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    The Recovery
    The Recovery
    The Recovery
    Ebook93 pages1 hour

    The Recovery

    By Suzanne Young

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Realm hopes that with each past he helps to recover, he’ll be able to reclaim a small bit of his own in this spinoff story to Suzanne Young’s bestselling duology, The Program and The Treatment.

    Six months after the fall of The Program, ex-handler Michael Realm is struggling with his guilt. After all, he was instrumental in erasing the memories of several patients—including one he claimed to love. With a lifetime of regret stretched before him, Realm vows to set things right.

    Along with his friend (yes, friend) James Murphy, Realm will track down those he’s hurt in an attempt to give them back their lives—starting with Dallas Stone. He’s not looking for forgiveness or redemption; he’s not a hero. But helping others may be the only way to save himself.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
    Release dateFeb 24, 2015
    ISBN9781481449007
    Author

    Suzanne Young

    Suzanne Young is the New York Times bestselling author of The Program series. Originally from Utica, New York, Suzanne moved to Arizona to pursue her dream of not freezing to death. She is a novelist and an English teacher, but not always in that order. Suzanne is also the author of Girls with Sharp Sticks, All in Pieces, Hotel for the Lost, and several other novels for teens. Visit her online at AuthorSuzanneYoung.com or follow her on Instagram at @AuthorSuzanneYoung.

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    Reviews for The Recovery

    4/5

    60 ratings3 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I feel like this is trying to make me see Realm's side and feel bad for him for what he's been made to do by The Program, but I just couldn't. I was kinda mad seeing so many people willing to forgive him, or watch him grieve the one's who couldn't. It was quick though, and I think it was a fine addition if you want more
    • 5/5
      I was so happy to read in Realm’s point of view. I was also happy to get a better understanding of his and James’ friendship. This journey to redemption he is on is a hard one. I felt so sad for him and for James. Also for Dallas. I hope Realm and Dallas can at least be friends. I’m so glad I read this. I’m ready for the next book!
    • 5/5
      The entire program series is amazing and captivating, it keeps you on your toes and you won't stop until you've read the last word. I love Realm's point of view in this short book. I wish that it was longer so I can read more of Realm's POV.

    Book preview

    The Recovery - Suzanne Young

    For my friend Michael Strother, who was there from the beginning

    In loving memory of my grandmother Josephine Parzych

    CHAPTER ONE

    MICHAEL REALM SAT BEHIND THE wheel of the rented car and watched Dallas Stone pick up the small leather case he’d left on her front porch. Realm ducked down when Dallas turned to check the road, but he was sure she already knew it was from him. After all, he owed her a hell of a lot.

    He had to admit that he liked her newly shorn hair, the blond dreads replaced with a sleek cut that she couldn’t hide behind. He didn’t want her to hide anymore. He wanted her to be happy, and so he knew that he had to return what he’d taken: her memories.

    Once he thought it was safe, Realm peeked over the dashboard to see that Dallas had gone back inside. He smiled to himself—his guilt lessened only a fraction, but at least he could hate himself a little less today. He had a long list of sins to atone for. This was only his first stop.

    After the fall of The Program, Realm had been able to keep a low profile, avoiding criminal charges for his time working for Arthur Pritchard, for Dr. Warren, and for the hospital. He’d done despicable things in order to fulfill his contract—unforgivable things. Sure, the punishment for breaking the rules would have led to a lobotomy, but the guilt he now lived with was overwhelming. Sometimes he was afraid it was enough to kill him.

    The suicide epidemic had started only six years earlier—killing one in three teens at its height. But after The Program ended, the numbers dwindled. Maybe it was never really an epidemic in the first place. It could have been a suicide cluster like the ones before, an unexplained ripple effect on human behavior. But then Arthur Pritchard created The Program, drew worldwide attention, and made things so much worse. Realm often wondered what drove Pritchard to create his therapy in the first place. He thought it had to do with the doctor’s daughter, Virginia—at least that’s what Evelyn Valentine insinuated. But Arthur Pritchard had been lobotomized; the world would never know the truth behind his motives.

    Realm wanted to hate Arthur Pritchard for what he’d done, for creating The Program in the first place. But the doctor had died shortly after his lobotomy due to complications from surgery. Realm couldn’t help but to feel sorry for him. The entire situation was a bit like Victor Frankenstein being destroyed by his own monster.

    Realm’s phone vibrated in the car’s center console, startling him from his thoughts. He picked it up and saw that his sister was calling him, again. Although he loved Anna dearly, she was driving him nuts. He didn’t feel like convincing her that he was fine, so he declined the call. He would see her soon anyway. He had a flight to catch; he was heading back to Oregon.

    With his phone still in hand, Realm scrolled through his contacts and dialed, annoyed to be sent to voice mail for the third time. He didn’t want to make the next leg of his journey alone, but he also knew that convincing James to come with him wouldn’t be easy. His relationship with James Murphy hadn’t been the most expected friendship. In fact, at one point he and James hated each other—mutually and exclusively. James had gone through The Program and had his entire relationship with Sloane Barstow erased. Realm may have used that to his advantage when he fell for James’s girlfriend, but he had honestly believed he was better for her. Loved her more than James ever could.

    Of course, now he knew that Sloane and James were mad for each other. And so he accepted the loss. He was still determined to do right by Sloane, and helped James save her from a near-lobotomy. Turned out that James wasn’t as unbearable as Realm had first thought. In fact, he was the best friend he’d ever had.

    Which meant James not answering his call was particularly annoying. Realm had the names of several people he wanted to find—Dallas was only the first. James had offered to track down the addresses of the others. In the meantime, Realm put together a file for each—memories that he could recall from their time in The Program. Stories they would have told him. It would all be in the pages—their depression and loss, their secrets and hopes. For years, he’d been the link between patients’ most hidden thoughts and the doctors who sought to erase them. He betrayed people’s trust. Even . . . mostly . . . the people he cared about. Tucked in his messenger bag, he even had a file for Sloane.

    It hurt to think about her sometimes, but unlike the others, it wasn’t just his guilt that affected him. There were few things more painful than unrequited love, but the worst part was that he had been so close. Sloane had cared about him. Trusted him with her life. But he’d ruined it when he injected her with a sedative—handed her and her past over to The Program. And she wasn’t the first, or the last, person he’d done that to.

    Realm ran his hand roughly through his messy hair. He’d stopped dyeing it, returning it to chocolate brown—which he hadn’t worn in years. He liked it. And maybe a part of him knew that Dallas would like it too. Not that she was ever going to see it.

    Realm lowered his eyes, reminded of a time before he’d gotten sick. Before he ruined Dallas’s life. He remembered that day, sophomore year, when he was heading to the locker room still wearing his green lacrosse uniform. The team would be disbanded by the end of the season due to fears of overstressing students with competition—one of the many reasons given for the increasing epidemic—but at that time, suicide had barely touched Realm’s world.

    He’d just started down the white-tiled corridor toward the locker room, when he noticed a pretty blonde leaning against the wall, texting on her phone. Dallas Stone—he’d seen her before. She cheered for the basketball team, but he’d never spoken to her beyond a simple What’s up? at a party or two. She didn’t look at him, so he kept walking, maybe wanting her to notice him a little. He swung his lacrosse stick around his fingers, but instead of coming off as smooth, the stick slipped out of his hand and clattered to the floor near Dallas’s feet. She jumped, and glanced up, her

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