Booklist: This female-driven thriller is in the same vein as Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, and draws inspiration from the unreliable narrators of Dexter and Fight Club. Fans of domestic-suspense novels with psychological undertones, particularly admirers of the works of Tana French, Megan Abbott, and Zoje Stage, will devour this book.
Author of the Tufa Series, Alex Bledsoe’s DANDELION, in which a former marine with the ability to cast out demons tries to help a woman who had a botched exorcism, only to discover that there are other, more powerful demons in town, to John G. Hartness at Falstaff Books by Paul E. Stevens.
Booklist: French masterfully navigates the twists in this story to reach one startling conclusion after another, keeping the readers on edge throughout.
Audio rights to New York Times bestselling author Tamsyn Muir’s NONA THE NINTH, the third book in the Locked Tomb quartet, to Brian Sweany at Recorded Books, by Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.
Brazilian rights to Katherine Addison’s THE GOBLIN EMPEROR, to Morro Branco by Cristina Purchio at International Editors’, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier, for Cameron McClure.
Czech rights to Robert McCammon’s BOY’S LIFE, to Dobrovsky, by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava i Prevodi on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Cameron McClure.
Czech rights to Neil Sharpson’s WHEN THE SPARROW FALLS, to Planeta9 by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava i Prevodi on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Jennie Goloboy.
Czech rights to Kel Kade’s FREE THE DARKNESS and REIGN OF MADNESS, to Fantom Print by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava i Prevodi on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Paul E. Stevens.
Czech rights to Ronald Malfi’s COME WITH ME, to Dobrovsky by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava i Prevodi on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier or Cameron McClure.
Congratulations to all our DMLA authors who have been nominated for the 2021 Dragon Awards!
Best Science Fiction Novel
Best Fantasy Novel (Including Paranormal)
Best Young Adult / Middle Grade Novel
Publishers Weekly: When this witty, energetic, and unabashedly odd thriller from Mamatas (Sabbath) begins, hack writer Mike Karras believes that he’s doing research for his crackpot publisher exploring a persistent delusion among witnesses to multiple different mass shootings: that the killer wasn’t the only one firing during the massacre, though no trace of a lurking accomplice—or mastermind—is ever found. The people Karras interviews, however, are absolutely convinced that another person was there behind the scenes, a human shape blurred like “heat shimmer.” Rahel Alazar, survivor of a mass shooting in an Ethiopian church in Berkeley, Calif., insists that God will protect truth tellers, but Karras isn’t reassured: the more he learns, the less he trusts the “truth,” as his computer is tampered with, his cell phone is compromised, and drones surveil his actions. Chris Bennett, host of a gonzo radio program that urges listeners to distrust every bit of news as a false flag, is the most obvious plotter to interfere with Karras’s quest; the novel’s final revelation, though, is much more disturbing. However readers feel about that conclusion, it’s a smart, scary, mind-boggling ride to get there.
Locus: This is an exquisitely gripping novel with a bloody, unflinching heart. And yet, for all the intricate brutalities of its worldbuilding, it holds out the hope of revolutionary change.
The queerness of Star Eater rests as much in its unsqueamish examination of power relations and the meaty, bloody metaphor of its magical mechanics as in its normalising treatment of queer relationships and the sexualities of its major characters: it’s a novel with teeth, and it sets those teeth into a thematic argument about – an indictment of – the hereditary transmission and constant maintenance of power that comes from acts of, essentially, theft and consumption.
It’s striking how full and complex Hall’s world is here, how invested with communities and meanings. Neither support for the Sisterhood nor opposition to it is an uncomplicated thing. Hall writes with striking, assured pose, bringing her world and characters vividly to life. Both in style and (thematic) substance, her work here reminds me of Max Gladstone’s Craft novels, of Aliette de Bodard’s novel-length fantasy work, of A.K. Larkwood’s blisteringly good debut The Unspoken Name. (Hardly surprising, then, to find both Gladstone and Larkwood have contributed advance praise.) Star Eater is a fantastic book. I recommend it highly.
Publishers Weekly: Glover’s charming sequel to The Conductors digs deeper into the captivating Black society of a post–Civil War Philadelphia that’s infused with celestial magic. Magical married detective duo Hetty and Benjy Rhodes have enjoyed a quiet life of late. Their new funeral home isn’t seeing much business and their most recent case, involving fires spontaneously sparking in their neighborhood and claiming the life of Raimond Duval, resolved almost too easily—until Raimond’s son, Valentine, also dies, and questions about an old mission from Hetty and Benjy’s days as conductors on the Underground Railroad resurface. Overnight, what seemed a simple investigation turns into a cryptic cipher the couple must puzzle through. Layers of intrigue and tension build into a gripping whodunit, while drama within Hetty’s group of friends and tender moments between Hetty and Benjy offer juicy character beats. The easy momentum will keep both new and returning readers racing along to the end. It’s fun, twisty, and richly detailed.”
Booklist: Mohamed (Beneath the Rising, 2020) offers a new novella with stunning artwork by illustrator Carly A-F. The story starts with a group of courtesans, led by the protagonist, Jewel, who work in a luxurious, high-end brothel. Mix in murder, a lust for revenge, living dead girls, and rituals in an abandoned church to create a unique, lyrical story: Mohamed is skilled at combining just the right ingredients in a recipe that makes for a gothic delight. The main characters exist in a futuristic dystopia where they oversee funerary processions and funerals that mostly happen at sunrise. As it turns out, our motley band of characters has some enemies and face danger from them, but will they be able to survive? While the novella is steeped in a Victorian, Picture-of-Dorian-Gray style, it reads smoothly and has a cinematic quality. It is a fast-paced tale that fans of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman graphic novels will enjoy. The lustrous prose and lush settings will also tantalize fans of Anne Rice.