Cain’s Blood by Geoffrey Girard

Debut author to publish two novels (one for adults, one for teens) on the same day.

Debut ITW author Geoffrey Girard will have his first two novels published on the same dayas Simon and Schuster gets a little extra creative and releases both CAIN’S BLOOD (a dark techno thriller) and PROJECT CAIN (a Young Adult companion novel) simultaneously on September 3rd.

Both novels center around a secret Defense project to develop bioweapons built from the genetics of violence, a program which includes dozens of young men who are the clones of infamous serial killers. When the most dangerous teens are set free by their creator, former black ops soldier Shawn Castillo is hot on their trail and enlists the help of a boy who has just learned he is the clone of Jeffrey Dahmer. As this unlikely pair races across the country after the rampaging teens, Castillo must protect the boy who is the embodiment of his biggest fears, and who may also be his last hope.

Initially submitted as a standalone novel for teens, Girard’s agents — Peter McGuigan and Stephen Barbara, at Foundry Literary + Media — felt they could have two books on their hands and asked Girard to rework his story. The result was a dark thriller for adults told from multiple POVs and centered primarily on Castillo and also a YA novel told in first-person by teen Jeffrey Jacobson, the clone of Dahmer.

Foundry sold CAIN’S BLOOD at auction to Stacy Creamer at Touchstone (Simon & Schuster) and simultaneously closed on PROJECT CAIN to Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Girard explains that the two books follow the same main storyline but visit many side alleys throughout. “It was important to me that readers who find both books are rewarded with different reading experiences.”To accomplish this, Girard wrote the books in different styles and added in many new scenes and moments for each.

“Jeff Jacobson would be shocked at most of the scenes in CAIN’S BLOOD,” Girard says. “While they’d explain a lot to him, most are moments he is not a witness to.” He adds, “And in PROJECT CAIN, Jeff narrates exploits and frights that are his alone and outside the scope of the adult novel.”

Simon & Schuster’s two divisions have worked together on the production and marketing of the two novels toward unique publishing event, releasing a special double-sided flip ARC with both books at BEA, ALA and other festivals this summer.

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Geoffrey Girard has a BA in English Literature from Washington College and an MA in Creative Writing from Miami University, and teaches high school English at an all-boys private school in Ohio.

To learn more about Geoffrey, please visit his website.