A romantic thriller, the novel continues the story of 18-year-old protagonist Jake.

“It’s been a long time,” said Adrian, a Butte resident. “But I’m excited to get the rest of Jake’s story out there.”

“Dark” follows Jake’s search for a serum to stop his ability to “tunnel” — to find and control others through objects. As in the initial novel, he can sense a person’s location, and he can see, hear and feel everything they do.

It’s disconcerting, to say the least.

“It's an ability the government would do anything to possess: a perfect surveillance unit who could locate fugitives, spies, or terrorists with a single touch,” according to Amazon in the first novel synopsis.

In the sequel, Jake’s plans go haywire when his mother and little sister are kidnapped. The synopsis:

“With the government, his power-mad father, and the terrifying Mr. Smith all after him while he still has his power, (Jake) doesn’t have anywhere to turn. What will Jake do to get his mom and little sister back? Anything.”

Young adult novels are geared toward high school readers age 13 and up.

Adrian, who has a teenage daughter, has written for 17 years. Her day job is publications editor for the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology. Her husband, Michael Barth, is the Montana Tech Foundation director.

Another Adrian novel, “Nutcracked,” comes out from Random House next fall, 2017. It is a fantasy, or magical realism story aimed at middle school readers age 8 to 12. She doesn’t plan to expand it into a series, though.

“It’s a stand-alone, but I’m hoping to have similar ones,” said Adrian. “I’m working on that now. I’m pretty excited about that, too.”

Jo Antonioli, Books and Books owner, hosts the Main Stope talk and book signing. In September, Adrian spoke on a youth book festival panel at the Montana Book Festival in Missoula.

Adrian is self-publishing “The Dark at the End” on Amazon via her own Salto Press. 

“Salto means 'leap' in Italian, so I’m taking the leap,” she said.