Camille Griep’s second novel, a retelling of the Trojan War set in a modern post plague country, focusing on the historical characters of Cassandra and Cressida, tragic figures in Greek mythology and again in Shakespeare, where the two women are pitted against each other by the men in power, and each woman chafes against the expectations and limitations of her community, again to Jason Kirk at 47 North, for publication in Spring 2016, by Cameron McClure.
The Adventures of Lou Merriwether, Psychopomp
Gunslinging, chain smoking, Stetson-wearing Taoist psychopomp, Elouise “Lou” Merriwether might not be a normal 19-year-old, but she’s too busy keeping San Francisco safe from ghosts, shades, and geung si to care much about that. It’s an important job, though most folks consider it downright spooky. Some have even accused Lou of being more comfortable with the dead than the living, and, well… they’re not wrong.
When Lou hears that a bunch of Chinatown boys have gone missing somewhere deep in the Colorado Rockies she decides to saddle up and head into the wilderness to investigate. Lou fears her particular talents make her better suited to help placate their spirits than ensure they get home alive, but it’s the right thing to do, and she’s the only one willing to do it.
On the road to a mysterious sanatorium known as Fountain of Youth, Lou will encounter bears, desperate men, a very undead villain, and even stranger challenges. Lou will need every one of her talents and a whole lot of luck to make it home alive…
From British Fantasy Award nominee Molly Tanzer comes debut novel Vermilion, a spirited weird Western adventure that puts the punk back into steampunk.
Publishers Weekly: In this disturbing and original fantasy, set in a dark world run by the Theocrats, perception is reality, and altered perceptions can alter reality. The most insane, labeled with Germanic diagnoses, are also the most powerful. Three adventurers–a scary, lethal Kleptic thief; a preening Gefahrgeist (sociopathic) duelist; and a scarred warrior forced to violate his few remaining scruples–stumble onto a Gefahrgeist Theocrat’s plot to raise the first designed god, and they decide to kidnap Morgen, the boy who’s intended as the initial sacrifice. Before the Theocrat’s delusions can do him in, he unleashes his Hassebrand (a pyromaniac) and his assassin squads (including shape-shifters and walking dead) to kill the conspirators and ensure Morgen’s ascension. Fletcher populates the landscape with an array of mental disorders, turning a well-thumbed psychiatric manual into a dramatis personae. His protagonists worry about their fate in the Afterdeath as they commit their crimes, but they always keep their slim hopes for redemption. The dystopia and its victims never quite collapses under the weight of the horror, and their perseverance encourages the reader to endure the grimness until the thought-provoking conclusion.
When Tokyo falls victim to a deadly terrorist attack, Detective Sergeant Mariko Oshiro knows who is responsible, even if she doesn’t have proof. She urges her commanding officers to arrest the perpetrator—an insane zealot who was just released from police custody. When her pleas fall on deaf ears, she loses her temper and then her badge, as well as her best chance of fighting back.
Left on her own, and armed with only her cunning and her famed Inazuma blade, Mariko must work outside the system to stop a terrorist mastermind. But going rogue draws the attention of an underground syndicate known as the Wind. For centuries, they have controlled Japanese politics from the shadows, using mystical relics to achieve their nefarious ends—relics like Mariko’s own sword and the iron demon mask whose evil curse is bound to the blade. Now the Wind is set on acquiring Mariko.
Mariko is left with a perilous choice: Join an illicit insurgency to thwart a deadly villain, or remain true to the law. Either way, she cannot escape her sword’s curse. As sure as the blade will bring her to victory, it also promises to destroy her….
Publishers Weekly: Genre-busting author McCammon (The River of Souls) pulls out all the stops for this exhilarating alien-invasion epic, which harkens back to his 1987 blockbuster, Swan Song….This story blends the gripping horror and action of McCammon’s earliest novels with the empathy of his more recent work, making it one of his finest.
The Monitor: Tanzer’s writing, as always, is a delightful meld of period-authentic language and modern sensibilities. Snappy, often hilarious dialogue is embedded in a deftly written narrative thread that gives plenty of room for characters to breathe and evolve. Vermilion abounds with relatable, human characters of various genders and sexual orientations. LGBTQ issues are folded into the supernatural plot with respect and care, focusing on the emotional and interpersonal repercussions in a refreshingly gentle but frank manner.
Audio rights to Ronald Malfi’s LITTLE GIRLS, a novel that blends horror and psychological suspense, to Haila Williams at Blackstone Audio by Cameron McClure.
Publishers Weekly: Griep’s captivating debut weaves together traditional fairy tales with scenes of 21st-century Los Angeles to create an exploration of the conflicts between destiny and desire, with parental influence or absence as a strong subtheme. CeCi (Cinderella), Bianca (Snow White), and Rory (Sleeping Beauty), three princesses of Grimmland, are devastated when their friend Zell (Rapunzel) unexpectedly moves to Oz to manage a unicorn preserve. The three friends each write letters to Zell, both to deal with her abandonment of them and to keep her involved in their lives despite her physical absence. Through the letters, they all reveal the events, tensions, and misunderstandings that make up their lives, particularly CeCi’s trips to the human world, where she hopes to obtain a culinary degree, and Rory and Bianca’s attempts to reconcile their predetermined destinies with their own dreams. The rich and realistic depictions of these young women, and their touching efforts to navigate old and new relationships in a changing world, display a deep understanding of human nature and the ways that well-meaning attempts to help one’s friends can go awry.
Crime novelist Emily Winslow’s memoir, JANE DOE JANUARY, about the author’s rape in 1992 and the cold-case prosecution of her rapist over 20 years later which pulls her back home to America from her far-away married life in England, exploring her desire for retribution and the ways in which the criminal justice system both validates us and fails us, to Deb Brody at William Morrow, by Cameron McClure.