THE BEASTS WE BURY

THE BEASTS WE BURY follows Mancella, a king's daughter who can summon an army of animals, but only by killing them first, and Silver, a charming thief who plans to manipulate her to pull off a once-in-a-lifetime heist. The redemptive themes of Allison Saft's DOWN COMES THE NIGHT meets the humour and adventurousness of Margaret Owen's LITTLE THIEVES.

Mancella Cliff yearns for a blood-free life. As the daughter of the King, and the future Adjutrix, this is not her path. As a child, she emerged from the Broken Citadel with her granted magic, the power to summon animals, but only those she's killed with her bare hands. After each battle, the spirit of the slain animal comes to live inside of her, providing a constant reminder of the horrors her father has forced her to undertake in order to strengthen the power of their kingdom. Silver is a thief and petty criminal, scraping a life in the glass-strewn wreckage of battles past. When a mysterious benefactor offers Silver the chance of a lifetime, a final heist that would secure the future of him and his friends, Silver agrees. He is to infiltrate the castle and steal the impossible - a seal from the royal family. Silver decides that Mance is the easiest mark and begins to gain her trust. When her father decides that Mance should kill a human in order to create an unbeatable spirit army, Mance realizes how much of a pawn she is in her father's world. As the deception and bloodshed continue to mount, Mance must find a way to stop the cycle without becoming the ruthless monster her father has always wanted her to be. And when Silver discovers that his actions are fueling the violence that Mance wants to prevent, he needs to make a choice. Fast-paced and bristling with irreverent humour, THE BEASTS WE BURY is a brilliantly-plotted debut fantasy with plenty of thrills and a dash of romance, and heralds a confident new voice. D.L. Taylor is a civil attorney who works at a non-profit providing legal services to low-income clients. She has three kids, two cats, and minimal sanity, but in the quiet hours before dawn she likes to write about magic, mischief, and moral quandaries.