The Ariadne Connection

Science Fiction & Fantasy

synopsis

Synopsis

Journey to the Crossroads of Science and Myth--winner of the Chanticleer Global Thriller Grand Prize and Cygnus Speculative Fiction Award. The New Leprosy plague and a geomagnetic reversal threaten the world’s precarious balance. An unlikely trio may hold the key to reset the compass of the world: • “Saint Ariadne” Demodakis—a Greek bioelectricity researcher who realizes she’s curing plague victims by laying on hands. • Peter Mitchell—a jaded American veteran of the latest Gulf War, now a smuggler in the Mediterranean. • Leeza Conreid—a paparazza equipped with the latest neurally-connected media implants, who wants revenge and a big story. Peter, blackmailed into bringing Leeza along, hires on with reclusive Ariadne to secretly transport her to sacred sites in the Greek islands. She seeks to confirm a connection between the pandemic, geologic upheavals, and ancient lore that promises healing for humans and the planet. Peter doesn’t realize they’ll be pursued by violent Sons of the Prophet, mercenaries, and a cult of warrior women, out to claim Ariadne’s rumored powers—or kill her.

bio

Author Biography

Award-winning novelist Sara Stamey’s journeys include treasure hunting and teaching scuba in the Caribbean, backpacking worldwide, operating a nuclear reactor, and owning a farm in Southern Chile. She taught creative writing at Western Washington University and shares her Salish Seaside home with wild creatures and her cat, dog, and paleontologist husband Thor Hansen. Sara’s science fiction novels with Berkley/Ace received praise from Publishers Weekly and made the Locus Best New Novelists list. Her Caribbean psychic suspense novel ISLANDS—“A stomping, vivid ride” (Statesman Review)—won the Chanticleer Paranormal Suspense Award and Hollywood Book Festival Genre Award. Her near-future Greek islands thriller THE ARIADNE CONNECTION won the Chanticleer Global Thriller Grand Prize and the Cygnus Award for speculative fiction. “A rocket-paced thrill ride that delivers complex, engaging characters in a laser-sharp plot.” (Chanticleer Reviews) Her novel PAUSE won First Place in the Somerset Awards for women's fiction and is a Pulpwood Queens International Book Club selection. "Stamey's lovely, inspiring, often funny novel... will touch the hearts of readers." (Publishers Weekly Booklife)

Author Insight

Does NeuroLink celebrity Leeza "hook" you?

Our Bublish theme for the week is the "hook" that should grab readers' attention in the opening pages of novels. This is the brief opening of my near-future thriller THE ARIADNE CONNECTION, when we get a glimpse of the conniving paparrazza Leeza Conreid who records her experiences via direct connection to her spinal cord. She's after a big story, and clearly there will be trouble ahead.... If you write, what kind of "hooks" have you used? What kind grab you as a reader? I deliberately started this novel with an outrageous, unpleasant character who will evolve over the course of the novel, but would love to hear from you -- did this glimpse catch your interest? Thanks for reading!

Book Excerpt

The Ariadne Connection

Part I. SEED

New Los Angeles, 2027
NeuroLink NewsEntertainment Studio

LEEZA CONREID, HOSTESS OF “Celebrity Smackback,” plops her well-honed tush onto a stool at the production console, hooking her stilettos over the rung. Violet fingernails flick open a popper beneath her nostrils as she inhales with a hiss, and focus sharpens into max clarity. She snakes out two leads and snaps them into her lower-back spinal insert. Slips on the goggles.

“Showtime.” Reaching into deceptively empty space, her long pale fingers spider the air to cue the file:

***NLNE REQUESTED FIELD ASSIGNMENT: 5 March 2027

LEADLINE: Where is Ariadne? Who is Ariadne?

SUBJECT: “Saint Ariadne,” rumored healer of New Plague leprosy victims.

MEDIA SATURATION: 53% and growing.

QUOTABLE:

Gaea Speaks cult leaders: “Mother Earth is fighting back against the pollution of the patriarchal corporate technocracy. Only Ariadne can save us now.”***

Behind the goggles, Leeza smirks. “You said it, bitches. And I’m the one gonna nail her.” Another finger-twitch through the file, images cascading across her retinas.

***ASSIGNMENT DANGER RATING:

High. No data on risk factors for illegal penetration of Med League border. No weapons or training provided.***

She licks her lips and shimmies on the stool, running a fingertip over her thigh. Leeza Conreid doesn’t need a gun.

INITIAL FIELD CONTACT:

None established. Field agent Conreid advised to search Athens’ Piraeus Harbor taverns for one Peter Mitchell, AWOL NorthAm Navy. Current occupation: smuggler.***

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Sara Stamey

The Ariadne Connection

Synopsis

Author Biography

Author Insight

Does NeuroLink celebrity Leeza "hook" you?

Book Excerpt

The Ariadne Connection

Part I. SEED

Comment on this Bubble