Hi folks. I have just completed the third draft of my manuscript The Lights and I am looking to get some fresh eyes on it, as I feel I've taken it nearly as far as I can on my own.

Title: The Lights

Blurb:

In the summer of 1995, a terrible accident awakens something ancient and forgotten from the depths beneath the Lake Jakota dam.

For thirteen-year-old Richy Wilson, the summer is already defined by tragedy as he struggles with his father’s early-onset dementia. Following a violent altercation with the police and strapped for cash, they return to Jakota to sell their beloved family vacation home.

But as fear and grief collide, the world goes quiet. One by one, the adults fall into an unbreakable, catatonic sleep, and the once-vibrant resort town is plunged into an eerie silence. Only the children remain, left to fend for themselves in a sprawling lakeside hotel in a world without rules. As they scavenge for food and care for their comatose parents, something far more sinister than the silence is closing in.

Content Warning: violence, death, sexual coercion.

Tropes: 1990s nostalgia, small town gothic, mass coma / empty world, the gifted underachiever, parental tole reversal, kids on a mission, coming of age, the sirens call.

Swaps: I am open to swaps, but my time is limited (full time job and two children under 5).

Formats: word, pdf, epub (fully formatted).

Feedback: Anything really. I honestly don't know where to begin.

P.S. This book was written without the aid of artificial intelligence. Written for humans, by a human.