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About the author
Nancy de Heer is a writer, ghostwriter, and editor. She comes from an artistic family and used to work with her parents at the children's theater agency Bliksemproducties. She organized talent shows and coached children on stage. She also sang in the band that later became the boy band The Shorts.
In 2006, her first children's book, Schoolpijn (School Pain), was published. It is a book about bullying at school. That year, it became the basis for lectures on bullying at primary schools. In 2009, Nancy set up the Stem voor Dieren (Voice for Animals) foundation with the aim of raising awareness among young people about the need for better animal welfare. Her children's book Valentijns Vreselijke Vakantie (Valentine's Terrible Holiday) was purchased by various sustainability organizations and presented in primary schools throughout the Netherlands. This was followed by the book Konijn Flip neemt de benen (Flip the Rabbit Takes Off) about petting zoos.
Nancy was born and raised in the beautiful city of Leiden
Texel's Dark Secret
Nancy de Heer
Texel's Dark Secret is a psychological YA thriller steeped in island mist, secrets, and moral dilemmas. A story of loss, revenge, and friendship - and the question: how far would you go to set the past right?
Jesse lives on the island of Texel, where the sea constantly reshapes the sand — but some secrets refuse to be buried. When his best friend Sarah suddenly disappears, he can think of nothing else. Her bicycle is found near their usual meeting place. Her last text message seemed to come from someone else.
The police have no leads, but Jesse senses something is terribly wrong — especially when his father suddenly forbids him to go near the old bunker in the dunes. Since the death of Jesse’s mother, after a fatal medical error during her chemotherapy, his father has become unreachable: withdrawn, silent, his gaze always sliding past Jesse. One thing he makes clear: he will never forgive the doctor who prescribed the wrong medication. And at night, Jesse’s father disappears into the dunes with a crowbar, heading toward the lighthouse.
Jesse’s search for the truth grows more suffocating when a mysterious man with his head wrapped in bandages begins whispering to him at his mother’s grave. Every sentence seems to point to Sarah’s disappearance. In cryptic words, the soldier directs him to his father’s computer — where the answers might be hidden. With Imro, Sarah’s and Jesse’s friend, at his side, Jesse begins to unravel the sketches and coded notes he finds in his father’s room. Everything suggests that beneath the metal hatch in the dunes lies a hidden tunnel.
Their suspicion grows: Sarah may still be alive. And Jesse’s father knows more than he will admit. But what if the truth is so devastating it should never come to light?
When your greatest enemy lives in your own home.
Children 13+
Genre: Adventure - Thriller