



Limetown
The Prequel to the #1 Podcast
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3.6 • 28 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
From the creators of the #1 podcast Limetown, an explosive prequel about a teenager who learns of a mysterious research facility where more than three hundred people have disappeared—including her uncle—with clues that become the key to discovering the secrets of this strange town.
On a seemingly ordinary day, seventeen-year-old Lia Haddock hears news that will change her life forever: three hundred men, women, and children living at a research facility in Limetown, Tennessee, have disappeared without a trace. Among the missing is Emile Haddock, Lia’s uncle.
What happened to the people of Limetown? It’s all anyone can talk about. Except Lia’s parents, who refuse to discuss what might have happened there. They refuse, even, to discuss anything to do with Emile.
As a student journalist, Lia begins an investigation that will take her far from her home, discovering clues about Emile’s past that lead to a shocking secret—one with unimaginable implications not only for the people of Limetown, but for Lia and her family. The only problem is…she’s not the only one looking for answers.
Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie are first-rate storytellers, in every medium. Critics called their podcast Limetown “creepy and otherworldly” (The New York Times) and “endlessly fun” (Vox), and “readers will have a hard time putting this story down, even as it pulls them deeper into the rabbit hole that is Limetown” (Publishers Weekly). Working with Cote Smith, a PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize Finalist, they’ve crafted an exhilarating mystery that asks big questions about what we owe to our families and what we owe to ourselves, about loss, discovery, and growth. Threaded throughout is Emile’s story—told in these pages for the first time ever.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Since the Limetown podcast debuted in 2015, its fans have been waiting patiently to find out what happened to the 300 residents of a secret town who all disappeared without a trace. This capable prequel doesn't quite answer that question, but it does give some insight into the podcast's main character, Lia Haddock, and her connection to the mysterious events at Limetown. The story follows Lia and her uncle, Emilie, a resident of Limetown and Lia's impetus for her quest for answers, through different times until their paths converge, revealing that Lia isn't just looking to solve a mystery she may be a key to it. Readers will have a hard time putting this story down, even as it pulls them deeper into the rabbit hole that is Limetown. The book is appropriate for listeners and nonlisteners alike, and its publication is timed to the Halloween launch of the podcast's second season, so new fans will have hope that their questions might soon get some answers.
Customer Reviews
Great premise, never concluded
Just like the podcast, the setup and the “chase” are great, compelling and creepy. But the payoff isn’t there in the end. There’s no conclusion to the story.
Incredible!
WOW! Talk about a wild ride. Limetown is the book prequel to a podcast that I’d never heard of. It is a head scratching, mind bending, amazing trip through the lives of Lia and Emile. Lia is Emile’s niece. Of course that’s probably the easiest thing I can explain about this book. You’ll have to read the book to get the rest.
We start with Lia, in high school, writing for the school paper. We start with Emile, in high school, considered a weirdo and a loner. His only friend is his brother Jacob. Jacob and his wife Alison are Lia’s parents. There is your family tree. Along the way through Emile’s years, we meet lots of other shady and incredible characters. Emile is special. Special in a way that scares people. Special in a way that some people want to study and learn from. Special in that no one Emile’s age ever understands him.
Jacob is your average teenager. Outstanding athlete, good student, caring big brother. Jacob & Emile live with their mom in Lawrence, Kansas. At least for a while they live with their mom. Eventually that relationship is broken and the boys run off to live with their aunt and uncle.
Lia isn’t outstanding or special in any particular way. She does have a keen mind for investigation, however, and when she comes across her uncle’s belongings in the attic, it sends her on a mysterious tour of figuring out where he is or what happened to him. She finds out things along the way that both frighten and excite her. It’s Lia’s discoveries that cause this story to twist in ways you can’t imagine.
I won’t give away much else, other than Limetown is a town that has vanished. Not the town itself, but it’s people and inhabitants. One day they are there, the next gone. Where they’ve gone is anyone’s guess. That’s one other little mystery to be uncovered.
As I said, I’d never heard of the podcast, but you can bet I’m going to start listening now, just so I can uncover more secrets and surprises. Read this book. It’s fabulously written and the storytelling is simply unreal. Worth every minute.