Local author Leah Soltis (formerly Leah Rhyne) is re-releasing her beloved novel, HEARTLESS, with Bloodhound Books, a publisher based out of Cambridge, England. With this release she’ll turn the page into the next phase of her already colorful writing career.
HEARTLESS: A grotesque experiment. A girl caught in a nightmare. A heart that will never beat again.
In this contemporary take on Frankenstein, a young woman’s life is turned upside down when she unwillingly becomes part of a sick experiment . . .
Jolene Hall is dead. Sort of. She can walk, think, and talk, but her heart no longer beats. After being abducted and subjected to horrific experimentation, Jo wakes to find her body is a mosaic of jagged scars and stapled flesh. Fueled by the desperate need to know who turned her into a monster, Jo sets off with her best friend, Lucy, and her boyfriend, Eli, to find those responsible.
But as Jo nears the truth, her physical state takes a turn for the worse and she soon realizes she may have put those close to her in mortal danger.
Just how far is she prepared to go? Will she sacrifice herself—or what’s left of her—to save the people she loves?
Why Re-Release?
In its first ten years of life, HEARTLESS had a wild ride. The book—like its hero—refuses to quit. Soltis self-published the story as JO in 2014. It was picked up by Polis Books, a small-press publisher out of New Jersey, in 2016 and re-published as HEARTLESS. When Polis closed its doors in late 2023, the publisher looked to find new homes for its novels.
Bloodhound Books stepped in to re-publish the story of Jolene Hall, and Soltis could not be more thrilled. Bloodhound Books is a 10-year-old publisher operating out of Cambridge, England, and has sold over 10 million copies of books by over 700 authors.
“I’m thrilled to work with the team at Bloodhound,” says Soltis. “They get their books into readers’ hands, which is all any author wants. The fact that they selected HEARTLESS to re-release reminds me that there’s something captivating in Jo’s story. It’s fun, it’s gross, and it’s silly. It’s intentional camp. Imagine if the original FRANKENSTEIN met slasher flicks like HALLOWEEN. Add in a bit of ROCKY HORROR goofiness and you’ve got HEARTLESS. Jolene Hall refuses to die…and so does this book. I love that.”
But Why the Author Name Change?
“I’ve been Leah Rhyne for a long time,” says Soltis. “But that’s changing, and the reality is: I’ve always been Leah Soltis (my maiden name). I was Leah Soltis when I stayed up late watching scary movies with my dad, and when I took an entire school year to read Stephen King’s IT in 7th grade. Publishing as Leah Soltis feels right.”
