Murder of Angels

“Caitlín R. Kiernan is an original.”
—Clive Barker

“Caitlín R. Kiernan draws her strength from the most honorable of sources, a passion for the act of writing.”

—Peter Straub

“Caitlín R. Kiernan writes like a Gothic cathedral on fire.”

—Poppy Z. Brite

Murder of Angels

“I love a book like this that happily blends genres, highlighting the best from each, but delivering them in new configurations…. In
Murder of Angels
, the darkness is poetic, the fantasy is gritty, and the real-world sections are rooted in deep and true emotions.”

—Charles de Lint

“Stylish…. The novel’s unusual blend of otherworldly and supernatural horror gives it a uniquely weird cast. Kiernan’s true achievement, however, is the careful crafting of her mellifluous prose to sustain an intense atmosphere of dread. Dream and nightmare, hallucination and reality, private fantasy and objective experience all merge seamlessly, making this one of the more relentless horror reads of the year.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“[Kiernan] paints her pages in feverish, chiaroscuro shades.”

—
Kirkus Reviews

“Kiernan is devising something of an antifantasy—or perhaps a mythic antiheroic journey—with
Murder of Angels
….[The novel] adds a heretofore missing cosmology and further depth to the now rapidly expanding Kiernanian universe while displaying pronounced authorial confidence.”

—Dark Echo

“A cutting-edge tale of worlds on the brink with an interesting champion…Caitlín R. Kiernan provides a dark, foreboding, and surreal novel.”

—
Midwest Book Review

“There are a handful of writers whose technical and storytelling abilities attain such a lofty pinnacle that the end result leaves you in awe of their talent. Caitlín R. Kiernan is such a writer. She weaves multilayered and substantial narratives with threads of delicate, poetic prose. It is a pleasure to read her work, not just for the story but also for an appreciation of her writing skills.”

—Horror Reader

Daughter of Hounds

“The plot springs abundant surprises…an effective mix of atmosphere and action.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“Kiernan’s storytelling is stellar, and the misunderstandings and lies of stories within the main story evoke a satisfying tension in the characters.”

—
Booklist

“Caitlín R. Kiernan pays homage to Lovecraft in the very scary
Daughter of Hounds
. There is a sense of the foreboding Gothic that creeps out the audience, and the antagonists who set much of the pace seem freaky and deadly. Reminiscent of Poppy Z. Brite’s darkest thrillers, Ms. Kiernan provides Goth horror fans with a suspense-laden tale that keeps readers’ attention.”

—Alternate Worlds

“Kiernan’s writing is what really makes the book special….[It’s] best described as ‘What if John Bellairs had written
Pulp Fiction
?’ Erudite discussions and entrancing descriptions intertwine with snappy, punchy dialogue that is as often as not laced with Tarantinoesque rhythmic profanity. All of this adds up to a pretty explosive and captivating read…. Highly recommended.”

—The Green Man Review

Low Red Moon

“Kiernan only grows in versatility, and readers should continue to expect great things from her.”

—
Locus

“The familiar caveat ‘not for the faint of heart’ is appropriate here—the novel is one of sustained dread punctuated by explosions of unmitigated terror.”

—
Irish Literary Review

“Effective evocations of the supernatural…a memorable expansion of the author’s unique fictional universe.”

—
Publishers Weekly

Threshold
Winner of the International Horror Guild Award for Best Novel

“
Threshold
is a bonfire proclaiming Caitlín R. Kiernan’s elevated position in the annals of contemporary literature. It is an exceptional novel you mustn’t miss. Highly recommended.”

—
Cemetery Dance

“A distinctively modern tale that invokes cosmic terrors redolent of past masters H. P. Lovecraft and Algernon Blackwood…. A finale that veers unexpectedly from a seemingly inevitable display of supernatural fireworks to a subtly disarming denouement only underscores the intelligence behind this carefully crafted tale of awe-inspired nightmare.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“Kiernan’s prose is tough and characterized by nightmarish description. Her brand of horror is subtle, the kind that is hidden in the earth’s ancient strata and never stays where it can be clearly seen.”

—
Booklist

“
Threshold
confirms Kiernan’s reputation as one of dark fiction’s premier stylists. Her poetic descriptions ring true and evoke a sense of cosmic dread to rival Lovecraft. Her writing envelopes the reader in a fog concealing barely glimpsed horrors that frighten all the more for being just out of sight.”

—
Gauntlet Magazine

Praise for
Silk
Winner of the International Horror Guild Award for Best First Novel
Finalist for the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel Nominated for the British Fantasy Award

“A wonderful book.”

—Peter Straub

“Caitlín R. Kiernan is the poet and bard of the wasted and the lost.”

—Neil Gaiman

“If the title alone doesn’t make you want to read
Silk
, the first page will do the trick. Kiernan’s work is populated with the physically freaky, mentally unstable, sexually marginalized characters who have caused so much consternation in conventional circles—but Caitlín R. Kiernan is headed in an entirely different direction. Her unfolding of strange events evokes not horror, but a far larger sense of awe.”

—Poppy Z. Brite

“[Kiernan] has what it takes to excite me as a reader…. I just loved this book and can’t wait to see what she writes next.”

—Charles de Lint

ROC
Published by New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
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80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

Published by Roc, an imprint of New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Previously published in a Roc trade paperback edition.

Copyright © Caitlín R. Kiernan, 2004
All rights reserved

ISBN: 1-4362-0199-3

REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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For the Green Fairy, who surely got me through this one.

And for Spooky, who gets me through everything else.

In memory of Elizabeth Tillman Aldridge (1970–1995)

I will hold you to the light,
that’s what forever means.

—Bruderschaft, “Forever”