City Ash and Desert Bones

City Ash science fiction novel cover
by Laurel Myler
  • $14.95 Paperback
    ISBN: 978-1935738879

    US only, email
    for international rates


300 years in the future the world is run by the Theocracy and the Apostles are their representatives. The tiny, dusty and ironically named town of Big City has never seen Apostles until the newly deputized team, Reesa and Joule, are given their first assignment—get to the bottom of the town’s untapped oil reserves. They are a married couple, supposed to have been matched perfectly by the Theocracy, and Reesa is eager to do her duty while Joule is dismayed at the backwater, Old West-style location they find themselves in.

Just as Big City belies its name, so do nearly all appearances in this small town. Efforts to find out what’s going on there are thwarted by the mayor and citizens alike. Soon they discover that the quaint false front of the town hides a terrible truth—it’s under siege by creatures known as Takers. The town has placed their faith in Tombstone, a stoic straight shooter, but even he can’t keep everyone safe. As the bodies begin to mount Reesa strikes out on her own only to discover that she is at the center of the biggest lie of all.

Cover art by official Dog Star Books artist Bradley Sharp. More about him can be found at http://dogstarbooks.blogspot.com/p/cover-artist.html.

What they’re saying about City Ash and Desert Bones

“Myler’s debut is part Wild West, part dystopian future, part gory horror…the vibrant story is a fun ride for horror fans.”—Publishers Weekly

“Laurel Myler’s explosively energetic vision of our dystopian future ignites our deepest fears, challenging us to contemplate what it means to be human, what physical and spiritual resources may be required to survive when the ones we most love become murderous biohazards. In a world this dangerous and unpredictable, a hero must be a deadly sniper willing to perpetrate ethical extermination. Vividly imagined and emotionally resonant, City Ash and Desert Bones transports us from chaos to grace, finally offering an unexpected savior, a woman born from many others, a beautiful monster whose disparate fragments of memory compel her to make the ultimate sacrifice. This disturbing, redemptive tale is a journey to the depths of the soul, a harrowing adventure that inspires us to interrogate our capacity for love and mercy, our understanding of social justice, and the limits of our compassion.”
—Melanie Rae Thon author of Silence & Song and The 7th Man


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