A Rope of Thorns

(Paperback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

The second book in the top-notch horror-fantasy saga, following A Book of Tongues, is a spectacular blend of Aztec religion and Western gunslinging (Publishers Weekly).

Welcome to Hex City. Population: magicians. Thanks to hexslinger Reverend Asher Rook, sorcerers now have a sanctuary where they can live and work in peace. But a storm is cominga tempest known as Chess Pargeter.

Infuriated by his former lover Rooks betrayal and sacrificed in the name of the Mayan goddess who is Rooks current consort, Chess leaves a trail of death and destruction in his wake. Caught up in Chesss crusade is Pinkerton-agent-turned-outlaw Ed Morrow and a young woman spiritualist. But there are more than Chesss own demons to be reckoned with, including a resurrected lawman with a bone to pickand a final judgment to deliver...

Paints a stark, vivid, and gory picture of the wild west in the years following the Civil War... Filess latest is not for the squeamish but should delight fans of gothic Western fantasy and Central American myths. Library Journal

Files prose remains a delight to read, the cadence of her sentences captures the wild west setting perfectly, and the images she paints are a fascinating mix of frontier practicality and magic bred surrealism. The Turned Brain

Praise for A Book of Tongues

Boundary-busting horrorfantasy... This promising debut fully delivers both sizzling passions and dark chills. Publishers Weekly

Ridiculously vivid... A magic-riddled, horror-strewn West with hexes running around wrecking reality and a spectrum of queer characters. Tor.com

Truly one-of-a-kind: violent, carnal and creepy. Fangoria

Author Bio

Gemma Files, a former film critic, journalist, screenwriter, and teacher, has been an award-winning horror author since 1999. She has published two collections of short work; two chapbooks of speculative poetry; the weird western Hexslinger Series; a story-cycle; and the standalone novel Experimental Film, which won the 2016 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novel and the 2016 Sunburst Award for Best Adult Novel. Files also has several story collections and a collection of poetry forthcoming.