Undisclosed - excerpt from 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Entry

Eighteen year old Nick Bishop has had pipe dreams of leaving his abusive father’s home for as long as he can remember. Two days after delivering his Tucson, Arizona high school’s valedictory address, and with a one-way ticket to Brown University in his back pocket, that dream is finally within reach. Nick knows that the only person he can consistently rely on is himself, and a whole new life across the country in Rhode Island seems like the perfect time to start fresh. Nick doesn’t do hurt. In fact, Nick doesn’t do emotion at all. So when his father dies in a freak accident shortly after graduation, the only thing Nick feels is relief.Searching for insurance documents after his father’s death, Nick and his best friend Claudia make a disturbing discovery. Underneath his father’s bed is a lockbox full of letters addressed to Nick from his estranged mother.And adoption papers.The abusive man Nick has called “Dad” all these years really isn’t his father at all. The letters from the mother he doesn’t remember indicate that she is in Boston. Armed with the letters and his Dad’s ashes buckled into the backseat of Claudia’s 1985 Cadillac, Nick sets off on a cross country journey with Claudia to find answers from the only person left who can provide them…his mother.