J L McCreedy

The Orphan of Torundi J L McCreedy

"Romance, fast adventure, and a believable landscape blend together for a consuming read with a strong protagonist." -The Children's Book Review. *** "[I]ntrigue and espionage writing at its best...." -Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Review. *** To find the truth, she must first uncover the lie ?. Orphaned as an infant, Sam is raised by a pharmaceutical research mission in the rain forests of Torundi. She wields a mean machete, makes soap from candlenuts and is a fairly astute amateur entomologist. You know, the normal stuff. But a month before her seventeenth birthday, she is exiled to an American boarding school in Malaysia. Armed with little more than her unusual upbringing and church-lady clothes, Sam must contend with her new existence as the world's most socially unprepared high school senior. Well that?s just fine. Because Sam is determined to solve the mystery behind her banishment and return home tout de suite. Then an antagonistic marine biology student takes up residence in her school?s science lab, and Sam suspects there is something more to his presence than an erudite devotion to kelp and sea worms. But when she discovers the unthinkable ? that he has been sent by a corporation to keep tabs on her ? she realizes the real mystery she must uncover is ... why? Soon, Sam is caught in a whirlwind of intrigue, danger and greed. As she chases this thread of truth to its end, she unravels a plot that threatens her beloved Torundi, her trust in the boy she has grown to love and her own existence. Blending espionage elements akin to The Bourne Identity with those awkward high-school-awkward-moments (hey, it could happen), THE ORPHAN OF TORUNDI is a quirky, cross-cultural tale of adventure, self-discovery and romance.