Vanessa is Not a Victim

Daria meets Scream with the dark humor of Heathers in this debut YA thriller novel.

Seventeen-year-old Vanessa’s life is as mundane as it gets in her sleepy, small town. The only thing that breaks up the monotony? Her obsession with corny horror movies. When a murder hits close to home, Vanessa doesn't blink—until she finds the body of a fellow student in the girls' bathroom.

Inspired by her favorite slasher films, Vanessa hatches an exciting plan: create the perfect death and become the killer’s next victim.

However, no matter what she tries, the mysterious murderer won’t take the bait! Frustrated, she flips the script. If she can't be the victim, she'll save her clueless peers from becoming one, because in Vanessa's world, if she can't star in the horror show, no one can.

With razor-sharp wit and a rebellious spirit, Vanessa is Not a Victim delivers a wickedly fun ride through high school halls fraught with danger and dark comedy. It's a tale where the line between hunter and hunted blurs, keeping readers laughing one moment and gripping their seats the next.

Vanessa is Not the Victim is the debut novel from seventeen year-old high school senior Gabrielle S. Clarke whose previous work has appeared in the Thurber House literary journal,Flip the Page and the nonfiction bestselling anthology Black Girl, White School: Thriving, Surviving and No, You Can't Touch My Hair.