The Red Winter
-
- $14.99
Publisher Description
A devastating love story. A bewitching twist on history. A blood-drenched hunt for purpose, power, and redemption.
In 1785, Professor Sebastian Grave receives the news he fears most: the terrible Beast of Gévaudan has returned, and the French countryside runs red in its wake.
Sebastian knows the Beast. A monster-slayer with centuries of experience, he joined the hunt for the creature twenty years ago and watched it slaughter its way through a long and bloody winter. Even with the help of his indwelling demon, Sarmodel – who takes payment in living hearts – it nearly cost him his life to bring the monster down.
Now, two decades later, Sebastian has been recalled to the hunt by Antoine Avenel d’Ocerne, an estranged lover who shares a dark history with the Beast and a terrible secret with Sebastian. Drawn by both the chance to finish the Beast for good and the promise of a reconciliation with Antoine, Sebastian cannot refuse.
But Gévaudan is not as he remembers it, and Sebastian’s unfinished business is everywhere he looks. Years of misery have driven the people to desperation, and France teeters on the edge of revolution. Sebastian’s arcane activities – not to mention his demonic counterpart – have also attracted the inquisitorial eye of the French clergy. And the Beast is poised to close his jaws around them all and plunge the continent into war.
Debut author Cameron Sullivan tears the heart out of history with this darkly entertaining retelling of the hunt for the Beast of Gévaudan. Lifting the veil on the hidden world behind our own, it reimagines the story of Europe, from Imperial Rome to Saint Jehanne d’Arc, the madness of Gilles de Rais and the first flickers of the French Revolution.
“An absolute feast of a book: rich, red, sinfully delicious. I've rarely been this satisfied—or this hungry for more.” —Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of Starling House
“So bloody good. The Red Winter is absolute ripper entertainment—miss it at your peril!” —Shelley Parker-Chan, bestselling author of She Who Became the Sun
“A gorgeous tangle of history and fresh-made myth. You'll eat this one up.” —Cassandra Khaw, bestselling author of Nothing But Blackened Teeth
“Charming, haunting, ambitious, and a great deal of fun.” —T. Kingfisher, New York Times bestselling author of A Sorceress Comes to Call
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A magician and the demon that shares his body face off against a familiar foe in Sullivan's dense and ambitious debut, a retelling of the legend of the Beast of Gévaudan. In 1785, Jacques Avenel d'Ocerne implores ageless magician Sebastian Grave and his "indwelling Spirit," Sarmodel, to return to Gévaudan, France, and take on the same Beast Sebastian defeated two decades earlier, which is back and ravaging the countryside once more. Sebastian used his arcane knowledge during the earlier hunt alongside Jacques's father, Antoine, who became his lover as they stalked the nightmarish, supernaturally powerful creature. Drawn by his lingering feelings for Antoine, Sebastian agrees to join Jacques on the new hunt. The novel then toggles between their journey, during which Jacques reveals that he lied about Antoine sending for Sebastian and an unsettling truth about the Beast's reemergence comes to light; flashbacks to the original hunt; and scenes of a brewing revolution that remix the Joan of Arc story with ancient gods spurring fervent madness among her followers. Sullivan's sly humor and complex blend of history and mythology will immerse patient readers. This sprawling epic is worth the effort.
