Monarch

<b>Shortlisted for the 2022 Over the Rainbow Recommended Book List<br><br>The cryptic worlds of <i>Hanna</i> and <i>Stranger Things</i> mingle with the dark humor of <i>Dare Me</i> in this debut novel about a teen beauty queen who discovers she&#146;s been a sleeper agent in a deep state government program</b><br><br>After waking up with a strange taste in her mouth and mysterious bruises former child pageant star Jessica Clink unwittingly begins an investigation into a nefarious deep state underworld. Equipped with the eccentric education of her father Dr. Clink (a professor of Boredom Studies and the founder of an elite study group known as the Devil&#146;s Workshop) Jessica uncovers a disquieting connection between her former life as a beauty queen and an offshoot of Project MKUltra known as MONARCH.<br><br>As Jessica moves closer to the truth she begins to suspect the involvement of everyone around her including her own mother Grethe (a Norwegian pageant queen turned occult American wellness guru for suburban housewives). With the help of Christine (her black-lipsticked riot grrrl babysitter and confidante) Jessica sets out to take down Project MONARCH. More importantly she must discover if her first love fellow teen queen Veronica Marshall was genuine or yet another deep state plant.<br><br>Merging iconic true crime stories of the &#146;90s (Lorena Bobbitt Nicole Brown Simpson and JonBen&#233;t Ramsey) with theories of human consciousness folklore and a perennial cultural fixation with dead girls <i>MONARCH</i> questions the shadow sides of self-concept: Who are you if you don&#146;t know yourself?