Congratulations to Elizabeth Hand, whose AVAILABLE DARK is published tomorrow in the UK by Constable & Robinson! It is the second novel featuring Cass Neary, and follows GENERATION LOSS. Below are the covers for both books (we think they look really great together)…
And here’s the synopsis…
As this riveting tour-de-force opens, the police already want to talk to the photographer Cass Neary about a mysterious death she was involved with previously, but before they can bring her in, Cass accepts a job offer from overseas and hops on a plane.
In Helsinki, she authenticates a series of disturbing but stunning images taken by a famous fashion photographer who has cut himself off from the violent Nordic music scene where he first made his reputation. Paid off by her shady employer, she buys a one-way ticket to Reykjavik, in search of a lover from her own dark past.
But when the fashion photographer’s mutilated corpse is discovered back in Finland, Cass finds herself sucked into a vortex of ancient myth and betrayal, vengeance and serial murder, set against a bone-splintering soundtrack of black metal and the terrifying beauty of the sunless Icelandic wilderness.
In this eagerly awaited sequel to the award-winning Generation Loss, Cass Neary finds her own worst fears confirmed: it’s always darkest before it turns completely black.
AVAILABLE DARK is a searing and iconoclastic crime novel, and preceding work GENERATION LOSS is generally considered an underground classic. In this latest installment, Hand sends our protagonist, Cass Neary into the shadowy world of crime in Scandinavia’s coldest corners.
‘A skin-blistering crime novel as edgy and black as dried blood on a moonlit night.’ – Robert Crais
‘Fiercely frightening yet hauntingly beautiful.’ – Tess Gerritsen
‘Intense and atmospheric… Hand writes with craftsmanship and passion.’ – George Pelecanos
‘There’s a deadly beauty to her bleak rendering of the Nordic landscape.’ – New York Times Book Review
‘Elizabeth Hand takes us on a dangerous and drug-fuelled trip through a world of art-fetishists, death metal bands, and Nordic blood cults. This book disturbs and delights.’ – Paul Doiron, author of The Poacher’s Son
Elizabeth Hand is represented by Zeno in the UK & Commonwealth on behalf of the Martha Millard Literary Agency in New York.
