Today at Celtic Connexions, I’m welcoming Hetty Waite and her novel, Evolve.
Blurb
Having survived the attack led by her sister, Cara is ready to move on.
A new city means a fresh start and a chance for her and Brown to live together, as equals.
However, the perfect façade of the Amex community hides dark secrets. With a nightly curfew and a mysterious scientist in charge, Cara is convinced all is not as it seems.
As her doubts grow, so do the arguments with Brown. And with Myla still alive and looking for revenge, it’s not only the danger from inside the city walls that threaten to tear her world apart – forever.
Ultimately, she will need to make a choice: protect her family at all costs, or save herself.
Excerpt
Inspiration behind The Chromosome Trilogy
I’ve always been fascinated by the way societies function — and how fragile that balance can be when something unexpected shifts it. The idea for the trilogy came from a single, unsettling thought: what if a virus only affected men? I wanted to explore not just how that might change the world, but what it would reveal about power, identity, and the ways we connect to one another in times of crisis.
I wrote Mutate, book one of The Chromosome Trilogy, during the Covid lockdown, so the atmosphere of uncertainty and helplessness we all felt at that time definitely crept into the story. I wanted to capture that sense of powerlessness, and the dystopian setting gave me space to imagine a world where people are divided not by choice, but by their genetics.
At its heart, though, the trilogy is a love story. That thread was really important for me to carry through into Evolve, the second book. I also wanted to do something a bit different this time, which is why I moved the story to a new city. It puts the characters out of their comfort zone and opens up space for new faces — some of whom definitely aren’t what they seem. I loved writing Evolve because, with the main characters already established, I could focus more on their growth and relationships as the world around them becomes increasingly dangerous.
Extract 1:
The book’s Prologue:
The Wilders were everywhere.
Surrounded, their best hope was a quick and brutal counter-attack. With a bit of luck, they could take out a few of them and scare the rest off.
A plump baby might make a tasty morsel, but it wasn’t worth losing your life over.
“This is horribly familiar,” Brown said, slowly reaching around to his rucksack.
“At least this time we’re prepared,” Cara answered, hand already on her weapon.
The biggest of the Wilders gestured to the others, snarling at the prey in its path. Fingers twitching, it signalled silent orders, tugging the bone in its ear and swiping a hand across its face.
Its meaning was clear: kill them quickly.
With hair a ragged haze of fuzz wafting in the breeze, Brown couldn’t tell if this was an X or a Y. Prominent eyes bulged, a hungry look driving the slow licking of its lips. It approached warily, flanked by the small army now encircling them, like coiled vipers poised to strike.
It doesn’t matter, Brown thought. We’ve overcome so much worse. These creatures will not be the ones to take us out – the real danger is far more frightening, far more deadly than a pack of feral kids.
“Yep. We’ll finish them off without too much effort, I reckon,” he said.
Both waited patiently for the charge, ready to fight off any threat to their sleeping child.
It was one small sound that changed everything.
Click.
The unmistakeable sound of a gun’s safety mechanism being switched off.
It took only seconds, no more than a few, before the Wilders had melted into the air, disappearing as stealthily as they had surrounded them.
“Hello, Sis.”
Brown’s heart dropped; he hit the ground, knees giving out.
That voice. The one he heard in his nightmares, especially since the Amex attack.
She’d found them.
Book Links
KINDLE – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Evolve-Chromosome-Trilogy-Book-2-ebook/dp/B0FSD813JK
PAPERBACK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0FWB7XCZG
About the Author
Hetty Waite lives in Derbyshire with her husband, daughter, and cavapoo.
A former teacher, she spent many years sharing her love of stories with teenagers in the classroom before turning her own ideas into fiction. It was during the pandemic, while on maternity leave, that she finally found the time to write her first novel.
After initially self-publishing, a chance meeting with a director from Spellbound Books Ltd at a writers’ school changed everything. Impressed by her debut, they offered Hetty a three-book deal for her Young Adult dystopian series, The Chromosome Trilogy. The first instalment, Mutate, was re-released in 2024, followed by Evolve in October 2025.
When she’s not writing, Hetty tutors English, marks exam papers, and enjoys life in Derbyshire with her family and their lively cavapoo.
WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE – https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Hetty-Waite/author/B0BP7RSGRM
WEBSITE – https://hettywaite.co.uk
FACEBOOK – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086494572838
INSTAGRAM – https://www.instagram.com/hettywaite
X – @HettyWaite
This book pulled me in from the beginning. The writing is fast-paced and there are lots of plot twists to keep me happy and reading.
This is the first book in the Rina Martin series of cozy mysteries.
