Covers Revealed: Upcoming Works by DAC Authors

Here are some of the upcoming works by formerly featured Debut Author Challenge (DAC) Authors. The year in parentheses is the year the author was featured in the DAC.

Charlie Jane Anders (2016)

Never Say You Can't Survive
Tordotcom, August 17, 2021
Hardcover and eBook, 240 pages

From Charlie Jane Anders, the award-winning author of novels such as All the Birds in the Sky and The City in the Middle of the Night, this is one of the most practical guides to storytelling that you will ever read.

The world is on fire.
So tell your story.

Things are scary right now. We’re all being swept along by a tidal wave of history, and it’s easy to feel helpless. But we’re not helpless: we have minds, and imaginations, and the ability to visualize other worlds and valiant struggles. And writing can be an act of resistance that reminds us that other futures and other ways of living are possible.

Full of memoir, personal anecdote, and insight about how to flourish during the present emergency, Never Say You Can’t Survive is the perfect manual for creativity in unprecedented times.

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Cameron Johnston (2018)

The Maleficent Seven
Angry Robot, August 10, 2021
Trade Paperback and eBook, 400 pages

When you are all out of heroes, all that’s left are the villains…

Black Herran was a dread demonologist, and the most ruthless general in all Essoran. She assembled the six most fearsome warriors to captain her armies: a necromancer, a vampire lord, a demigod, an orcish warleader, a pirate queen, and a twisted alchemist. Together they brought the whole continent to its knees… Until the day she abandoned her army, on the eve of total victory.

40 years later, she must bring her former captains back together for one final stand, in the small town of Tarnbrooke - the last bastion against a fanatical new enemy tearing through the land, intent on finishing the job Black Herran started years before.

Seven bloodthirsty monsters. One town. Their last hope.

File Under: Fantasy [ Heroes or Horrors? | Flames and Faith | Blood and Guts | Hell Demons ]

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Marko Kloos (2014)

Citadel
Palladium Wars 3
47North, August 10, 2021
Hardcover, Trade Paperback, and eBook, 332 pages

An interplanetary battle is renewed in an epic novel of a warring solar system by the author of Ballistic.

The war should have been over. But it’s not for a group of nationalists grabbing for control.

It’s been two weeks since a missile with a nuclear warhead tore through the planetary defenses in the most blistering large-scale attack ever committed in the history of the Gaia system. Commander Dunstan Park of the Rhodian navy has been handpicked to command an experimental cruiser that could dictate the course of the escalating conflict. All he has to do is keep the ship from falling into the wrong hands.

On Gretia, the powder keg is beyond control. A terrorist attack against civilians draws Idina Chaudhary into a costly battle. It also forces a cautious Aden Jansen back into the fray. Now dedicated to a just cause, he’s still keeping his past hidden. The risk of exposing his former alliance could twist not only his fate but also that of his sister, Solveig, heir to the family empire.

With no time to waste, Dunstan hits the ground running. But as insurgents threaten the unstable peace, what’s ahead for both sides could change the destiny of the Gaia system forever.

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Book One

Book Two

Covers Revealed - Upcoming Works by DAC Authors

Here are some of the upcoming works by formerly featured Debut Author Challenge (DAC) Authors! The year in parentheses is the year the author was featured in the DAC.

Eugen Bacon (2019)

The Road to Woop Woop and Other Stories
Meerkat Press, December 1, 2020
Trade Paperback and eBook, 202 pages

Eugen Bacon’s work is deemed cheeky with a fierce intelligence in text that’s resplendent, delicious, dark and evocative. NPR called her novel Claiming T-Mo ‘a confounding mysterious tour de force’. The Road to Woop Woop and Other Stories imbues the same lushness in a writerly language that is Bacon’s own. This peculiar hybrid of the untraditional, the extraordinary within, without and along the borders of normalcy will hypnotise and absorb the reader with tales that refuse to be labelled. The stories in this collection are dirges that cross genres in astounding ways. Over 20 provocative tales, with seven original to this collection, by an award-winning African Australian author.

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Kobo

Black Moon: Graphic Speculative Flash Fiction
IFWG Publishing International
Trade Paperback, 72 pages
Elena Betti, Illustrator

Black Moon is an illustrated collection of speculative flash fiction interspersed with prose poetry. It carries themes of love and war, life and the afterlife, hope and despair. It is a philosophical assortment that questions normalcy, embraces opposition, and takes a keen interest on peculiarity. It will appeal to curious lovers of literary dark fantasy and all places in between.

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Ivory's Story
Newcon Press, December 8, 2020
Trade Paperback and eBook, 154 pages

Long ago, a good man transgressed and was brutally punished, his physical form killed and his soul split asunder. Now, one half of his ancient soul seeks to reunite with its lost twin, a search that leaves murder in its wake…

In the streets of modern day Sydney a killer stalks the night, slaughtering innocents, leaving bodies mutilated. The victims seem unconnected, yet Investigating Officer Ivory Tembo is convinced the killings are anything but random. The case soon leads Ivory into places she never imagined. In order to stop the killings and save the life of the man she loves, she must reach deep into her past, uncover secrets of her heritage, break a demon’s curse, and somehow unify two worlds.

Ivory's Story deftly combines the contemporary thriller with darker, older traditions, and marks the arrival of an exciting new voice on the genre fiction scene.

“Bacon masterfully blends myth, heritage, and self-discovery in this impressive, genre-defying work of speculative fiction... Writing with sharp, insightful prose, Bacon delivers a taut thriller that dives deep into its distinctive protagonist’s internal life and family history. Seasoned speculative fiction readers will be wowed by Bacon’s careful, layered worldbuilding, well-developed characters, and otherworldly atmosphere. This deserves a wide audience.” - Publisher’s Weekly [Starred Review]

“Eugen Bacon’s latest novel has a lot going for it. A lot… if the reader is adventurous enough, Ivory’s Story will both startle and seduce.” - Locus

“Not a word is wasted. This isn’t writing by rote, not a book surfing the expectancies of fantasy fiction, but one which brims with descriptive prose, where the movement of the words form the story, similar to the physical brushstrokes of a painting carrying the eye. Ivory’s Story is a fast-paced organic fantasy shone through a poet’s timbre and I loved it.” - Black Static

“A new star is born in the emerald skies of Fantasy, and its name is Eugen Bacon.” - Nuzo Onoh, author of The Reluctant Dead

“Bacon expertly weaves a speculative world with harsh and mundane realities to form a lush and magical tale about the importance of love and the courage needed to face the demons of this world and the next. Highly recommended.” - Nick Wood, author of Azanian Bridges

“Transformation and identity are the themes connecting chapters that dance and shift in each other’s light. The book’s final third revels in imaginative potential, where Bacon shows us sumptuous glens and hidden courts. She also reminds that nature and time live within us, and are capable of healing anything.” - Andromeda Spaceways Magazine

“If you're looking out for an epic tale that will certainly stand apart from your usual fare, that is written with great passion and feeling, this one may well hit the mark.” - Nerine Dorman Reviews

“Ivory's Story speaks of places and moments that bind us. The myths and mysteries that draw us in. A powerful blend of African and Australian speculative fiction.” - Dominique Hecq, award-winning poet, novelist, short story writer

“Eugen Bacon is a vital, vibrant voice.” - Lucy Sussex, author of The Scarlet Rider

"Twin-lore, bewitching entities, psychic investigation and urban murder mystery, juxtaposed against wilderness visions. Ivory’s Story is a savoury bouquet of wilderness flavours flash-fried in an offworld skin. An aromatic sense-delight. - Nikhil Singh, author of Club Ded

“A murder mystery, an adventure story and a spiritual journey all rolled up into one, which not only entertains but also leaves us pondering the deeper questions.” - Denise O'Hagan, author of The Beating Heart

Ivory's Story is available as a special edition hardback, signed by the author and limited to just 50 numbered copies, as well as in paperback and ebook editions.

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Marko Kloos (2014)

Orders of Battle
Frontlines 7
47North, December 8, 2020
Trade Paperback and Kindle eBook, 271 pages

The battle against the Lankies has been won. Earth seems safe. Peacetime military? Not on your life.

It’s been four years since Earth threw its full military prowess against the Lanky incursion. Humanity has been yanked back from the abyss of extinction. The solar system is at peace. For now.

The future for Major Andrew Grayson of the Commonwealth Defense Corps and his wife, Halley? Flying desk duty on the front. No more nightmares of monstrous things. No more traumas to the mind and body. But when an offer comes down from above, Andrew has to make a choice: continue pushing papers into retirement, or jump right back into the fight? What’s a podhead to do?

The remaining Lankies may have retreated in fear, but the threat isn’t over. They need to be wiped out for good before they strike again. That’ll take a new offensive deployment. Aboard an Avenger warship, Andrew and the special tactics team under his command embark on the ultimate search-and-destroy mission. This time, it’ll be on Lanky turf.

No big heroics. No unnecessary risks. Just a swift hit-and-run raid in the hostile Capella system. Blow the alien seed ships into oblivion and get the hell back to Earth. At least, that’s the objective. But when does anything in war go according to plan?

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Michael Mammay (2018)

Colonyside
Planetside 3
Harper Voyager, December 29, 2020
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 384 pages

A missing scientist and deep pockets pull Colonel Carl Butler out of retirement, investigating another mystery that puts him and his team--and the future of relations with alien species--in danger in COLONYSIDE, the exciting follow-up to Planetside and Spaceside.

A military hero is coming out of disgrace—straight into the line of fire…

Carl Butler was once a decorated colonel. Now he’s a disgraced recluse, hoping to live out the rest of his life on a backwater planet where no one cares about his “crimes” and everyone leaves him alone.

It’s never that easy.

A CEO’s daughter has gone missing and he thinks Butler is the only one who can find her. The government is only too happy to appease him. Butler isn’t so sure, but he knows the pain of losing a daughter, so he reluctantly signs on. Soon he’s on a military ship heading for a newly-formed colony where the dangerous jungle lurks just outside the domes where settlers live.

Paired with Mac, Ganos, and a government-assigned aide named Fader, Butler dives head-first into what should be an open and shut case. Then someone tries to blow him up. Faced with an incompetent local governor, a hamstrung military, and corporations playing fast and loose with the laws, Butler finds himself in familiar territory. He’s got nobody to trust but himself, but that’s where he works best. He’ll fight to get to the bottom of the mystery, but this time, he might not live to solve it.

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Covers Revealed - Upcoming Works by DAC Authors

Here are some of the upcoming May 2020 works by formerly featured Debut Author Challenge (DAC) Authors! The year in parentheses is the year the author was featured in the DAC.

Rjurik Davidson (2014)

Benjamin 2073
A Tor.com Original
Tor Book, May 13, 2020
eBook, 32 pages

A Tor.com Original, Benjamin 2073 is a near future sci-fi story from award-winning author Rjurik Davidson

In the year 2073, humanity is making progress toward restoring the environment and fixing the mistakes of the past.

Ellie has spent the last ten years going even further by working to resurrect the thylacine, extinct since 1936. But with no results and increasingly impatient bureaucrats threatening to pull their funding, the thylacine’s future—and Ellie’s—is in danger of reaching the point of no return.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

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David Demchuck (2017)

The Bone Mother
Proving Ground Press, May 26, 2020
Trade Paperback and eBook, 220 pages
(reissue edition)

WINNER OF THE 2018 SUNBURST AWARD

NOMINATED FOR THE SHIRLEY JACKSON AWARD, AMAZON FIRST NOVEL AWARD, AND SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE

For two hundred years, the Grazyn porcelain factory built its reputation on its magnificent thimbles. It is said that even the Czarina Anastasia Romanova had received one in her trousseau. The workers come from the three neighboring villages on the border of Romania and Ukraine. Nourished, dressed and educated, they are the envy of all at a time when a famine programmed by Stalin sweeps the countryside and cannibalism rages from city to town to farm. But what is the secret of this factory and why does the Grazyn family protect its employees so scrupulously?

The Bone Mother revives the great figures of Slavic mythology on the eve of the Second World War, from rusalka and Baba Yaga--The Bone Mother herself--to the golem. The existence of mortals is intimately linked to that of witches and vampires, in a universe where strigois rub shoulders with mermaids, ghosts and seers...and all are in peril from the Nichni Politsiyi, the Night Police, which wish to eradicate them.

'A master of bowel-loosening terror' The Globe and Mail

'Demchuk gracefully pieces together a dark and shining mosaic of a story with unforgettable imagery and elegant, evocative prose.' Publishers Weekly (starred review)

'This is a book that bends genres, using the monsters of imagination as a back door to understanding the monsters of the real.' Nino Ricci

Award-winning author David Demchuk was born and raised in Winnipeg and now lives in Toronto. He has been writing for print, stage, digital and other media for nearly 40 years. The Bone Mother is his first novel.

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Yoon Ha Lee (2016)

Beyond the Dragons Gate
A Tor.com Original
Tor Books, May 20, 2020
eBook, 32 pages

Former Academician Anna Kim’s research into AI cost her everything. Now, years later, the military has need of her expertise in order to prevent the destruction of their AI-powered fleet.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

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Covers Revealed - Upcoming Works by DAC Authors

Here are some of the upcoming works for May 2020 by formerly featured Debut Author Challenge (DAC) Authors! The year in parentheses is the year the author was featured in the DAC.

Nigel Foster (2017)

Revelations
Netherspace 3
Titan Books, May 12, 2020
Trade Paperback and eBook, 400 pages

The epic SF trilogy concludes with a mind-blowing exploration of space as the truth of the Originators is revealed and the future of humanity is decided amongst the stars; a fate forged deep in the secret history of our past.

Pre-cog:
the ability to visualise a future outcome and how to achieve or avoid it. It is thought by some to be associated with quantum entanglement and possibility/probability fields.
Pre-cog based societies dislike any form of change. Their over-riding instinct is to control or destroy anything that affects the status quo.
This includes creativity in all its forms.

It wasn’t much of an army to save Earth from alien, pre-cog domination. Only three people: an heiress, a sociopathic artist and their leader, a female licensed assassin. But time has run out. The artificial intelligences - alien artefacts - that run Earth and its colonies are going mad. Long held human grudges, suspicions and fears have erupted in violence throughout the world.

Earth’s own pre-cogs have seen the trio victorious…maybe. For Kara Jones, the assassin, it is a time of chaos made worse by the absence of Tatia Nerein, the heiress now warrior who is following her own dangerous path across alien worlds, and Marc Keislack, who stepped into netherspace, the dimension that allows star travel. Kara searches for a way to snatch her people back from a hostile galaxy even as she is assailed by doubts. But loyalty is everything and she will sacrifice anything to find her comrades and complete a mission she barely understands.

And ultimately discover the truth about the aliens…a revelation no greater than the truth she learns about herself.

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Netherspace 1

Netherspace 2

Marko Kloos (2014)

Berlin Is Never Berlin: A Tor.com Original
A Wild Cards Story
Tor Books, May 6, 2020
eBook, 56 pages

For over 25 years, the Wild Cards universe has been entertaining readers with stories of superpowered people in an alternate history. "Berlin is Never Berlin" by Marko Kloos draws upon the seedier side of the city, beyond the dance club lights and all-night parties, as one bodyguard with a certain feline distinction goes on the prowl....

Khan only had one job: chauffuer and guard an American weathly socialite and her friends. When his client Natalie Scuderi gets nabbed by the Georgian mafia, this joker-ace has no choice but to go underground and rescue her.

"Losing the man’s daughter on the job would be a fatal black mark on his professional resume. Khan had never lost a client, and he wasn’t about to start a habit."

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

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Ballistic
The Palladium Wars 2
47North, May 26, 2020
Hardcover, Trade Paperback and Kindle eBook, 318 pages

“I gulped down Ballistic in one long read, staying awake half the night, and now I want the next one!” —George R. R. Martin

There is a personal price to pay for having aligned with the wrong side in a reckless war. For Aden Jansen it’s the need to adopt a new identity while keeping his past hidden. Now he’s integrated himself aboard the Zephyr, a merchant ship smuggling critical goods through dangerous space. But danger is imminent on planet Gretia, as well. Under occupation, torn between postwar reformers and loyalists, it’s a polestar for civil unrest.

Meanwhile an occupation forces officer is pulled right back into the fray when the battle alarm is raised, an ambitious heiress is entangled in a subversive political conspiracy, and an Allied captain is about to meet the enemy head-on.

As Aden discovers, the insurgents on Gretia—and in space—are connected, organized, and ready to break into full-scale rebellion. History is threatening to repeat itself. It’s time that Aden rediscovers who he is, whom he can trust, and what he must fight for now.

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The Palladium Wars 1

Laura Lam (2016)

Goldilocks
Orbit, May 5, 2020
Hardcover and eBook, 352 pages

A gripping science fiction thriller where five women task themselves with ensuring the survival of the human race; perfect for readers of The Martian, The Power, and Station Eleven.

Despite increasing restrictions on the freedoms of women on Earth, Valerie Black is spearheading the first all-female mission to a planet in the Goldilocks Zone, where conditions are just right for human habitation.

It's humanity's last hope for survival, and Naomi, Valerie's surrogate daughter and the ship's botanist, has been waiting her whole life for an opportunity like this - to step out of Valerie's shadow and really make a difference.

But when things start going wrong on the ship, Naomi begins to suspect that someone on board is concealing a terrible secret - and realizes time for life on Earth may be running out faster than they feared . . .

Goldilocks is The Handmaid's Tale meets The Martian - a bold and thought-provoking new high-concept thriller.

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Covers Revealed - Upcoming Works by DAC Authors

Here are some of the upcoming works by formerly featured Debut Author Challenge (DAC) Authors. The year in parentheses is the year the author was featured in the DAC.

James L. Cambias (2014)

The Initiate
Baen, February 4, 2020
Hardcover and eBook, 288 pages

A SECRET ORDER OF SORCERERS RULES THE WORLD. ONE MAN HAS VOWED TO DESTROY THEM.

THE SORCERERS WHO RULE THE WORLD ARE GOING DOWN!

The Apkallu are masters of magic. They rule the world from the shadows, using mind control and deadly monsters to eliminate any threat to their power. Sam Arquero lost his family to a demon sent by an Apkallu. He knew that nobody would believe the truth, but now an old man offers Sam the chance to find out who is responsible and bring down the Apkallu forever.

Under a new identity, Sam must learn the secrets of magic, infiltrate the Apkallu, and walk a razor’s edge of daring as he attempts to destroy the Apkallu leaders and avoid the supernatural detectives on his trail. But Sam’s greatest challenge perhaps lies within—to avoid becoming like the hated Apkallu himself!

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Dana Chamblee Carpenter (2015)

Book of the Just
The Bohemian Trilogy 3
Pegasus Books, February 11, 2020
Trade Paperback, 368 pages
Hardcover and eBook, October 2, 2019

After centuries of searching, Mouse now has everything she’s ever wanted within her reach―a normal life, a lover, a brother. What will she risk to keep them?

Cherished by a Father, coveted by a king, loved by an almost-priest; tormented by demons, tortured by a madman, hunted by a cult, hounded by her father. Mouse has survived it all. But then, she was never just a girl.

Despite Mouse’s power, her father always wanted a son―and now, at long last, he has him. And Mouse has a brother, someone else in the world just like her. Though she’s never met him, the hope of what they might mean for each other tugs at her soul, even as it terrifies her lover, Angelo.

Hiding among a tribe of the Martu in the isolation of the Australian outback near the edges of Lake Disappointment, Mouse and Angelo have seemingly evaded at least one of the predators hunting them. Carefully dropping bogus breadcrumbs across Europe, they misdirect the Novus Rishi, a ruthless cult that wants Mouse as the ultimate weapon in their battle against evil. But when unnerving dreams start to plague Angelo, and the ancient beings of the Martu’s Dreaming send prophetic warnings that include visions of Mouse at her father’s side, the two lovers realize it’s time to act. With nowhere left to run, Mouse and Angelo prepare for a last showdown with their enemies. As they chase after legendary ancient weapons ensconced in the ages old battle between good and evil, Mouse and Angelo must each decide if a final victory is worth the cost.

Book of the Just continues Mouse’s story after The Devil’s Bible and completes the journey she started so long ago in Bohemian Gospel. Imbued with a rich sense of history, magic, and mythology, this explosive final installment in Mouse’s journey will keep you captivated until the very end.

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Book 1

Book 2

Andy Davidson (2017)

The Boatman's Daughter
MCD x FSG Originals, February 11, 2020
Trade Paperback and eBook, 416 pages

A "lush nightmare" (Paul Tremblay) of a supernatural thriller about a young woman facing down ancient forces in the depths of the bayou

Ever since her father was killed when she was just a child, Miranda Crabtree has kept her head down and her eyes up, ferrying contraband for a mad preacher and his declining band of followers to make ends meet and to protect an old witch and a secret child from harm.

But dark forces are at work in the bayou, both human and supernatural, conspiring to disrupt the rhythms of Miranda’s peculiar and precarious life. And when the preacher makes an unthinkable demand, it sets Miranda on a desperate, dangerous path, forcing her to consider what she is willing to sacrifice to keep her loved ones safe.

With the heady of Neil Gaiman and the heartrending pacing of Joe Hill, Andy Davidson spins a thrilling tale of love and duty, of loss and discovery. The Boatman's Daughter is a gorgeous, horrifying novel, a journey into the dark corners of human nature, drawing our worst fears and temptations out into the light.

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Covers Revealed - Upcoming Novels by DAC Authors

Here are some of the upcoming novels by formerly featured Debut Author Challenge (DAC) Authors. The year in parentheses is the year the author was featured in the DAC.

RJ Barker (2017)

The Bone Ships
The Tide Child Trilogy 1
Orbit, September 24, 2019
Trade Paperback and eBook, 512 pages

A crew of condemned criminals embark on a suicide mission to hunt the first sea dragon seen in centuries in the first book of this adventure fantasy trilogy.

Violent raids plague the divided isles of the Scattered Archipelago. Fleets constantly battle for dominance and glory, and no commander stands higher among them than “Lucky” Meas Gilbryn.

But betrayed and condemned to command a ship of criminals, Meas is forced on suicide mission to hunt the first living sea-dragon in generations. Everyone wants it, but Meas Gilbryn has her own ideas about the great beast. In the Scattered Archipelago, a dragon’s life, like all lives, is bound in blood, death and treachery.


The Tide Child Trilogy
The Bone Ships

For more from RJ Barker, check out:

The Wounded Kingdom
Age of Assassins
Blood of Assassins
King of Assassins

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The Wounded Kingdom

Rene Denfeld (2014)

The Butterfly Girl
Harper, October 1, 2019
Hardcover and eBook, 272 pages

The Butterfly Girl is a riveting novel that ripples with truth, exploring the depths of love and sacrifice in the face of a past that cannot be left dead and buried. A year ago, Naomi, the investigator with an uncanny ability for finding missing children, made a promise that she would not take another case until she finds the younger sister who has been missing for years. Naomi has no picture, not even a name. All she has is a vague memory of a strawberry field at night, black dirt under her bare feet as she ran for her life.

The search takes her to Portland, Oregon, where scores of homeless children wander the streets like ghosts, searching for money, food, and companionship. The sharp-eyed investigator soon discovers that young girls have been going missing for months, many later found in the dirty waters of the river. Though she does not want to get involved, Naomi is unable to resist the pull of children in need—and the fear she sees in the eyes of a twelve-year old girl named Celia. Running from an abusive stepfather and an addict mother, Celia has nothing but hope in the butterflies—her guides and guardians on the dangerous streets. She sees them all around her, tiny iridescent wisps of hope that soften the edges of this hard world and illuminate a cherished memory from her childhood—the Butterfly Museum, a place where everything is safe and nothing can hurt her.

As danger creeps closer, Naomi and Celia find echoes of themselves in one another, forcing them each to consider the question: Can you still be lost even when you’ve been found? But will they find the answer too late?

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Also by Rene Denfeld

Marshall Ryan Maresca (2015)

Shield of the People
The Maradaine Elite 2
DAW, October 29, 2019
Mass Market Paperback, 400 pages

The second novel in the Maradaine Elite series blends fast-paced high fantasy and political intrigue.

After stopping Tharek Pell and saving the Druth Parliament, Dayne Heldrin and Jerinne Fendall find themselves on the margins of the Tarian Order: lauded as heroes in public but scorned and ignored in private, their future in the Order hazy. Dayne is given an assignment that isolates him from the Order, and Jerinne is hazed and bullied at the bottom of the initiate rankings.

But it’s a grand holiday week in the city of Maradaine, celebrating over two centuries of freedom and the foundation of the reunified modern nation, and with that come parades, revelry… and protests and demonstrations. A dissident group called The Open Hand-and their mysterious, charismatic leader, Bishop Ret Issendel-seeks to disrupt the Parliament elections with their message of secession and dissolution.

Despite orders to stay out of the public eye, Dayne and Jerinne are drawn into the intrigue of the Open Hand and kept apart by dark powerful conspiracies that brew around them. Dayne and Jerinne must fight for their own principles, and protect the will of the people as the election is thrown into chaos.

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Book 1

Maradaine

Maradaine Constabulary

Streets of Maradaine

The Fenmere Job (Streets of Maradaine 3) coming February 25, 2020.

Covers Revealed - Upcoming Works by DAC Authors

Here are some of the upcoming novels by formerly featured Debut Author Challenge (DAC) Authors. The year in parentheses is the year the author was featured in the DAC.

Rebecca Alexander (2014)

A Shroud of Leaves
Sage Westfield 2
Titan Books, July 9, 2019
Trade Paperback and eBook, 464 pages

“The victim had been buried in a carved hollow in the grass and shrouded in fallen leaves…”

Archaeologist Sage Westfield has her first forensics case: investigating the murder of a teenage girl. Hidden by holly leaves, the girl’s body has been discovered on the grounds of a stately home, where another teenage girl went missing twenty years ago - but her body was never found. The police suspect the reclusive owner, Alistair Chorleigh, who was questioned but never charged. But when Sage investigates a nearby burial mound - and uncovers rumours of an ancient curse - she discovers the story of another mysterious disappearance over a hundred years ago. Sage will need both her modern forensics skills and her archaeological knowledge to unearth the devastating truth.

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Book 1

Andrew Bannister (2019)

Iron Gods
Spin Trilogy 2
Tor Books, July 30, 2019
Trade Paperback and eBook, 320 pages

From Andrew Bannister, author of Creation Machine, comes Iron Gods--another thrilling, heart-in-mouth new science fiction novel of the Spin.

In the depths of space, a beacon has awakened. And an ancient technology has begun to stir. As its memory returns, with it comes a terrifying knowledge—a grave warning about the future of the Spin that has been concealed for ten thousand years.

Ten thousand years after the events of Creation Machine, the Spin is in decline and the beleaguered slave economy of the Inside is surrounded by rebel civilizations. A group of escapees from the vast forced-labor unit known as the Hive have stolen the last of the Inside's ancient warships and woken it from an enforced trance that had lasted for millennia. And someone has destroyed a planet that didn't exist, and halfway across the Spin, something has gone wrong with the sky.

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Book 1

Bradley P. Beaulieu (2011)

Beneath the Twisted Trees
Song of Shattered Sands 4
DAW, July 2, 2019
Hardcover and eBook, 608 pages

The fourth book in The Song of Shattered Sands series-an epic fantasy with a desert setting, filled with rich worldbuilding and pulse-pounding action.

When a battle to eradicate the Thirteenth Tribe goes awry, the kingdoms bordering the desert metropolis of Sharakhai see the city as weak and ripe for conquest. Çeda, now leader of the Shieldwives, a band of skilled desert swordswomen, hopes to use the growing chaos to gain freedom for Sehid-Alaz, the ancient, undying king of her people. Freeing him is only the beginning, however. Like all the people of her tribe on that fateful night four centuries earlier, Sehid-Alaz was cursed, turned into an asir, a twisted, miserable creature beholden to the kings of Sharakhai—to truly free her king, Çeda must break the chains that bind him.

As Sharakhai’s enemies close in and the assault on the city begins, Çeda works feverishly to unlock the mysteries of the asirim’s curse. But danger lies everywhere. Enemy forces roam the city; the Blade Maidens close in on her; her own father, one of the kings of Sharakhai, wants Çeda to hang. Worst of all, the gods themselves have begun to take notice of Çeda’s pursuits.

When the combined might of Sharakhai and the desert gods corner the survivors of the Thirteenth Tribe in a mountain fastness, the very place that nearly saw their annihilation centuries ago, Çeda knows the time has come. She was once an elite warrior in service to the kings of Sharakhai. She has been an assassin in dark places. A weapon poised to strike from the shadows. A voice from the darkness, striving to free her people.

No longer.

Now she’s going to lead.

The age of the Kings is coming to an end . . .

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Book 1

Book 2

Book 3