"Invites readers to solve a tantalizing riddle." —BookLife Editor's Pick
In Daylight is a sci-fi psychological thriller offering a chilling and intimate take on a phenomenon of global—and cosmic—reach.
It was the reunion she longed for. Then she lost herself.
Mika’s sister Naomi delivered a terrifying and cryptic warning the day she severed ties with Mika and the entire Crane family.
When her ailing father tracks Naomi down in New York City almost two decades later, Mika decides to confront her sister about the damage she left behind and unravel the mystery of her departure.
After a tense reunion, the two women reconnect, until Naomi shares the secret behind her disappearance—an otherworldly revelation that leaves Mika questioning her sister’s state of mind.
Determined to bring Naomi home, Mika follows her into an increasingly bizarre and shadowy world that threatens to shatter her own reality. A world she might never escape.
Flarity’s latest blend of psychological suspense and speculative science fiction invites readers to solve a tantalizing riddle. After her promising career in finance collapses when she has a panic attack during a major presentation, Mika Crane finds herself working midnight shifts at her family’s 24-hour convenience store in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. When her ailing father reveals that he has discovered the location of her sister Naomi, who left the family nearly two decades earlier, Mika travels to New York to find her, hoping to restore their formerly close relationship and heal family wounds.Flarity (author of The Ghost Hunter’s Daughter) artfully infuses the Pine Barrens setting with a moody, atmospheric darkness, mirroring the Crane family’s inner turmoil. Though the Cranes share a strong bond and long to have Naomi back, each member of Mika’s family struggles with unresolved pain: her father is tormented by paranoid delusions, her mother’s violent outburst led to a prison sentence, and her other sister Paige’s seemingly happy marriage camouflages her toxic jealousy. When Mika reunites with Naomi, she discovers that it is not family dysfunction that drove her away, but rather Naomi’s desire to protect them from the aliens that had abducted and tormented her.
Though Mika initially rejects her sister’s wild claims, the addictive twists and turns of the plot force her to consider if there have been otherworldly forces at work in her and her family’s lives. When disaster strikes, she must decide if she is willing to open her mind to new possibilities—and new realities. Though Flarity’s esoteric approach to the alien genre may challenge some readers, the relatable characters and their visceral relationships keep the story grounded. Far from a generic tale of little green men, this story’s intelligent exploration of identity, family bonds, and generational trauma infuses empathy into the extraterrestrial.
Takeaway: Haunting speculative sci-fi with psychological depth.
Comparable Titles: Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter, Mary Doria Russell’s The Sparrow.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-
