Now, Conjurers
By Freddie Kölsch (Author)
Price$19.99
Pub Date 6/4/2024
ISBN 9781454951599
Format Hardcover, Jacketed
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Now, Conjurers
by Freddie Kölsch
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OVERVIEW
NOW PAY ATTENTION, BECAUSE ALL THE DETAILS MATTER.
November 1999. North Dana, Massachusetts.
Nesbit Nuñez discovers the partially devoured body of Bastion Attia: star quarterback, secret witch, and Nesbit’s even-more-secret boyfriend. No one knew why brilliant, gentle Bastion lived his life by a seemingly arcane set of rules, including a strange manner of speech and an inability to say his own name.
Now the remaining members of North Coven—Nesbit, Dove, Drea, and Brandy—vow to get answers. Nothing can prepare them for what they uncover: Bastion had been locked in a terrifying battle of wits and wills with something living deep beneath an ancient mausoleum in the local cemetery.
North Coven must confront the red-gloved monster that took piece after piece of Bastion, that he fought until his last breath. Not knowing that Bastion left behind the key to its destruction . . .
Now, Conjurers is perfect for fans of darkly atmospheric queer books that blend bone-chilling supernatural thrills with insightful explorations of grief, identity, and the power of found family. This wildly original and nostalgic gothic novel will appeal to readers craving spine-tingling occult books inspired by 90s classics or anyone searching for horror books for teens with a lovable oddball cast of characters and raw examinations of grief and love.
PRAISE
A New York Public Library Best Book of 2024
“This novel is an easy-to-read occult thriller inspired by ’90s cult classics with a likable cast of cool, queer, Wiccan goth heroes. Kölsch holistically integrates serious issues, such as grief, neurological differences, religion and faith, parental abuse, and a variety of intersectional queer identities, with a deft touch that keeps the book both eerie and light in pleasantly equal measure . . . . A rollicking and thoughtful take on the be-careful-what-you-wish-for trope.”—Kirkus, STARRED Review
“[T]his supernatural thriller takes characters and readers alike on an emotional roller coaster of shocking revelations, culminating in a cathartic, action-packed climax . . . . Kölsch spins together a web of hidden agendas, secret histories, a terrifying otherworldly antagonist, and real-world horrors of child abuse and homophobia into a dark and chilling debut.”—Publishers Weekly
"This bloodcurdling debut horror novel full of gay goth teens, creepy rituals, and found family is an utterly original celebration of queer love and the lengths we will go to protect one another."—Booklist
"This book is CHARM ITSELF. It's a high-octane high-camp horror funfair that is so smart and so edgy and funny and heartfelt and loving that I think teens who love it now will still pull it off the shelf when they are 40. Now, Conjurers is an evening with a movie from Blockbuster that's rated slightly too high for you to have legally rented it and the biggest, trashiest bag of popcorn, staying up until 3 AM with your friends and then having really savage nightmares afterwards for a week." —Tamsyn Muir, author of Gideon the Ninth
"I love it when I’ve no idea where a story is going to take me, and Now, Conjurers took me to some dark places, but I knew that I was in sure hands with Freddie’s writing. This was an absolutely wild ride, full of scares and horror as well as love and friendship. I adored Nesbit and Bastion." —Sally Green, author of Half Bad
“A wildly charming, deliciously gruesome, and deeply tender love letter to queer found family, dirtbag magic, and 1999. North Coven is bound to steal your heart.”
—Sarah McCarry, author of All Our Pretty Songs
"Now, Conjurers is a dark, slick, and intoxicating ride that'll make you wish you were part of North Coven. The twisted love child of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Stephen King's It with a healthy 90's hit of nostalgia, I absolutely inhaled it (and had nightmares about red gloves for weeks)." —David Fenne, author of Overemotional
"A book that begins in such a grim spot cannot lead to a true happy ending, but there’s significant strength to be found for the characters … in battling true evil, and sometimes peace can sub in as enough of an equivalent to joy." —BCCB
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
Freddie Kölsch is a connoisseur and crafter of frightful fiction (with a dash of hope) for teens and former teens. She lives in Salem, Massachusetts with her high school sweetheart-turned-wife, a handful of cats, a houseful of art, and a mind’s eye full of ghosts. Now, Conjurers is her first novel.