The Star Conspiracy

Trapped on an Island. Bound by Secrets. Caught in a Conspiracy.

Sixteen-year-old Issy dreams of the ocean. Seventeen-year-old Dan dreams of the stage. When their parents unexpectedly become a couple, they're forced into an awkward holiday together on the sun-drenched island of Crete. But what begins as an unwelcome family trip quickly turns into something far more dangerous—and extraordinary.

After a day trip goes wrong, Issy and Dan find themselves stranded on a remote island. In their search for help, they stumble across a hidden facility called The Star Institute. What looks abandoned hides a disturbing secret: a group of children with impossible abilities held against their will.

As the teenagers uncover the truth behind the institute, they’re pulled into a high-stakes battle to expose a dark conspiracy—one that challenges everything they thought they knew about the world, and about each other.

A gripping YA adventure that weaves together family tension, hidden powers, and a race against time.

Discover the truth behind The Star Conspiracy—a twist-filled novel by Julia Sutton. Available now.

Excerpt from the book

ISSY

Double English on a Friday morning should be banned, especially when the nice, regular Mrs Hastings was off sick. The amiable teacher had been away all week, and there were rumours flying around she was pregnant with her third child. Some of the pupils had been spreading it about that she’d been having an affair with our head-teacher, old wrinkly Mr Chambers. The thought of the two of them getting it on in his pristine office, canoodling over his sturdy oak table, made me feel nauseous. I didn’t believe it anyway. Mrs Hastings was cool, for a teacher. She’d told us she was in her forties; it seemed way too old to be partaking of sordid sexual encounters. As for getting pregnant by our stern, straightlaced Head, that made me snort with laughter. Mr Chambers was a self-proclaimed pillar of the community. His wife worked as a chemistry teacher, and they both were involved in charitable causes and had been married longer than I’d been alive. No, I didn’t believe it one bit.

I’d decided that norovirus seemed a more likely reason for her absence. Or maybe she was just fed up of coming to Granger Comprehensive, like the rest of us. The school was a dump, even Ofsted had been shocked by our low standards – and that was just the teaching. According to school gossip, we were going to be put into special measures. That seemed to create a contagion of hysteria amongst my fellow students, but I didn’t find it funny that I was forced to share classes with feral louts, who had no ambitions for their future. I wanted to do well at school, even if that meant having to tolerate inadequate teaching and a general permeating sense of apathy within my peers. I would do that if it meant I could progress. Trouble is, I found it hard to stay silent on my school’s failings, today being one of them. I was itching to scream for the class to be silent and let the teacher get on with… teaching. It was so Goddamn noisy in here, I threw my pen down and gave up trying to concentrate.

So anyway, today we had a supply teacher that I’d never seen before. She was presently stood at the front of the class tapping the side of the whiteboard. Her face was flushed; I could tell she was about to erupt. I shook my head as Alex Clarke made a wet fart sound and everyone around him dissolved into laughter. He’d bought that prank cushion from a joke shop in Blackpool and had spent almost the entire year letting it off: in class, assembly, on public transport. I wondered why no one had confiscated it. Boys are so immature.

‘Go to The Hub. Now.’ The supply teacher shrieked. I couldn’t remember her name; she’d written it on the board earlier, but then it had got wiped off when she’d leant against it.

Alex mimicked what she’d just said, in a stupid high-pitched tone.