Fantasy Books

In the Shadows of the Dawn

Avianna Sigaro’s life is in danger. It isn’t the first time, and it likely won’t be the last.

In her possession is an outlawed manuscript, and if the Southland’s untouchable Inquisitors catch her with it, she will surely be sentenced to the Fires. But it’s a risk she’s willing to take. The payout is enough to live comfortably for almost a decade, and, after seven years of poverty, she is itching to return to the lifestyle she once knew.

As an ex-courtesan, discretion is a game she mastered decades ago. All she has to do is deliver the manuscript to a mysterious Scholar, collect her payment, and be on her way. But when the Scholar sends a hired man to kill her and steal the manuscript, Avianna decides it’s time to play a different game.

Revenge.

On the road to retribution, the rules of the game change when rebels protect her from an evil creature using forbidden gifts. But magic is prohibited, and this show of bravado sets the Inquisitors on her trail. She is left with no choice but to join the rebels and their cause.

The rebels have been tracking the Scholar for years, and they believe the key to his identity is the manuscript. It is the autobiography of the woman responsible for the Inquisitors’ catastrophic rise to power, and within its pages is a secret that could shift the political scales in favor of the Gifted.

And with a little luck, both Avianna and the rebels will have their revenge.

Status: On query, with partial requested by New York literary agents.