Yes, there is more, but not much more since it's the second to last book.

Also, hoping this will be nowhere near as long and as messy as the last one. I'm keeping this one under control. (Heh! Pun)

Welcome to Ruins!

This is the sixth book in The Jewel Project series, so we're hastily heading towards the end. This also means that I need to start answering some questions rather than keep raising them... Maybe.

Down below, have some reminders regarding the characters and the plot of the previous novels.

Obviously, for those who haven't read the previous books, there will be minor spoilers and a lot of confusion. (What are you even doing here???)

Timeline

Remember the last book? Yes, the one with a 5.5 on it. Yeah, it's been about a year since then (there will also be about 3 months of time skip at the beginning here).

Main Cast

Sam Grant - twenty-two, the leader of a division of a secret agency, and mostly tasked with finding giant jewels which might or might not be precious stones. He suspects they're space rocks with energetic properties and believes there are 7 of them.

Currently finished college and teaching part time while handling his master's degree, living with his wife and three-month-old daughter.

Has been in a coma for four weeks (four years ago) so there are still some things in his memory which are a little funky.

Physical description: jet black hair, green eyes, tall and fairly well-built from all that training.

Core traits: curiosity, devotion

Abilities: anything concerning maps, history buff, leadership, plotting and planning, keeping his much wilder brothers in check, pretty proficient at keeping a low profile.

Tom Grant: Sam's twin. More laid back and with a burning desire for fun and chaos. Until he gets all dark and creepy. Unreasonably jealous. Has a blank spot in his memory and has suffered from amnesia. Currently out in the world, chasing his unreasonable ex.

Physical description: Sam's twin. A bit better build and his eyes have a blue hue to them. His sunglasses wearing habit is still there though a lot less serious. Has a scar cutting the corner of his right eyebrow, a tattoo of veins running on this back and a fleur de lis on his shoulder where he was shot.

Core traits: survival, possession

Abilities: incredible balance, parkour, voice imitation, not afraid to try dangerous stuff.

Jerry Grant: twenty-three, dubbed the scientist of the group, used mostly for healing and cooking. Always worried and moralizing. He's the parent and used to be the party pooper. A lot more laid back since getting into a relationship with Sarah. Currently living with her and working for NASA.

Physical description: jet black hair, dark brown eyes, an inch taller than Sam and Tom, normal build. Sometimes wears glasses.

Core traits: security, resilience

Abilities: medical training, cooking, worrying all the time, making sure everyone is dressed and fed accordingly and keeps to schedule. Good with soothing people.

Jimmy Grant: Jerry's twin. Trap developer and gadget mastermind. Bodyguard. Has a very low sense of remorse and can be incredibly cold-blooded.

Currently in an Agency facility in California, trying to recover his memory and personality. Mostly drugged and/or sedated as they try to find a cure for his state.

Physical description: Jerry's twin, but much better built. Has a tattoo on the back if his neck - a flaming parchment spelling Rebirth in Japanese.

Core traits: self-sacrifice, adaptability

Abilities: anything involving tinkering, from traps to engines to micro engineering, martial arts, increased physical strength from some funky serum he took in book 1. So far, the side effects include intolerance to alcohol, muted negative feelings and faster healing. Can go on rampage mode where his mind retreats and his body fights.

Kyle Grant: twenty-five. Sarcastic, cruel, impulsive, selfish, loyal to a fault, acting most like the group's bodyguard. Known for making rash decisions and not taking stuff seriously enough.

Physical description: jet black hair, dark blue eyes, really tall and well built, handsome as hell.

Core traits: self-control, loyalty

Abilities: super strength and increased healing speed from being part of an experimental drug trial (see funky serum) - side effects include intolerance to alcohol and rage-control issues. Combat trained, shoots very well, driving.

Other notable characters

Kay Dickens: secret agent, twenty-four. Blonde haired, blue eyed. Mad fighting skills and decent shooting skills. Kyle's fiancé.

Jessie Stefani: secret agent, twenty-two. Orange curly hair and green eyes. Even madder fighting skills. Shoots well. Has training in healing. Currently in California, keeping an eye on Jimmy. Jimmy's girlfriend.

Angie Jones: secret agent, twenty-one. Black hair, green eyes. Good fighter and shooter. Proficient at undercover work. Currently on the run from everyone. Tom's ex-girlfriend.

Skye Grant (neé Brandon): thirty. Sam's former Agency - employed psychiatrist and enthusiastic adventurer. Blonde and blue-eyed. Sam's wife and mother of Sammy.

Samantha Grant (Sammy): Sam and Skye's three-month-old daughter. Just a very cute and fuzzy baby.

Sarah Schmidt: twenty-six. A guidance counselor who plans to open her own psychology practice. Jerry's girlfriend. Knows about the Agency and Snitch Gravel. Not a secret agent. Chestnut hair, blue-eyed and freckled. Wears glasses. Wine and dancing enthusiast.

Christine Palmer: Sam's ex-girlfriend. Not a secret agent, but knows about the Agency. Twenty-two. Amber eyes and chocolate brown hair. Proficient in being pretty and makeup. Has left Sam's life after his wedding and is currently doing her own thing.

Tina Palmer: Christine's sister. Jerry's ex- girlfriend. Has knowledge of the Agency. Twenty-five. Brown hair and eyes. Pretty proficient in healing.

Herrison James: secret agent, division leader and mentor.

Billy Grant: their cousin, secret agent, presumed dead. Would have been twenty-two.

Maxi Grant: the mother. Half of the reasons her kids are in constant mortal danger.

Freider Grant: the father and Snitch Gravel's mortal enemy. Died in an accident in book 5.  

Harry James - Sam's former best friend and Herrison's son. Part of the Agency backup team.

Ronald Grant - Freider's younger brother. Former Snitch Gravel man.

Bill Grant - Freider and Ron's older brother. Billy's father.

Snitch Gravel: the bad guy. After the mysterious jewels as well. Freider Grant's mortal enemy, out to kill his kids. Enjoys a good game of cat and mouse. In charge of a plethora of incompetent henchmen led by his right hand man, Von Crooken (who is currently in jail). Laid low after he was involved in Freider's death.

What happened so far

TY: Sam and the rest of the team get recruited, they find the first stone (supposedly a ruby) in an unexplored Mayan temple, meet Snitch Gravel, almost get killed a number of times, a lot of romance and then finally, they get home.

FB: Sam and the team start training as secret agents, but are quickly sent on another mission to rescue an agent and find the next stone. They find out about the jewel project, about Snitch Gravel being an ex-Agency member and they almost die a number of times. They also find more missing relatives and find an orange diamond which might not be a diamond after all. They all break up with the girlfriends except for Tom.

LS: Everyone gets back together with their girlfriends. Kay, Jessie and Angie move to Chicago and start attending school there. They are shipped off on another mission to find another stone which ends up being a yellow one in a shrine on a remote island somewhere in India. A lot of drama ensues and people have trouble keeping it in their pants. The girls steal Snitch Gravel's research. Sam asks Freider again why Snitch Gravel wants to kill them and the answer is less than satisfactory.

Freeze: Snitch Gravel kidnaps Angie and Christine to get Sam alone. He leaves with Tom and the two are forced to live in the catacombs of Paris after almost getting killed. The rest of the gang head out after another jewel which looks like a giant sapphire and was presumably part of the French crown jewels. The team meets up. Jimmy and Kyle start feeling the aftermath of the serum a lot worse. Their final showdown with Snitch Gravel leaves them seriously hurt, Billy for dead and Sam in a coma. Jerry and Tina break up. Freider starts hunting Snitch Gravel down.

Awake: Sam awakes from his coma. There's a huge fight in the family during Billy's memorial service and Ron shows himself to the rest of the family. Freider keeps trying to find Snitch Gravel and is disappointed when his sons don't want to join him.

LC: It's three years later and everyone lives under constant threat from Snitch Gravel, but they manage to handle it. Christine cheats on Sam with Harry and they break up. Everyone breaks up afterwards, starting with Tom and Angie (Angie leaves because her family was killed and leaves her phone behind. Tom goes nuts, breaks up with her and sleeps with someone else), Jimmy and Jessie (Jessie is married and goes home to get divorced) and Kyle and Kay are barely hanging on (since Kay is obsessed with Angie's heartbreak). Sam goes into therapy and falls in love with his psychiatrist, Skye. Jerry gets a new girlfriend, too, psychologist Sarah.
Maxi and Freider want to divorce but don't get to because Freider dies once the two of them go out to meet Snitch Gravel. After Freider's death, the attacks stop. Sam and Skye get Von Crooken arrested. Everyone starts to slowly fix their issues.
Jerry and Jimmy go to outer space to fix a satellite co-owned by NASA and the Agency.
The group goes to Egypt to find information about the rest of the jewels. There is no jewel there but Sam comes to the conclusion there are seven of them and the Agency already had one before the ruby, so there are two missing. Sam proposes to Skye.
Jimmy figures out what the satellite is meant to do and goes out to sabotage it. He's left for dead in space, but Jerry pulls him back in. Jimmy is injected with something by Lee Hannigan (who proved to be a traitor) and is now in a William-like state. He's taken to California where the Agency claim to want to fix him. Jessie says with him.
Kyle proposes to Kay. Skye tells Sam she's pregnant. Angie leaves the group to find herself.

Slow Song: Skye and Sam get married. Angie comes to the wedding, but leaves again in less then friendly circumstances. Tom decides to follow her.

What will happen in Ruins

Surely not going to spoil (even the blurb is vague af) but, as usual, there are a few things I can hint at to get you all excited.

Still doing the uncensored language thing (which will probably extend to the rest of the series). 

There is a baby involved and future weddings to plan, so... yeah, those won't matter much. This will be a lot less family centered.

Timing: end of November. The timeline is not very relevant since we're having a three month time jump right after the first few chapters.

Setting: Japan. For most of it at least.

Drama level: through the roof! I'm not kidding (are you even expecting anything else anymore?)

Relationships drama level: a lot more subtle than before. I'm still fixing things.

Relationships evolution level: marriage and families on the horizon.

Mystery progression: we get pretty much everything that is not outright spelled out. So prepare yourself.

Big dog-pile fight: ✅

Near-death experiences: as usual.

So I hope you will enjoy Ruins.

Updates?

I'm once again trying the closet writer thing so I'll hopefully have steady updates when I start. 

Story soundtrack (and title inspiration): Ledger - Ruins

Thanks to Cross-Warrior for the title inspiration.

Stef ✨