The Lewton Experiment

by Rachel Sa

Overview

17-year-old Sherri arrives in the resort town of Lewton excited for a summer working as a student reporter. Instead, she finds a creepy ghost town. Local stores are closing, sometimes overnight. Owners are vanishing, and reappearing as smiling, happy workers at the new big box store, Shopwells. Are dark forces at play to keep the locals working in a state of cult-like submission?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781926890678
Publisher:	Tradewind Books
Publication date:	06/15/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	701 KB
Age Range:	12 - 15 Years

About the Author

Rachel Sa is a freelance writer and journalist. Growing up in Mississauga, Ontario, she knew she was destined to become a writer at the age of 10 when she received her first rejection letter from a New York publishing house. Rachel now holds a Master's Degree in creative writing from the University of British Columbia. Her first book, What Rachel Sa: A Field Guide for Parents, was a collection of her newspaper columns and published in 2002. The Lewton Experiment is her first novel.  Rachel lives in Toronto with her fiance Bruce and her fabulous kitty, Leia. She is at work on novel #2.

Editorial Reviews

"A useful comment[ary] on our consumer society...It is a fun read, and really, really creepy in spots!"

CM Magazine

"This fun mystery read with a touch of romance and investigative journal writing will appeal to aspiring writers."

Reading Today Online

"Readers who dislike big-box stores and distrust their corporate culture will enjoy this juvenile mystery...[Rachel Sa] works in plenty of suspense and action."

The Winnipeg Free Press

"An easy, fun read."

Library Media Connection

"Sa's plotting is clear, clean, and hugely enjoyable. The story rips along at a good pace, often making use of snappy and humorous dialogue. The characters, particularly Sherri, jump off the page: they're recognizable types, but full of zing and energy...Sa cleverly transforms the big-box store phenomenon from a complex issue into a problem that can be solved by one resourceful girl...A highly entertaining thrill ride."

Quill & Quire

A budding journalist, almost 18, takes an internship at a small-town newspaper and discovers ugly doings afoot at the big-box store recently opened nearby. Hardly has Sherri stepped off the bus than her reporter's antennae go up: Not only does everyone who works at the huge Shopwells outside town behave like a smiling zombie, but nearly all the smaller local businesses are closed and papered over with Shopwells fliers. Moreover, her new boss stonewalls her inquiries, and when she visits the store, she finds herself buying a cartload of junky goods she normally wouldn't have touched. What is going on? Amid a whirl of stolen evidence, veiled threats and an attempted kidnapping, Sherri investigates a nefarious scheme worthy of conspiracy theories: "I mean," says one employee, "how else do you get people to work minimum wage with no overtime, no health benefits, stocking shelves, and like it?" In the meantime, she finds hot-and-heavy romance with a local lad, threatening her relationship with her Toronto boyfriend. The romantic subplot is really shoehorned in, but it lightens the overall tone of this briskly paced mystery. (Light horror. 13-16)

Kirkus Reviews