Dark Parts of the Universe (2024)
“The page-turning suspense is a draw, but the book’s ultimate strength is its skillful exploration of racial injustice in rural America.” - Kirkus Reviews
“In the richly detailed plot, Miller deftly captures the claustrophobic nature of small-town residents locked into what they believe is the way things should be.” - School Library Journal (starred review)
Willie Eckles, a fourteen-year-old in Calico Springs, Missouri, lives inside a probability tunnel— “in Calico,” the saying goes, “you don’t get out. You get along.”
That is, until he discovers Manifest Atlas, an app-based adventure game that claims to lead players to whatever they desire— manifestation made literal.
One night, desperate to prove to his brother’s friends that it works, Willie sets his intention as ‘something bloody,’ & Manifest Atlas brings them to an abandoned mill… where they discover a dismembered body in the drain.
The Game explodes in Calico Springs, with Willie at the center of an expanding, cosmic mystery.
But as the Game warns you— when you break from the Universe, the Universe fights back. There are dark forces at play, & as the body count in Calico Springs continues to rise, & the group begin to feel themselves hunted… it becomes a race against time, to disrupt the flow of the fate, & keep history from repeating itself.