FALSE FRIENDS
A School of Lies. A Dangerous Game of Trust.
BOOK ONE · SUBJECTIVE MOOD
Some encounters change more than you realise.
Still struggling with grief, Bianca hopes a change of scenery will help her rebuild her life. When Ramón, a man she met briefly in South Africa, encourages her to visit Instituto Guerrera in Málaga, she decides to take the chance.
At first, the language school seems ideal. Its teachers are welcoming, its reputation impeccable, and Ramón is always ready to help. But as Bianca settles into life in Málaga, his attentiveness becomes increasingly difficult to understand. What initially seemed like genuine concern begins to feel intrusive, leaving her uncertain about how much she can trust him.
Then someone from her past arrives in Málaga, threatening the independence she's begun to build. As old tensions resurface, Bianca finds herself caught between the life she thought she'd left behind and the new relationships she's struggling to navigate.
Meanwhile, beneath the respectable appearance of Instituto Guerrera, something far more disturbing is taking place. Bianca has no idea how deeply she's becoming entangled in the school's secrets, or how dangerous her situation is becoming.
By the time she discovers what is happening at Instituto Guerrera, escaping may no longer be a choice.
Subjective Mood is the first novel in False Friends, a psychological thriller series set in Málaga, where trust can become the most dangerous deception.
BOOK TWO · IMPERATIVE EMBER
Some instructions are not meant to be questioned.
Moritz has always experienced the world differently. Sounds have colours, sensations overlap, and ordinary experiences can become overwhelming. When he enrols at Instituto Guerrera in Málaga, he hopes that learning Spanish will give him something new to focus on.
There he meets Lola, a lively, outgoing woman whose warmth makes it easy to overlook the darker side of her personality. Behind her easy confidence lies a dangerous fascination with fire, one she has learned to conceal from those around her.
When a series of fires unsettles Málaga, Moritz finds himself drawn into events he barely understands. His unusual perceptions, once simply part of his everyday life, become increasingly difficult to explain to people who don't experience the world as he does.
As suspicion begins to fall on him, evidence emerges that seems to contradict his own recollections. The more he tries to defend himself, the more questions he raises, while Lola has reasons of her own to fear what an investigation might uncover.
At Instituto Guerrera, appearances can be carefully managed, and the truth is rarely as straightforward as it seems.
Imperative Ember is the second novel in False Friends, a psychological thriller series set in Málaga, where obsession, manipulation and dangerous secrets threaten the lives of those caught in their path.