Bleed Through — Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Why can't Larissa remember the man who says she saved his life? Larissa Johanssen has spent her adult life running from her own memories of trauma. As a top-notch journalist, she immersed herself in stories of violence and disruption in other peoples' lives; she covered mass shootings and disasters on the national stage with her TV crew. She tried to make sense of the violence for her viewers. Until something in her broke. She escaped to a small Midwestern town to teach in the local high school. But you can't run away from your past -- and a school shooting in Larissa's “safe” town makes clear there is nowhere to hide. In the midst of the tragedy, she finds something both terrifying and unexpectedly heart-warming. A story filled with surprises, Bleed Through belongs on everyone's reading list. “[Rusch's] writing style is simple but elegant, and her characterization excellent.” -- Mark Morris, Beyond “[Rusch] is one of those very few writers whose style takes me right into the story -- the words and pages disappear as the characters and their story swallows me whole. … Rusch has style.” -- Charles de Lint