Kristy Gardner

The Stars In Their Eyes

The stakes were clear after the Change - survive together, or die.

Calay and Tess’s love has kept them alive four years after the aliens decimated Earth. But when Calay finds herself fighting for her life and Tess missing, she hears death knocking. She only has one choice: she must find Tess.

Reluctantly, Calay braves the new nightmares of a ravaged Pacific Northwest, alone. Thrust into the darkness, she is haunted by horrors beyond her imagination — alien executioners, a mysterious man whom she can’t quite put her finger on, the rise of a sinister cult, and a shocking family secret that challenges everything she thinks she knows.

As the lines between good and evil blur, Calay’s desperation threatens to spill what’s left of her humanity. As she's pulled deeper into the madness of a world that has become kill or be killed, Calay realizes she must deny her feral instincts and resist becoming a monster herself. That means confronting her demons as she stares down the barrel of a terrifying truth: she may actually be forever alone. Time is running out and she knows it. Her only hope is to become who she is truly meant to be and unify with the love of her life once and for all. But, at what cost?

To survive, Calay must choose between the unthinkable: give up, or give ‘em hell.

Publisher: City Owl Press
Publication Date: October 18, 2022
ISBN: PRINT: 978-1-64898-194-4 DIGITAL: 978-1-64898-192-0

An inescapable, harrowing, and beautiful tale. This book gripped me from the first page. The Stars In Their Eyes is chilling, thrilling, and full of emotional depth that will leave you on the edge of your seat, questioning your own reality.
– Madison Lawson, Author of The Registration

A propulsive journey of resilience and survival, The Stars in Their Eyes charts a juicily twisted path through what it means to be human, what it means to be alien, and, above all, when our world is lost, what it means to find home in each other.
– Ann Fraistat, Author of What We Harvest

Visceral, creepy, and disturbing. I had to put Kristy Gardner’s novel down and go for a walk, but her images followed me out of the sunshine and into the grocery store. Dark horror fans will love this startling debut.
– Chana Porter, Author of The Seep

The Stars in Their Eyes first begins as a dystopian lost love story. But just when you think you know where it’s going, this novel slides right out of your grip and delivers a string of surprises—one after another. At once exhilarating and philosophical, this debut dark sci-fi is a tour de force of twists and turns.
– Sarina Dahlan, Author of Reset

Available for order:

AMAZON | B&N

Kristy Gardner is a sci-fi fantasy and horror writer, author of the award-winning cookbook, COOKING WITH COCKTAILS, and coffee addict. As a queer woman furnished with degrees in Gender Studies and Sociology, she crafts complex female characters that adventure through space, time, and emotional maelstroms questioning what identity – and home – really mean. She resides in Vancouver, B.C., with her partner and 90-pound rescued American Bulldog, Riley.

Find her on TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@kristy_gardner
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https://kristygardner.com

Tags: Adult, Dystopian, Horror, LGBTQIA+, Paranormal, Romance, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction/SFF, Suspense, Thriller