False Hearts

A Pacifica Novel (near-future thriller / cyberpunk)

One night Tila stumbles home, terrified and covered in blood

She’s arrested for murder, the first by a civilian in decades. The San Francisco police suspect involvement with Verve, a powerful drug, and offer her twin sister Taema a chilling deal. Taema must assume Tila’s identity and gather information – then if she brings down the drug syndicate, the police may let her sister live. But Taema’s investigation raises ghosts from the twins’ past.

The sisters were raised by a cult, which banned modern medicine. But as conjoined twins, they needed surgery to divide their shared heart – and escaped. Taema now finds Tila discovered links between the cult and the city’s underground. Once unable to keep secrets, the sisters will discover the true cost of lies.

Publishing Information:

US: Tor (Macmillan)

ISBN: 9780765382061

UK: Tor (Macmillan)

ISBN:

Release date: June 2016 (hardback); June 2017 (paperback)

In Translation:

Italy: 2055: False Hearts (Fanucci Editore)

German: Dark World (Heyne Verlag)

French: Coeurs Artificiels (Bragelonne/Pocket de Livre)

Purchase:

Praise & Accolades

Please also considering buying from your favourite independent bookstore!

You can purchase signed copies of my books at any time from Mike at Transreal Fiction in Edinburgh.

  • BBC Radio 2 Book Club Selection, July 2016Romantic Times Top Pick for June 2016Wired’s Summer Reads List 2016io9’s Summer Reads List 2016Marie Clare’s Summer Reads List 2016Locus Magazine Recommended Read 2016

    “Lam expertly explores themes of identity, totalitarian governments, cults, mind control, and familial love.”– Publishers Weekly

    “Its vision of the future is seductively terrifying.”– SFX

    “An intriguing and fast-paced tale.”– Heat

    “A chilling read that will have you gripped from page one . . . A must read.”– Woman’s Own

    “A strong sci-fi thriller.”– SciFiNow

    “Laura has been slowly building her name up in the publishing world the last few years. But it’s False Hearts that is likely to get her worldwide recognition. This novel fits in between the genres of a thriller and a sci-fi and is likely to be a hit within the UK [. . .] A truly great read from a great writer.”– Starburst

    “Fast-paced and full of intrigue from start to finish [. . .] [False Hearts] is a high-wire act, and Lam pulls it off brilliantly, playing each sister at her own game and doling out backstory with masterful timing. Like Taema, you’ll hardly have a chance to catch your breath.”– Barnes & Noble

    “False Hearts does exactly what it says on the tin—it’s a near-future crime thriller featuring psychoactive drugs, dreamscapes, corruption, futurist technology and power struggles. It’s also about two young women who are bound by love just as tightly, as strongly as they were once by shared flesh. This is the story of them re-discovering each other, and in doing so, understanding more about themselves too.”– tor.com

  • “Just fantastic. Rarely have I torn through a book so quickly. Dark, smart, fast-paced & sexy.”– Samantha Shannon, author of The Bone Season

    “A strong debut from someone who’s clearly got what it takes.”– Peter F. Hamilton, bestselling author of the Commonwealth saga

    “False Hearts is that rarest of things – a fast-paced thriller with tons of heart and soul. Set in a chillingly believable future, it’s bursting with original concepts and unforgettable characters. I defy anyone to put it down.”– Sarah Lotz, author of The Three

    “I thoroughly enjoyed it, from its explosive beginning right through to a very satisfying end. This is very much a character-driven piece, and although the story is of twins, it is really Taema’s tale. I can happily say False Hearts has been the highlight of my year’s reading so far.”– James Oswald, author of the Inspector McLean series

    “Gorgeous prose, vividly rendered characters, and a story that moves like a ballistic missile.”– Wesley Chu, author of Time Salvager and the Tao series.

    “A taut futuristic thriller, set in a San Francisco where everybody is beautiful… and nobody is exceptional. Two unusual sisters are caught in a war for control of a society that quietly suffocates its outsiders, rebels, and the damaged. Taema and Tila are all three, and their strange past and unique bond make False Hearts a difficult book to put down.”– A. M. Dellamonica, author of Child of a Hidden Sea

    “A multi-layered, suspenseful thriller, False Hearts explores themes of identity and power in a breakneck plot that keeps the pages turning.”– Ilana C. Myer, author of Last Song Before Night

    “Riveting and genuinely moving.” ­­– F. Paul Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of the Repairman Jack series

    “An ingenious premise, and Laura Lam executes it flawlessly. Gritty and wise, your own pulse will be racing as you get caught up in this exciting tale.” ­­– Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award­ winning author of Red Planet Blues

Shattered Minds

A Pacifica Novel (near future thriller / cyberpunk)

She can uncover the truth, if she defeats her demons

Ex-neuroscientist Carina struggles with a drug problem, her conscience, and urges to kill. She satisfies her cravings in dreams, fuelled by the addictive drug 'Zeal'. Now she's heading for self-destruction - until she has a vision of a dead girl.

Sudice Inc. damaged Carina when she worked on their sinister brain-mapping project, causing her violent compulsions. And this girl was a similar experiment. When Carina realizes the vision was planted by her old colleague Mark, desperate for help to expose the company, she knows he's probably dead. Her only hope is to unmask her nemesis - or she's next.

To unlock the secrets Mark hid in her mind, she'll need a group of specialist hackers. Dax is one
of them, a doctor who can help Carina fight her addictions. If she holds on to her humanity, they
might even have a future together. But first she must destroy her adversary - before it changes us and our society, forever.

Laura Lam's Shattered Minds stars a female 'Dexter' with a drug problem and a conscience, in a terrifying near-future where technology rules our lives and haunts our dreams.

Purchase:

Praise & Accolades

An Amazon Editor’s Best SFF Pick.

'A gripping, fast-paced high tech thriller' - Guardian

'A taut page-turner chock-full of thrills' - Speculative Herald

‘I really enjoyed Shattered Minds . . . a noir cyberpunk thriller along the lines of Neuromancer’
-Neal Asher

‘Terrifyingly believable . . . This techno-thriller is fast-paced, thought-provoking, and even - unexpectedly - romantic.’ -Kirkus

Please also considering buying from your favourite independent bookstore!

You can purchase signed copies of my books at any time from Mike at Transreal Fiction in Edinburgh.

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The Micah Grey Trilogy (Pantomime, Shadowplay, Masquerade)