No Gods, No Monsters

Author: Cadwell Turnbull

ISBN: 9798200834419

Tags: Black and Queer, POC and Queer, Lesbian, Bisexual, Non-Binary, Transgender, Asexual, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Mystery/Thriller

Named a BEST BOOK OF 2021 by the New York Times, NPR, the New York Public Library, Audible, Tor.com, Book Riot, Library Journal, and Kirkus!

Longlisted for the 2022 PEN Open Book Award

“Riveting…[A] tender, ferocious book.”—New York Times

“Beautifully fantastical.”—NPR

“Masterful.”—Chicago Tribune

One October morning, Laina gets the news that her brother has been shot and killed by Boston cops. But what looks like a case of police brutality soon reveals something much stranger. Monsters are real. And they want everyone to know it.

As creatures from myth and legend come out of the shadows, seeking safety through visibility, their emergence sets off a chain of seemingly unrelated events. Members of a local werewolf pack are threatened into silence. A professor follows a missing friend’s trail of breadcrumbs to a mysterious secret society. And a young boy with unique abilities seeks refuge in a pro-monster organization with secrets of its own. Meanwhile, more people start disappearing, suicides and hate crimes increase, and protests erupt globally, both for and against the monsters.

At the center is a mystery no one thinks to ask: Why now? What has frightened the monsters out of the dark?

The world will soon find out.

“An intricate sequence of moving, intimate character portraits…The depth and care with which Turnbull inhabits each character is riveting; despite an expansive cast spread over wide terrain, I never felt lost or confused. His attention to location detail is considered and clear: The story shifts from Massachusetts to St. Thomas to Virginia with confident ease, carried by beautiful, conversational prose that’s startlingly punctuated by reminders of who’s narrating the stories—and how…I can appreciate how thorough a grounding Turnbull has given this sprawling first act…Let yourselves sink into this tender, ferocious book like hands into piano keys, or teeth into flesh.” — The New York Times

“This harrowing and lyrical novel combines elements of urban fantasy with biting social commentary.” — Buzzfeed