ALICE'S ARMY
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On a tree-lined street in Decatur, Georgia, Mary Jane Willowsby planted tulips in her front yard as her daughter, Alexis, jumped rope with three of her friends. While the nine year olds took turns jumping, bits of conversation floated back to Mary Jane. Weeks earlier Max Wilson, a bully infamous for stealing lunches, kicking kittens, humiliating middle school girls, starting fires and burning a drawing from a girl’s beloved and deceased father, was found late one night on the side of a main road, victim of what Alexis’ daddy would call a serious whupping. One broken bone, a pencil through the cheek, and patches of skin that looked to be burned from the inside out. Max wouldn’t divulge who did it but hadn’t bullied anyone since. The story didn’t make the news but the death of Jerry Huntsbury had. Everyone knew he beat his wife and kids but no one stepped in because Jerry donated a great deal of money to Decatur politicians. Evidently someone felt passionate about the issue because a week after Max’s whupping Jerry was found dead on his fishing boat with a broken neck and a note taped to his bare knee that said I was an asshole. Police were flabbergasted. No evidence, no prints, no sign that anyone else set foot on that boat. It was around the time of the two incidents that Alexis began to sing the nursery rhyme. “One, two, Alice comes for you, Three, four, with her bloody sword, Five, six, giving slashes and licks, Seven, eight, nowhere is safe, Nine, ten, off…with…your…head.” Mary Jane asked Alexis to not sing the Helpful Alice song. Her daughter replied, “But Helpful Alice looks out for kids. She gets rid of bad people.” “She isn’t real, honey. She’s just a made up story about, what? A girl who lives in the clouds somewhere?” Alexis’ eyes bugged out of her head. “She’s very real and very nice. And she’s not from the clouds. I think she’s from Florida.” Mary Jane gave up. How could her child consider a girl who went around killing people to be some sort of guardian angel? Each night she heard Alexis end her prayers by pleading with Helpful Alice to protect her from monsters and bring her along on missions. Missions, Mary Jane thought with a laugh. As if this make believe girl had an army, a directive to uphold. But Alexis always included Alice in her prayers for she believed, she knew, that she was real. Kids always do.
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About the Book
Ten years have passed since the events of The Final Alice. While mourning the death of a team member, Alice Pleasance must come to terms with the sacrifices inherent in the job she accepted, one that does not allow vacations or weekends. A job which forces her to never age and never die, making friendships outside the team nearly impossible. Now a perfect hunter and tracker, Alice is emotionally isolated and haunted by a constant stream of nightmares involving twins, a screaming man, and a mysterious shack. When a serial killer embarks on a murder spree in Nigeria, Alice and her team prepare to eliminate the threat. They join forces with the heir of a petroleum dynasty gifted with a unique and powerful ability all his own. But before long, they realize the current murders involve an angry and vengeful old enemy. Gritty and atmospheric, Alice’s Army centers on the forces of good and evil in our modern world. It examines the powerful grip of emotional addictions as well as the psychology of fear. This middle chapter of the trilogy reflects on each team member’s beginnings and defines the concept of family as those who stand alongside us in the darkest of hours against the most terrible of threats.
Ripley's undeniable, infectious love for these characters is superpowered. Alice is back with her motley crew of supernatural karma commandos in tow. Battle-tested, wiser, and more complex as a team, the new dynamic serves as rocket fuel for the author's unmistakable voice to shine. Filled with wild imagery, fierce action, genuine emotion and pure whimsy, few authors can so effortlessly glide between a high-velocity narrative and complete phantasmagoria. I loved it!
-Michael Wandmacher, film composer: My Bloody Valentine, The Last Exorcism: Part II
Alycia Ripley writes with grace and delicacy about the sometimes very violent fantasies of young women in a threatening world. The books in her Alice series come to life with their haunting imagery and lyrical prose. These fantasy stories about the adventures of the granddaughter of Alice in Wonderland explore a darker side of one young woman's response to life's challenges. With Alice's Army she continues the saga of a badass Alice who refuses to be undone. Her strange journey will surprise and delight readers with its many twists and turns.
-Nancy Jo Sales, author of The Bling Ring
About the Author
Alycia Ripley was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. She is a graduate of Syracuse University and received her MFA in creative writing from New York University. She is the author of Traveling with an Eggplant (2006) as well as The Final Alice (2011). She has written for numerous online and print publications, and more information can be found at www.alyciaripley.com.