Today we’re spotlighting A Lie For A Lie by Jane Buckingham!
Read on for more about the author, the book, plus enter the giveaway!
About the Author: Jane Buckingham
Jane Buckingham is the Founder and CEO of Trendera. She is one of the countries’ leading experts on Generations X, Y, and Z. Trendera provides trends, consulting, and market research to Fortune 500 clients including The Coca Cola Company, L’Oreal, NBC Universal, Nike, Sony, and Target.
Prior to starting Trendera, Buckingham helped pioneer the trend forecasting field by creating the leading youth marketing and consulting firm Youth Intelligence, and The Cassandra Report in 1996, both of which she sold to Creative Artists Agency in 2003.
At 17, Buckingham wrote the book Teens Speak Out to help explain her generation. She was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Today Show and many others.
Jane is the bestselling author of the Modern Girl’s Guide book series and starred in the TV show of the same name. Buckingham has been a contributing editor to Glamour Magazine and Cosmopolitan Magazine. She has been featured in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, 60 Minutes and The Los Angeles Times. Buckingham has served on the Board of Directors for Baby2Baby, The Rape Treatment Center at St. John’s Hospital and Women in Film.
About the Book: A Lie For A Lie
Gripping—Twisting—Shocking
An action-packed thriller that keeps you guessing until the end
Boyfriend cheating? A bully wreaking havoc? A classmate plagiarizing? Don’t get mad. Get @Revenge. At Milford High, if you’ve got a problem, message @Revenge, and the mysterious figure behind the account will take care of it with an embarrassing, public comeuppance. But when the school’s star basketball player falls victim to a dangerous prank orchestrated by Revenge, the consequences are life-threatening.
Praise for A Lie for a Lie: “A Lie for a Lie has twists you won’t see coming and explores what really happens when you get back at someone . . . and when getting what you wish for comes with a high price. I couldn’t put it down!”
—Sara Shepard, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Pretty Little Liars
~Excerpt~
It’s a beautiful night to die.
We crowd inside the gym. The familiar smell of old tennis shoes and stale sweat follow us to our seats. The cheerleaders are already on the court, tossing a skinny girl in the air. Personally, every time I see a cheerleader soar, I wish the girls catching her would change their minds at the last minute.
SPLAT!
Sorry. Never said I was a nice person.
At seven on the dot, the lights dim, and that stupid techno song they always play before the game comes on. The announcer booms into the loudspeaker. I try to tune him out as soon as he starts blabbering about how these players have gone undefeated. Does he really think we should bow down to them? Last I checked they were just boys, not God’s gift to Milford High. Yet we hold up cheesy signs to show our support. Some hold them for their boyfriends. Others for their latest boy crush. Those stupid signs turn my stomach. I always want to say, “Do you know who those boys even are, deep down? Do you know what they’re capable of?”
Smoke fills the stadium. We drum on the bleacher seats, screaming until our voices are hoarse. In a cloud of dry ice, our school’s team parades through a bal- loon archway. The announcer names each player along with his stats. Most of the players duck their heads and rush to the sidelines, proud but also not quite sure what to do with all the attention.
But not the last guy. He walks through the archway as the applause roars and spreads out his arms to accept our undying affection. We give him what he wants. We cheer and scream. The announcer reads his list of impressive points. Leading scorer all year. Total powerhouse. Yawn. Our hero.
I check the time. Any minute now.
The other players strip off their warm-up gear and take their seats on the benches, but our star player remains in the center of the court like he’s owed this. But as the overhead spotlights gleam against his forehead, a thin bead of sweat forms. It’s my first clue. It’s happening.
First, his arms droop just a little, like someone has pulled down on invisible strings in his armpits. A confused expression comes over his face as he drops to his knees. Still, most of us still think this is part of his routine. We still cheer.
But then he’s on all fours. A few of the players on the sidelines look over, con- fused. The music throbs. We figure it’s nothing serious. But then, the star player pukes up his guts on the shiny school logo at center court, right where the tip-off takes place.
A puddle spreads. It must smell pretty awful, because the player nearest to him makes a grossed-out face and moves away.
The coach runs over with towels. We rise, tip forward, our brows furrowed. Whispers travel down the seats. The coach leans over our star. He puts a hand on the boy’s back and says something, tries to get him to stand. But the star’s knees buckle. He drops to the floor again in an X and starts to flail. His muscles move uncontrollably. The assistant coach is there, too; he wheels around and shouts something to another player. “Get an ambulance! Shut off that music!”
The techno song stops mid-beat. Voices, shouts, screams fill the gymnasium. We’re all on our feet, gawking, wondering what we can do. The coach can’t get the star to stop seizing. His pained face is turning blue.
A trainer rushes in. Some medics. A woman runs onto the court, pushing peo- ple aside. It’s the star’s mother. We hear a perverse laugh in the stands—not mine, but hey, I can’t be the only one who wanted this. And then, an interesting rumor I hadn’t expected starts to swirl—he puked out his intestines. He’d vomited a lung. There’s an organ lying there, literally, on the polished wood floor.
“It makes no sense,” other people say. “He was fine minutes ago.”
When they load the player onto the cot, he’s eerily pale and lifeless. We grow hushed, fearful. A few girls burst into tears. His mother walks next to the medics as they wheel him out. I feel bad for her, I guess. I always feel bad for the families, even though it’s probably partially her fault. Bad behavior, toxic masculinity—it’s learned at home. When a seedling is rotting, all you have to do is look at the tree from which it came. Chances are, there’s rot there, too.
Still, I feel a little bad. I have a pretty good feeling how this is all going to end. How do I know? I put all of this into motion.
I’m the one who got revenge.
It’s been real, Milford.
I don’t care if you miss me. Just remember not to lie to me.
Copyright © 2024 Jane Buckingham All rights reserved.
Title: A Lie For a Lie (An @Revenge Story)
Author: Jane Buckingham
ISBN: 9798886452181
Release Date: June 18, 2024
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group
Genre: YA Thriller
*GIVEAWAY DETAILS*
This looks like an intense ride! Better buckle up, we are going in!