Debut Novel – Till Human Voices Wake Us

Patrick King from The Poisoned Pen welcomed Rebecca Roque, debut author of Till Human Voices Wake Us. Signed copies of the Young Adult novel are available through the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3STTdby

Here’s the description of Till Human Voices Wake Us.

Black Mirror meets A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder when a teenage girl’s relentless investigation into her best friend’s death plunges her deep into a dangerous underground society where every secret has a price.

Seventeen-year-old Cia lived in a house of secrets until she was five, when her father literally burned it all down. The price of his clandestine operation? Cia’s entire family, and her leg. So, when her best friend Alice says she has a secret too, Cia wants nothing to do with it—even if it could shed light on her family’s dark past. But Alice doesn’t let go so easily, especially when her search for answers might help find Noah, the boy who broke her heart before going missing two months ago.

But then the police find Alice’s body floating in the quarry.

Now Cia would give anything to know Alice’s secrets. Because Alice would never have jumped, no matter what the cops think. Desperate to figure out what happened to her friend, Cia picks up the threads of Alice’s investigation, plunging deep into a shadow world of augmented reality. As she untangles one web of lies after another, Cia finds herself pursued by an enemy that will pay any price to keep their secrets buried. But the girl who already lost everything isn’t about to back down now. Her only chance to avenge Alice lies in exposing an underground society preying on those they think no one will miss—but danger lies closer to home than she imagined.


Rebecca Roque comes from a long line of proudly ungovernable women. After graduating from Rush University, she hit the ground running as a critical care nurse, often finding herself at the crossroads of the most fascinating human stories. When she isn’t annoying her neighbors by luring everything feathered, furred, and feral to her backyard, Rebecca enjoys true-crime podcasts and hiking in places true-crime podcasters would probably advise against. Till Human Voices Wake Us is her debut novel.


Roque describes the background and inspiration for her book in the conversation. Enjoy!