Meet the author of Freedom from Conscience – Melanie’s Journey

Meet the author at The English Bookshop in Gamla Stan at the book signing on Saturday, February 12 from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Michael Cross in the bookshopFreedom from Conscience – Melanie’s Journey is a psychological thriller about a young woman, Melanie Johnson, who is a gifted, yet lonely, young woman entering her last year of high school in a new city. She is like many other "outsider" young people – her father abandoned her famly at a early age, she was bullied in grade school and middle school, and has a difficult time relating to people. What makes her unique is she has buried her emotions so deep that she looks upon humanity merely as an observer – detatched from emotions...perhaps even psychopathic.

Yet in her new school she encounters two students, Nicole and her boyfriend Daniel, as well as a charismatic teacher, Mark Lindberg, who reach out to her in friendship. She soon becomes drawn to both the mysterious Nicole as well as to her new teacher who, she soon discovers, have a rather intense interest in both esoteric ideas and...serial killers. At first she is amused by their unique views on life and society, which she finds a strong connection to, yet as time goes on she becomes suspicious that their interests are not just academic – they may actually be involved in the rash of killing in the Portland area during the past year. As her curiousity grows, as well as her emotional ties to her cherished friends, she is introduced to the truth. The reader then witnesses her evolution from an isolated young woman to her transformation into an "angel of death." However, when the ultimate dilemma confronts her just how far will she go to protect the man she has taken a chance on feeling love for?

This story will take you, the reader, on a thrill ride of the mind – and all along your own journey you will find yourself confronted with questions of what is "right and wrong." You may even question your own assumptions of what is sane in an insane world.