tommy is a confident, funny, and popular kid. He is loved by almost everyone, but the other three bring softness out of him.

This summer changes everyone, for better and for worse. All four of them grow up, more than a regular individual would during their twelfth summer. They learn the hardships of adulthood, what loss feels like, real, raw loss. Something that can’t be undone. They mature and realize the importance of their friendships, but they also realize that not everyone in this town can be trusted. It’s terrifying to grow up. More terrifying to be thrust into adulthood faster than one should be. These four learn this all too quickly.

It was hard to write these characters sad, scared, and hurt, but I think it makes them all the more real. I hope you can relate to any of these four characters, if not I hope you feel them. I hope they seem real because while nothing in this book actually happened, it felt real to me.

Thank you and I hope you enjoy!

Dhoon River ran alongside Arlya, sweeping in from the north. It was thirty feet across at the point behind Dhoon Glen, close to six feet deep in the centre. The river slowed along Arlya as though it took on the energy from the town. Lazy and quiet, it gurgled along the sun-bleached rocks, sinking and growing with the seasons. At the end of July, it would be the highest it would ever get, and the deepest. At a perfect seventeen degrees, the boys would float and swim as often as they could.

James slowed to a stop next to the baseball diamond, looking at the wall of trees behind the two bony nets. It would be the perfect place for a horror movie, he thought. One where you would see someone standing behind the first layer of trees. One where you would scan the entire wall and notice a fleck of black behind the deep brown of the trunks. Just out of the corner of your eye. One where you’d look back and see a hand behind the branches and leaves. And the hand would wave its broken wave, its fingers creeping up from a fist like knives from a holder.

“Jimmy,” Owen said.

James looked up.

This was one of the places he never wanted to be at night.

For now, the sun hung fat and full above the tree line. The trees’ limbs reached up, begging for more, praying to the only god they had ever known.

James set off past the faded park, wondering how many kids had been here. How many times had they swung on these swings and slid down this slide? How many of them still came here and remembered what it was like, back when everything was sweet?

Purchase Arlya from:

Amazon | Hardcover | Paperback | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

(Affiliate Links Used)

Jack Lowe-Carbell is a 26-year-old writer living in Vancouver, BC. Arlya is his first novel, and it is based in his hometown, Ayr, ON. Thanks to his dad, who read him horror stories when he was far too young, Jack has always loved the genre. His next novel is a tale of horror based in Garibaldi Provincial Park.

Places to find Jack Lowe-Carbell:

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads | TikTok

You can follow the Arlya Book Tour here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Subscribe to Read Your Writes Book Reviews: