The Swans

By: Aaron Starmer

Feathers fly when a true crime podcast and burning obsession meet head-on in this darkly comedic young adult novel.

For decades, the Sutton Swans, beloved birds that nest in a small town’s local pond, have been the targets of brutal attacks. And ever since seventeen-year-old Mason Barnes learned about the swans’ sordid history and his dad’s connection to one of the crimes, he can’t seem to shake his growing interest in the white-feathered fowl.

Desperate to be in the thick of something that matters, Mason feels the tug of fate when a popular true crime podcast sweeps into town to cover the story, transforming the young man’s budding fascination into a burning fixation.

As his infatuation and instability grow, so does his intent to pull off a scheme that not even the best investigative journalists could predict—something that will change the town of Sutton forever. And if it impresses Sophie, the enigmatic new girl? Well, then Mason might truly get everything he’s ever wanted.