This Cruel Design
by Emily Suvada
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: October 30, 2018
Genre: Young Adult -- Science Fiction

Cat thought the Hydra epidemic was over, but when new cases pop up, Cat must team up with an enemy to fix the vaccine before the virus spirals out of control in this thrilling sequel to This Mortal Coil, which New York Times bestselling author Amie Kaufman says “redefines ‘unputdownable.’”

The nightmare of the outbreak is finally over, but Cat’s fight has only just begun.

Exhausted, wounded, and reeling from revelations that have shaken her to her core, Cat is at a breaking point. Camped in the woods with Cole and Leoben, she’s working day and night, desperate to find a way to stop Lachlan’s plan to reprogram humanity. But she’s failing—Cat can’t even control her newly regrown panel, and try as she might to ignore them, she keeps seeing glitching visions from her past everywhere she turns.

When news arrives that the Hydra virus might not be as dead as they’d thought, the group is pushed into an uneasy alliance with Cartaxus to hunt down Lachlan and fix the vaccine. Their search takes them to Entropia, a city of genehackers hidden deep in the desert that could also hold the answers about Cat’s past that she’s been searching for.

But when confronted with lies and betrayals, Cat is forced to question everything she knows and everyone she trusts. And while Lachlan is always two steps ahead, the biggest threat to Cat may be the secrets buried in her own mind.

A Little Bit of Q&A

Do your novels carry a message?
I think all novels carry a message of some kind – often it’s philosophical or even political, but many times it’s personal – an author wants to share the story of a character overcoming adversity to show readers that they can do the same thing in their own lives. I definitely find myself coming back to themes of inner strength and bravery, as well as the importance of striving and fighting for something greater than our own needs and desires. Another big message in my books comes from the work I’ve done to make the future described within them seem realistic and possible. That’s because I believe that technological developments are going to make their way into our bodies, our minds, and our DNA. Today’s young readers are tomorrow’s genehackers, and while I’m not trying to tell them how to feel or think about the technology we’re racing towards, I do want them to question and debate and face the difficult questions this technology will bring.

How much of yourself do you put into your books?
There’s a lot of myself in them! These books and the world they’re set in are a reflection of my own dreams and worries, and of the things that most fascinate me. I love to read about science, and to keep updated on every cool breakthrough or puzzling discovery, and the world of the Mortal Coil series is very much born of those interests. I also put a lot of my personality into each character. Every character reflects a facet of myself – whether it’s part of me I’m proud of, part of me that I want to improve, or a part of me that I work hard to keep in check and overcome. No single character is a stand-in for me as a writer, but each of them hold parts of me.

Have you ever incorporated something that happened to you in real life into your novels?
Actually, yes, in a way. When I was a teen, I was washing the dishes by hand before I went to school one day, and dropped a glass jello mold in the sink and it smashed, slicing a big cut open on my arm. The resulting race to the hospital, the stitches, and the image of that open gash can be spotted in a certain scene in This Mortal Coil. I actually cut my own stitches out once the wound had healed out of curiosity and that’s definitely reflected in the book!

How realistic are your books?
My books are definitely fiction, and the science I’ve created in them is made up, but it is an extension of real, existing science. There’s a technology called CRISPR which researchers are using to edit small sections of people’s DNA, and there are currently people in their homes injecting themselves with it to try to grow bigger muscles, or cure their own diseases. So basically, I took the idea of that tech and imagined what it could look like in the future. Computers were once the size of a room, and could only perform simple tasks. These days they’re in the palm of our hands and they can do so many things. I asked: what would the world look like if genetic engineering followed Moore’s law in terms of its effectiveness, size, and applications? What would that look like in a hundred years? And that’s where gentech came from.

What books have influenced your life the most?
As a writer, the books that probably influenced me the most are Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, Neuromancer by William Gibson, and Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. Twilight showed me how addictive and immersive a book can be, and how important characters are. Neuromancer showed me that science fiction can be gritty, lyrical, and constantly beautiful and surprising. Jurassic Park showed me that tension, pace, and foreshadowing can build a roller-coaster that keeps a reader engaged for hundreds of pages. Those three books have all affected me deeply as a writer.

Are there any books that you are currently reading and why?
I’ve just finished WILDER GIRLS by Rory Power, which is coming out in 2019. It’s a gorgeous, bold story of three girls trapped on an island where an illness is changing them both inside and out in deeply disturbing and fascinating ways. I loved this book and can’t wait for the rest of the world to read it.

Emily Suvada was born and raised in Australia, where she went on to study mathematics and astrophysics. She previously worked as a data scientist, and still spends hours writing algorithms to perform tasks which would only take minutes to complete on her own. When not writing, she can be found hiking, cycling, and conducting chemistry experiments in her kitchen. She currently lives in Portland, OR, with her husband. Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest | Website