David Duprey

   Meet Aera Wright, a young woman with a deep facial scar she’s had all her life. Problem is, she has no idea how she got it. Living in the United States, this South Korean girl's only clue is a bamboo flute found with her at a Korean Buddhist temple where she was abandoned as an infant ... that and a recurring nightmare of a shadowy figure reaching from the dark.

   Now twenty-two and on her own, she’s an online gamer, but her hobby is internet sleuthing. That’s where she comes upon the viral security footage of a missing girl, taken from the streetcar Aera rides every day. When she discovers the girl is wearing the same outfit as a game character Aera created, she becomes part of the mystery, playing a dangerous game against a killer who hunts for victims while hiding behind a mask on a YouTube channel.

   Meanwhile, as Aera meets a young man who seems to be hiding a secret, she travels to her homeland and discovers a tragic past that reshapes her destiny.

 

   Influenced by living in South Korea for nearly fourteen years, Red Aurorette is a personal story that mixes a bit of romance with a taut thriller, traveling the reader from fictional Freyr Falls, USA to authentic locations in Korea. Binding themes of cross-cultural families and personal identity, the story deals with strong emotional and mental health issues, including the trauma of suicide.