Scan is the upcoming release co-authored by Walter Jury and Sarah Fine. The novel is a sci-fi adventure in which one boy with interesting skills must survive an interspecies war to discover what his father’s invention really does.

Walter Jury tells us about Scan’s main character, Tate:

Tate is inspired by a quote that I heard from an ESPN radio host that I greatly respect—Colin Cowherd. Cowherd is adept at comparing major moments and events in sports and in news, and juxtaposing them with real life lessons. On one occasion, Cowherd discussed parenting and discipline, and he said (to paraphrase), “Nobody ever gets older and tells their parents, ‘you were too hard on me and disciplined me too much.'” Well, Tate’s father, Fred may actually take that to the limit.

Tate is a hyper-trained teenager, whose father puts him through a rigid set of extracurricular training activities. His father is loving, but is no-nonsense when it comes to Tate’s discipline and upbringing. As a result, Tate is multi-lingual to the extreme, a great trained athlete, knowledgeable in numerous fields of intelligence, and seemingly prepared for just about anything and everything.

Underneath all that toughness, Tate has a Steve McQueen-esque heart. He is genuine and passionate, but also a bit suppressed. He just isn’t sure why he has been put through the paces his father has forced upon him.

In our story, Tate faces a gauntlet of intense experiences. He comes upon the ultimate moments of adversity, sadness, and discipline. Those full blasts of emotion are combined with newly found responsibilities, which are greater than he could have ever imagined. As a result, we get to know him intimately, and hopefully, our audience will find it easy to root for him.

‘Scan’ Summary

Tate and his father don’t exactly get along. As Tate sees it, his father has unreasonably high expectations for Tate to be the best — at everything. Tate finally learns what he’s being prepared for when he steals one of his dad’s odd tech inventions and mercenaries ambush his school, killing his father and sending Tate on the run from aliens who look just like humans.

All Tate knows — like how to make weapons out of oranges and lighter fluid – may not be enough to save him as he’s plunged into a secret interspecies conflict that’s been going on for centuries. Aided only by his girlfriend and his estranged mother, with powerful enemies closing in on all sides, Tate races to puzzle out the secret behind his father’s invention and why so many are willing to kill for it.
 
 

About co-authors Walter Jury and Sarah Fine

Walter Jury was born in London and has a background in the film industry. He is a big enthusiast of Jamba Juice’s Protein Berry Workout smoothie, only with soy, never whey. Sarah Fine was born on the West Coast, raised in the Midwest, and is now firmly entrenched on the East Coast, where she lives with her husband and two children. She is the author of several young adult books, and when she’s not writing, she’s working as a child psychologist.