Heart Readers

Twin princes—the curse of King Pardu’s line.  Pardu killed his own twin to secure the throne.  Now Pardu, dying, wants to use old magic to determine which of his sons will rule—without murder.

The old magic calls for heart readers to determine which twin has the pure heart. But the heart readers must work in teams—female teams.  And the team chosen by the palace has a history, a violent history, a history that makes these two women unsuitable to choose the next heir.  

Or maybe that history makes the heart readers the only ones who know the truth…


“A novel I enjoyed hugely—vivid characters, real emotions, a real page-turner.” 

—Interzone


“Compelling…(Rusch) pushes the narrative along at a galloping pace.  A fine example in novel form of the old Hollywood adage:  ‘A good script needs three things…story, story, story.’”

—The Dark Side (England)



“Like early Ray Bradbury, Rusch has the ability to switch on a universal dark.”

—the London Times