Hello, YABC!
Today we’re super excited to celebrate the cover reveal for HOW TO DISAPPEAR by Ann Redisch Stampler, releasing June 14, 2016 from Simon Pulse. Before we get to the cover, here’s a note from Ann:
Yesterday How to Disappear had a good cover; today it has a great one, and I’m thrilled to reveal it on YABC!
How to Disappear is a dark, twisty psychological thriller. The story is told in chapters that alternate between the voices of Nicolette, a resilient small-town cheerleader on the run, and Jack, the Las Vegas hit man’s son who’s blackmailed into tracking her down and getting rid of her.
It’s not completely clear which one we should be rooting for. Because nothing in this story is exactly as it seems. Nicolette’s harmless wild streak might not be so harmless. Jack’s conscience might be more than theoretical. Both of them have a lot to hide. And neither one is telling the whole truth.
What I love about this new cover is that, in addition to being beautiful, it offers up a mysterious image of a girl we can’t fully see, whose features are consumed by darkness, and who is obscured by a welter of scratches – an image that can be interpreted in several different was all of which work with the story. Her face is illuminated by the glow of a flash of light; she might be moving toward it, but she isn’t there yet…I don’t think I can go any further with this without publishing a giant spoiler, so I’ll refrain.
But I am so grateful to my editor and the design team at Simon Pulse for truly understanding the (partly scratched out) face this book should present to readers, to set the tone as they open the book and begin to read.
Ready to see?
Scroll, YABCers! Scroll!
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Here it is!
*** If you choose to share this image elsewhere, please include a courtesy link back to this page so others can enter Ann’s giveaway. Thank you! ***
HOW TO DISAPPEAR
This electric cross-country thriller follows the game of cat and mouse between a girl on the run from a murder she witnessed—or committed? —and the boy who’s sent to kill her.
Nicolette Holland is the girl everyone likes. Up for adventure. Loyal to a fault. And she’s pretty sure she can get away with anything…until a young woman is brutally murdered in the woods near Nicolette’s house. Which is why she has to disappear.
Jack Manx has always been the stand-up guy with the killer last name. But straight A’s and athletic trophies can’t make people forget that his father was a hit man and his brother is doing time for armed assault. Just when Jack is about to graduate from his Las Vegas high school and head east for college, his brother pulls him into the family business with inescapable instructions: find this ruthless Nicolette Holland and get rid of her. Or else Jack and everyone he loves will pay the price.
As Nicolette and Jack race to outsmart each other, tensions—and attractions—run high. Told in alternating voices, this tightly plotted mystery and tense love story challenges our assumptions about right and wrong, guilt and innocence, truth and lies.
About the Author
Ann Redisch Stampler is the author of the young adult novels Afterparty , Where It Began, and the upcoming How To Disappear, as well as half a dozen picture books. Her work has garnered an Aesop accolade, the National Jewish Book Award, Sydney Taylor honors, the Middle East Book Award, and Bank Street Best Books of the Year mentions. She worked as a lawyer and a therapist before she started writing books. She lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband, Rick.
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Giveaway Details
One winner will receive a signed advance reader’s copy of How to Disappear as well as signed copies of Ann Stampler’s YA novels How to Disappear and Afterparty, all in a midnight-blue Afterparty carry bag.
Entering is simple, just fill out the entry form below. Winners will be announced on this site and in our monthly newsletter (sign up now!) within 30 days after the giveaway ends.
During each giveaway, we ask entrants a question pertaining to the book. Here is the question they’ll be answering in the comments below for extra entries:
What do you think about the cover and synopsis?
Click the Rafflecopter link below to enter the giveaway:
Thank you, YABC, for hosting this cover reveal!!! Getting a second cover for How to Disappear was amazing, and getting this cover was beyond amazing! I hope YABC readers will love it as much as I do!
Best,
Ann
Awesome cover and intriguing synopsis.
Thanks, Kristy! I think it’s awesome, too. The designers at Simon Pulse had several different ideas — all winners — but this is the one that really got to me. It represents How to Disappear so well;I hope you’ll enjoy the book!
Best,
Ann
The cover is great and the premise of the book is very intriguing. Looks very suspenseful.
Thank you so much, Penny! I was going for intriguing that built to shocking, for reasons that have as much to do with who Nicolette and Jack are as people as the situation they’re sucked into. I hope you’ll see what I mean in the book itself!
interesting cover
I’ve never seen a cover that matches a book so perfectly. (I find it ironic how she started going by Cat and her face on the cover is partly scratched.) I love how you made both of the characters seem mysterious by not directly pointing out who the villain or if there’s one at all. That definitely piqued my interest in the book. It seems like it has a well thought out plot and I hope to read it in the nearby future! Congratulations!
Thanks so much, bn100!
Thanks, Tania! I so appreciate your reaction to the cover and synopsis, and I agree, those scratches that partly obscure the girl’s face — this design couldn’t be a more perfect fit for the story!!!
I love it. It reminds of ghost and like the color purple.
The book cover is simply amazing! I really gives the scattered thoughts and kind of dark twist vibe that the synopsis talks about. Psychological thrillers are something I love reading and I can’t wait for this book to come out! 🙂
How to Disappear sounds like an exciting read and I love the cover it reminds me of an intricate spiderweb ♡ Thank you
Thanks, Sharon! The designer, Regina Flath (love her!!!), put a lot of work into arriving at the perfect colors; several others were tried, and this dark purple with the faintly glowing light won by a landslide. I’m so glad you like it!
Thank you, Anastasia! I grew up loving classic psychological thrillers (think Daphne du Maurier’s “Rebecca”) and it was always in the back of my mind that someday I’d write one. I love the fact that this thriller has a cover that suggests the dark twist that you picked up on, and I hope you’ll think the book lives up to its jacket once you’ve read it.
Thanks, Linda! And yes, that spider-web effect of the thin scratches and the suggestion of the girl being caught in that web are so right for the book! As for excitement, I have to say that How to Disappear was exciting to write, andI hope that carries over into the reader’s experience. It was one of those books in which the characters start to take over, and things showed up on the page that I wasn’t expecting as Jack and Nicolette kept upping the ante.
The cover definitely does a good job capturing the feeling of the synopsis
I think that the cover is gorgeous. I love the color and the silhouette. And the synopsis makes this sound like my kind of book. Thanks for the chance.
The cover is beautiful. It is the perfect image to go with this title! The synopsis has me a little bit scared.
I love the cover! The cover is what grabbed my attention first! I love the purplish-pink colors for the cover and the design is beautiful!
The synopsis is VERY intriguing in my opinion as soon as I read the synopsis I knew this book was going into my to-read list for sure! The title is very fitting for the cover in my opinion. I can’t wait to be able to read this book. 🙂
Thank you, Sam! And I agree, the cover not only captures the feel of the synopsis, but the feel of the book itself.
Thank you AG! I’m so happy that How to Disappear sounds like your kind of book. As a lover of thrillers and of YA contemporary, I wrote the book I wanted to read — I hope you’ll enjoy it too! As for the cover, yes, to me, everything about it works. (And being gorgeous doesn’t hurt!)
Thanks Diana! I’m right with you on this cover having the perfect image. As for being a little bit scared by the synopsis, that was the general idea! This is a twisty, psychological thriller and the deeper you get into it, the scarier it gets.
Thanks, Morgan! I’m so happy that the synopsis intrigued you. I always find synopses difficult to write, to capture the exact feeling of the book without giving away too much… So it’s great to hear that this synopsis made you want to read the book after the cover caught your eye. Thank you for letting me know how well both cover and synopsis worked for you. Much appreciated!
I came across this book today by wild accident, and I’m delirious with excitement. I HAVE BEEN WAITING MY WHOLE LIFE LONG FOR THIS PLOT IN YA. My mind is in eternal uppercase now. And it might melt into a muddle of anticipation before June, and I might not even notice.
I’ve been shrieking and begging for greater prominence for mystery in YA on our blog, and AT LONG LAST it seems to have come to pass. And this might be my favorite upcoming mystery title yet.
Omg! this cover is STUNNING!!! this book look so interesting!!!
It sounds and looks great
I think the cover is complex, yet beautiful; based on the synopsis, I imagine the book is much the same. As a person who recently became a fan of thrillers, I think I know which one is going on my “must-read” list 🙂
The cover seems to really match the story. And wow, the synopsis… i thought I’d read something about teen angst, then boom. Murder. Seriously caught me by surprise and now I’m hooked.
This book sounds so interesting! The cover is gorgeous! It sounds so intriguing, one of those books that you want to read all in one go!
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I love purple, so this attracted me right away. It seems like a cocoon is forming, trying to either suffocate or protect the girl. The synopsis makes me want to read this book–sounds very exciting and I love the different points of view.
The cover looks quite interesting, and I like the texture and colors of it. The synopsis gives me the chills, but in a good way of course. 😀
This sounds like such an exciting story! I love that it uses alternating voices so we will get to see both sides of the story. The cover is pretty and also creepy!
It looks so interesting… I really want the cover
I love the cover and it sounds like a great read.
I love the cover and it sounds like a great read.
I really like the cover! It is intriguing and beautiful and perfectly represents the synopsis. That sense of mystery… Can’t wait to read it 🙂
I LOVE the cover and I’m really excited about the book. It sounds thrilling.
Dear Lexie,
What could I be other than thrilled to read this? I’m so happy for the wild accident that brought How to Disappear to your attention, and appreciate your enthusiasm!
Happy New Year!
Ann
Thanks! I’m so glad you like the redesigned cover! There were several choices but I agree: this one is stunning. It really stood out.
Thanks, Karen! I hope you’ll think the story is as great as the cover!
Callie, it’s wonderful to hear that How to Disappear has made it onto your “must-read” list! I do think that the cover represents the book very well, and hope that readers who like the cover will like the story too.
Thanks, Daniella, I’m a fan of purple, too. But I think if you’d asked me if I wanted a purple cover for my book, I would have had a much more pedestrian vision of blood dripping onto something black-and-white. And then I saw this! I do love your sense of the scratches as a cocoon with multiple interpretations — that works so well with the story, I can’t even say without major spoilers.
Thanks, Tasleema! And I do hope the story will grab you and make you want to read it in one go! Please do let me know!
Thank you, Ianah! Once you’ve read the book, you’ll have to decide, but from my perspective, the match between the story and the cover is stellar. As for teen angst, I have nothing against it in YA novels (I’ve written a couple of angsty contemps!), but with How to Disappear, while I didn’t want the plot to overtake the characterizations, a thriller has to be, well…thrilling! So glad I’ve hooked you!
Auuugh, Cindy! Chills! That’s exactly what I was going for, with tensions mounting and things getting twister and more chilling as the story progressed. I do hope you’ll enjoy the book.
I like the color scheme on the cover and how it doesn’t show the girl’s entire face. The synopsis sounds really interesting, especially since I’m trying to read more thrillers.
Thanks, Susan! This is the first time I’ve written a story in two voices, and I loved the fact that it allowed me to show what was going on in each person’s head, but to present a slightly different reality based on what the other person knew. So much more opportunity for suspense!
Thanks, Phoebe! I haven’t seen an actual ARC with this cover yet — the ones I have just have the previous cover — and I can’t wait to get one, either!
Thanks, Courtney! I hope you’ll enjoy the book (and I love the cover, too)!