Gere McClellan, author

Hrissa Holmes — strong, smart and unapologetically nerdy — is dreaming of a way out of the dead-end job she hates, but that master’s degree in medieval history doesn’t seem to be opening any doors. When she walks into Research Inc., hoping to sell an ad, she discovers a high-tech world filled with gun-toting teenagers, a dancing cook-pot and an escape hatch that leads to a brighter future.

At the center of it all is “the freak,” a robotics savant named Sherlock McLeigh whose emotional problems are so severe he has completely turned his back on reality. Hrissa’s new job is to keep him safe, which proves to be both far more tedious and far more dangerous than she ever expected. 

Her new job takes her to the Sandhills of Nebraska, the beaches of Hawaii, the Gulf Coast of Florida … and a little town just east of Hell. Arson, federal agents, alligators — it’s all part of her job as Research Inc.’s star security specialist. 

She even finds time to fall in love with a devastatingly handsome guy who absolutely adores her. 

But as the years pass and Sherlock’s mental health improves, his genius fades. He no longer needs her protection, and Hrissa finds herself just another employee of a massive tech conglomerate. The COVID-19 pandemic gives her time to ask some important questions: What really happened that first day she walked into Research Inc.? Is she fighting for the good guys? And most importantly, is she engaged to the right guy?