Amazon Exclusive: A Letter from Author Aaron Starmer The Only Ones started with a simple idea. A boy grows up on an island. He knows nothing of the world beyond the ocean. When he finally builds up the courage to leave the island, he finds the world is gone. Everybody else has disappeared.
It was enough to get me writing, but simple ideas rarely stay simple. Soon this empty world had a handful of inhabitants, an extraordinary band of kids with odd talents and obsessions. It was a little bit
Lord of the Flies. It was a little bit
The Little Rascals. It was a lot different than anything else out there. Famine and disease and war and oppressive governments and natural disasters make for riveting stories, but they had no place in this book. Sure, we were talking about the apocalypse, but there had to be mystery, magic and bouts of emotion. Kids left to rule the earth? How could it be any other way? As an author, I hesitate to give much plot away, but I will make a few promises about
The Only Ones. I promise a resolution that's both satisfying and unpredictable. I promise shocking moments, and tender moments, and funny moments. I promise a komodo dragon and a box full of kittens. I promise that if you read the sample chapter and find yourself hooked, then you'll be hooked all the way to the very end. And I promise that you will put the book down and know you have read something entirely unique.
When I started this story two years ago, I was hoping it would land in the hands of enthusiastic readers who would spread the word to friends. I still hope that's the case. So the only promise I ask you to make is this: If you read
The Only Ones and like it, then tell someone. It will make me forever grateful and undeniably happy.
All the best,
--Aaron Starmer