M Coles

Can you imagine going to summer school every year where the curriculum is to teach and train teenagers to become killers - thus, building a skilled force to someday overthrow their oppressors who live in a world above their own? Those living below have never seen the sun, moon, clouds or stars in the blue skies - aside from a personal historical picture one possess. These citizens work all day on farms - surviving on the meager food they are able to harvest and then abide by a nightly curfew from dusk until dawn - where they must remain indoors or risk death from powerful flying creatures that hunt humans during the night. Those trying to escape into the upper world are caught, killed and decapitated; their bodies tossed below as a lesson to others.

"Secrets of Varillien" follows a group of six friends through their summer school training and off time (restricted to an immense secret facility underground). It doesn't take long for them to be ranked high and then hand picked for a top secret and dangerous mission to gather intelligence in the upper world. This story is filled with edge of your seat suspense, twists and turns - at times, leaving the reader in awe. An earlier reviewer mentioned that they were thinking about the story when not reading, feeling anxious and wanting to get back into it as soon as possible - unable to read it in a single setting, I felt the same way!

Highly recommended and easy to read. I thoroughly enjoyed S.M. Cole's masterpiece and await the next installment. Great job!

John Podlaski, author
Cherries - A Vietnam War Novel… (more)