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Dearest Summer
In 1950, in the small town of Charity, North Carolina, little girls are expected to be courteous. They’re expected to be respectful, responsible. Above all, little girls are expected to be good. But Lacey Marie Sumner isn’t your average 11-year-old girl. In fact, she’s missing something most of her peers take for a conscience. And she does not want to be a big sister. Enter Casper Johnston, a 25-year-old mortician’s apprentice, the youngest of six brothers and a virtual outcast within his own family. He alone can see into the darkness of Lacey’s heart, and also the potential, far in the future, to begin a new family all his own. First, he’ll need to teach her how to be who she truly is, to guide her journey from afar until childhood’s end—and, if possible, learn to control the little tempest the Cabal will come to know only as “Summer.” But Summer, it turns out, does not like to be told what to do. Ever. From an ill-fated Bonfire Girls camp in Goshen, Virginia to the horrors of Serenity Hospital; from a supposedly abandoned lighthouse in South Carolina to a church besieged by phantoms in the woods of upstate New York, Dearest Summer presents all twelve stories from the NoSleep Podcast Summer Series in book form for the very first time.
232 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 26, 2018
9 people are currently reading
26 people want to read
About the author
Marcus Damanda
20 books67 followersWriter, teacher, world's best uncle, adoptive dad to Shazam the cat, I am the gatekeeper to your nightmares and dreams, weaver of tales fantastic and unimaginable ... or some stuff like that.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 4, 2025
I have never been so proud! Calling out the glitter bats of Twilight is the most epic thing ever!
Summers story of coming into her true self was completely addicting. The pure rage of a child, scorned, is only adding to the enraged woman Sumner becomes. Finding love and family in the darkness is inspiring and made me call my kids just to tell them how much I loved them.
An absolute must read.
Summers story of coming into her true self was completely addicting. The pure rage of a child, scorned, is only adding to the enraged woman Sumner becomes. Finding love and family in the darkness is inspiring and made me call my kids just to tell them how much I loved them.
An absolute must read.
January 1, 2019
"Dearest Summer" is one of the best books I've ever read, hands down. I had the pleasure of hearing the 12-part story of Summer as a full audio-drama production on "The NoSleep Podcast" as each segment was released by author Marcus Damanda. This story is riveting, captivating, emotional, and terrifying. The story follows the life of a "little tempest" of a girl named Lacey Marie Sumner who transforms into Summer, a wild, out-of-control, traumatized young woman who finds her place in the world in a singular way within a unique "family". She is guided along her journey by Casper, an up-and-coming leader in the family who's diabolical intrigues involve using Summer to further his plans to rule...and, OH, how Summer truly enjoys being used by Casper. His plans align uniquely with hers and together, they are a force to be reckoned with! Read the book. You will not be disappointed.
January 23, 2019
From the very first page to the very last, Dearest Summer is a masterfully written, action-packed, edge-of-your-seat thriller.
Imagine a child almost completely devoid of human compassion and guilt. Throw into the mix the death of her mother—the only person in the world to whom she’d connected—on her eleventh birthday.
Oh, how Summer loathed the baby sister who took her mother’s life during childbirth.
Oh, how she wished her dead.
It wasn’t really her fault, right? Despite the fact she’d thought about killing her. Despite her research on crib death. Despite the fact that she hated her with a passion.
Despite the fact that she hand-delivered her to the waiting hands of the strigoi who only thirsted for blood.
And that’s just the beginning.
I lost track of the body count as Summer travels around the country doing the bidding of Casper, the one who would make her strigoi, and the one who would once again give her a family.
Her forever family.
Imagine a child almost completely devoid of human compassion and guilt. Throw into the mix the death of her mother—the only person in the world to whom she’d connected—on her eleventh birthday.
Oh, how Summer loathed the baby sister who took her mother’s life during childbirth.
Oh, how she wished her dead.
It wasn’t really her fault, right? Despite the fact she’d thought about killing her. Despite her research on crib death. Despite the fact that she hated her with a passion.
Despite the fact that she hand-delivered her to the waiting hands of the strigoi who only thirsted for blood.
And that’s just the beginning.
I lost track of the body count as Summer travels around the country doing the bidding of Casper, the one who would make her strigoi, and the one who would once again give her a family.
Her forever family.
January 15, 2019
Another book I first met via podcast. Summer is a psychopath, groomed for greater things by a mother who regards all human behavior as self-serving and an undertaker who is more than he seems. Vignettes from her life are bracketed by interludes in a nursing home with the one man Summer still regards with something like love. I can’t judge you for rooting for Summer in her escapades because I do too. But, ultimately, Summer’s voice will always be Jessica McEvoy’s in my mind.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews