TOP TIER

A Thanksgiving road trip from UC Berkeley to Yosemite National Park is supposed to be simple-two SUVs, eight college friends, and a weekend of hiking, climbing, and getting away from everything. Until Jared Brewer falls to his death during a climb... and the group insists it was nothing more than a tragic accident.

Ireland Anderson doesn't believe them.

Because the details don't add up. The rope. The timing. The split-second decisions that followed-too fast, too rehearsed, too controlled. And when Ireland remembers Jared's final warning, she realizes he didn't just sense danger in Yosemite.

He was running from something in Berkeley.

Months earlier, a junior sorority sister, Lila Moreno, was killed in a hit-and-run near campus. The case was quietly closed. The driver was never found. But Jared knew more than he should have-and Ireland is about to find out why someone was desperate to keep that secret buried.

As Ireland starts pulling at the threads, the pressure turns personal. Evidence vanishes. Messages appear. Friends become suspects. And the closer she gets to the truth, the clearer it becomes: Jared's death wasn't the first time this group survived a tragedy.

It was the first time someone refused to stay silent.

Set between the towering cliffs of Yosemite and the high-stakes social world of UC Berkeley, Top Tier is a dark, fast-paced young adult thriller about power, loyalty, and what happens when the people with the most to lose decide the truth is expendable.

In this story, the most dangerous step isn't the climb.

It's speaking up.