Atlas of Unknowable Things: A Novel

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High in the Rocky Mountains on a secluded campus, sits Hildegard College, a celebrated institution known for its scientific innovation and its sprawling, botanical gardens. Historian Robin Quain has been awarded a residency to examine Hildegard's impressive collection of ancient manuscripts, but she has a secret. She's actually on the hunt for an artifact-one she must find before her former best friend turned professional rival gets his hands on it first. But Hildegard has secrets of its own. Strange sounds echo across the alpine lake, lights flicker through the pines, and the faculty seem more like Jazz-age glitterati than academics. And then there's the professor who holds the key to Robin's research. She vanished suddenly last spring. What exactly did she do at the college, and why does no one want to talk about her As Robin searches for answers, an unknown source sends her a series of cryptic messages that makes her question whether she's the one doing the hunting, or whether someone is hunting her. Drawing on historical, botanical, and occult research, and steeped in the gothic tradition, Atlas of Unknowable Things considers what it means to search for meaning in the scientific, only to come face to face with the sublime.

Reviews

"Smart, twisty, and delightfully creepy." - Jay Kristoff, New York Times bestselling author

"A dazzling novel of illusion, clever and eerie, whipsmart in its execution. I devoured this puzzle-box of a novel and will read whatever McCormick Templeman writes next." -Brittany Cavallaro, New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Charlotte

"Atlas of Unknowable Things is one of those rare novels with the power to adjust your grip on reality. Reading it feels like being in an escape room with a (not-racist) Lovecraft while sipping cocktails made of rare and marvelous herbs." -- Camille DeAngelis, Alex Award-winning author of Bones & All

"Atlas of Unknowable Things sent me down a dark, twisting rabbit hole while the author secretly reoriented my brain chemistry to only desire more of this book. When I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it--Wildly addictive, terrifying, and smart as hell." -- Sadie Hartmann, Bram Stoker Awards(R) winning author of 101 Horror Books to Read Before You're Murdered

"Atlas of Unknowable Things is suspenseful, smart, and spooky. Templeman combines a vivid style that you'll want to take the time to savor with a such tight, twisty narrative that you'll end up racing through the pages anyway. This is one you'll want to read more than once!" - C. J. Dotson, author of The Cut

Author Bio

McCormick Templeman's writing has appeared in The Los Angeles Review of Books, The Dagon Collection, and the YA horror anthology, Slasher Girls and Monster Boys. She holds a Doctorate in the field of Traditional Chinese Medicine, as well as a PhD in English and Creative Writing from the University of Denver where she specialized in 19th Century horror.