Veritas: Shadows of the Mind: Book Two

“Androids with superhuman abilities and the family who created them are inextricably entwined in a battle for survival. Packed with love and loss, beauty and chaos, and shocking twists and turns, Mandi Jourdan’s Veritas will make you hungry for more.” —Brenda Marie Smith, author of IF DARKNESS TAKES US and IF THE LIGHT ESCAPES



In the wake of her brother’s murder and the devastating realization that someone she trusted was responsible, Desi Lawrence struggles to rebuild her life while dealing with the mental fallout of being betrayed and nearly killed. She takes on her brother’s job at the helm of his robotics company, but someone wants her out of the way, and they’re playing a deadly game with the people close to her to make that happen. While searching for the truth about who is tormenting them and why, Desi and her family find themselves caught in a web of government secrets and lies with the potential to destroy them all.



“In this nail-biting sequel to Lacrimosa, Jourdan continues to weave an intricate web of complex characters, captivating action, and heartfelt emotion. With stunning revelations, nuanced drama, and a harrowing conclusion, Veritas grabs you by the throat with its cold metal hand and does not let go.” —Sarah Jilek, author of SAINT CATASTROPHE



“Mandi Jourdan’s prose is cleaner than a hound’s tooth, and her plots run like a scalded dog. Her humans are real people, and her androids are too. You won’t read a more enjoyable science fiction tale this year.” —Pinckney Benedict, winner of the National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship



Mandi Jourdan received her MFA in creative writing from Southern Illinois University, where she worked as a senior editor on BLANKET FORT RADIO THEATER, a podcast currently featured on NPR. In 2019, she won the MISSOURI REVIEW’s Miller Audio Prize for Prose with her short story “Inheritance,” the first science fiction piece to appear in TMR, which was set in the same world as VERITAS. Her work has been published over one hundred times, and LACRIMOSA, the first novel in the Shadows of the Mind series, is a bestseller.