A Rope of ThornsA demonic showdown approaches in “the powerful sequel” to A Book of Tongues full of “potent mythology, complex characters, and dollops of creeping horror” (Publishers Weekly). New Mexico, 1867. When the hexslinger Rev. Asher E. Rook sacrificed his partner and lover Chess Pargeter to the Mayan goddess Ixchel, he became Ixchel’s consort. And with that newfound power, Asher founded “Hex City,” the first place in all of human history where magicians can live and work together safely. But this tenuous peace is threatened by Chess, newly reborn with terrible powers of his own, and bent on revenge over Asher’s betrayal. Chess is no mere hex any longer. His very presence has torn a crack in the world, remaking everything around him. And now he’s killing his way toward Asher, dragging Pinkerton agent-turned-outlaw Ed Morrow along with him. And as the cycle of Chess’s power approaches its climax, Chess, Morrow, and a young spiritualist named Yancey Colder—caught up in Chess’s vendetta—will all have to shed yet more blood as they face down his mysterious patron demon, known only as the Enemy, along with every other enemy Chess has made along the way. |
