So, Vigil is my debut novel, the first of the Verity Fassbinder series (published by the lovely Jo Fletcher Books in July 2016). It’s a supernatural crime novel and very different from the Sourdough tales (so, please do not write to me saying “It’s different to Sourdough! Shock! Horror!”), and different again to my ‘proper’ horror stories like “Winter Children”, “Home and Hearth” and “Finnegan’s Field”.
And as of yesterday (24 March 2018), it was nominated for the Dublin Literary Award! How cool is that?
BUT! It does have fairy tale and mythic elements, all set in modern day Brisbane.
Ze blurb:
Verity Fassbinder has her feet in two worlds. The daughter of one human and one Weyrd parent, she has very little power herself, but does claim unusual strength – and the ability to walk between us and the other – as a couple of her talents. As such a rarity, she is charged with keeping the peace between both races, and ensuring the Weyrd remain hidden from us.
But now Sirens are dying, illegal wine made from the tears of human children is for sale – and in the hands of those Weyrd who hold with the old ways – and someone has released an unknown and terrifyingly destructive force on the streets of Brisbane.
And Verity must investigate – or risk ancient forces carving our world apart.
And Verity will return in Corpselight in 2017 … and maybe in Restoration in 2018.
Purchasing/pre-ordering details are here.
Praise for Vigil:
“Simply put: Slatter can write! Beautifully, stylishly, accurately. She conjures ghosts and spirits and forces us to recognize the monsters that are ourselves…she conjures the secret and private worlds hidden just inside the curtains of reality, and she does it with sentences as sparse and sharp-edged as unused razor blades. She’s my pick: a writer who will constantly surprise; and just when you think she’s at the top of her game, she will go on to become impossibly better. Read this writer. She’ll drop the scales right out of your eyes!” Jack Dann, Award-winning author of The Memory Cathedral
“Angela Slatter’s Verity Fassbinder comes on like a high octane mix of Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden and Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Milhone – dry, smart, funny, fuelled by a need to protect the weak, and driven by a past that haunts her. Verity’s BrisVegas is a far cry from the streets of Brisbane you’ll see in tourist brochures, a dark supernatural playground where anything can happen and where the strangest of us can find safe haven. If you loved True Blood, or if you’ve ever loved a great PI series, then Vigil is for you. Smart, funny, and engaging. I can’t wait for the sequel!” — Jonathan Strahan, Award-winning editor of The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year series
“The world of the Weyrd collides with modern-day Brisbane, bringing chaos in its wake. A brilliant new urban fantasy with elements of murder mystery and magic – I’m already looking forward to the next Verity Fassbinder adventure.” Alison Littlewood, author of the Richard & Judy bestseller A Cold Season