Eyes Wide Open

These four stories told in one collection, part of the Outlaw Chronicles series, convincingly blur the lines between illusion and reality. Who are you? is the probing question woven throughout the journey of best friends Austin and Christy, two seventeen-year-old orphans who can't remember their past. In a tragedy of errors, Austin and Christy accidentally wind up in a psychiatric ward, where doctors on staff refuse to believe their identities, and resubmit the teens as lost patients Alice and Scott. Using subterfuge and manipulation as well as deprivation, the doctors work to convince Austin and Christy they are hideous. A mysterious stranger, the Outlaw, fights to save them even as the doctors hurry to destroy their minds. While the villainous doctors felt heavy-handed at times, this is classic Dekker, ripe with suspense, mammoth twists, and lightning-fast pacing. Agency: Creative Trust. (Jan. 28)