EW has an exclusive preview ofThe Lost Causes of Bleak Creek, by Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal.
The ’90s-set novel centers on two best friends who fight sinister forces in their Deep South town.
1 on theNew York Timesbest-seller list.
Credit: Penguin Random House
Their latest title finds the pair operating in a new mode.
Check out the preview below.The Lost Causes of Bleak Creekpublishes Oct. 29, and isavailable for pre-order.
He was growing faint.
Penguin Random House
Can’t pass out.
Just gotta make it to the fence.
He heard his pursuers yelling.
They sounded as panicked as he felt.
They were gonna kill me.
What if this particular test was no different?
Maybe he was doing exactly what they wanted him to, running through the trees like a trophy animal.
They had only cut his hand.
Had they purposely let him go?
No, he shouldn’t sell himself short.
He’d fought like hell.
The boy felt a flash of pride.
All those hours of memorizing Jean-Claude Van Damme’s moves had been worth it.
Can’t wait to rewatchKickboxer.
He dodged the obstacles, hoping he was heading in a straight line.
Where’s the damn fence?
He started to climb without thinking, pain exploding as the metal wire slipped into his open wound.
He stifled a scream, hoping to conceal his exact point of escape.
A pickup truck was hurtling across the pasture in his direction.
They were trying to head him off.
He was confident in his speed.
Ninety-ninth percentile in the President’s Challenge Shuttle Run.
He’d timed himself.
But they were closing the distance fast.
Get to the treeline.
He knew there’d be a barbed wire cow fence at the edge of the field.
He’d have to clear it in stride.
In only a matter of seconds, they were upon him.
He was steps from the trees.
The headlights lit up the short fence, helping him judge his distance.
He stutter-stepped to set up his leap, then threw his lead leg in the air.
He heard the truck skid to a stop on the wet grass behind him, the doors opening.
Another hundred feet or so and he’d make it to the clearing.
He heard the men clumsily moving through the woods, crashing into branches and grumbling to themselves.
Randomly choosing a direction, he dashed down the clearing, reaching a manhole in less than fifty steps.
The disheveled men popped out of the trees ten seconds after he’d dropped the manhole cover in place.
The boy listened as their cursing voices passed him.
He waited until he could no longer hear them, and then sat for another five minutes.
He thrust kick off the cover, emerging into the muggy night air.
The boy fled deeper into the woods.
To be published on October 29, 2019 by Crown, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
