Demon in the Whitelands

by Nikki Richard

Overview

Sixteen-year-old Samuel, son of devout cleric, has endured shame and prejudice his entire life. Though he is destined to follow in his father’s footsteps, he longs for an ordinary life in the whitelands away from talk of demons and holy roots.

When the mayor claims to have captured a mute demon-girl, Samuel is forced to become her caretaker. But as Samuel gets to know the prisoner, he finds her not to be very demonlike. Instead, she is intelligent, meek, and an exceptional artist. Despite her seeming goodness, some more concerning things cannot be ignored. Samuel is hard-pressed to reconcile her uncanny strength and speed, one missing arm, ambiguous gender, and the mysterious scars covering most of her body.

Samuel forms a deep attachment to the girl with predator eyes and violent outbursts, against his father’s advice. As their friendship threatens to become something more, Samuel discovers the mayor’s dark intentions. Now, he must decide whether to risk his own execution by setting her free, or watch as the girl is used as a pawn in a dangerous game of oppression, fear, and murder.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781948671415
Publisher:	Month9Books, LLC
Publication date:	09/24/2019
Series:	Demon in the Whitelands
Edition description:	None
Pages:	300
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	15 - 17 Years

About the Author

Nikki Richard is a sensitive queer writer with moods and coping mechanisms. An MFA graduate from the University of Baltimore, she lives in the city with her hot wife, amazing daughter, and fluffy cat. Marks is her first novel.

Editorial Reviews

2019-08-13
As the son of a cleric, 15-year-old Samuel, who was born out of wedlock, is destined for life in the clergy; the appearance of a demon child in his village violently upends his world.

Samuel and his father are outcasts in a world of convoluted laws and corrupt politicians. When the mayor asks Samuel to supervise a demon named Zei, Samuel is eager to break free from his proscribed path despite the mayor's nefarious intentions. Zei has the appearance of a delicate little girl but has reptilian eyes and superhuman strength. For unexplained reasons, she is mute, illiterate, and missing part of an arm. In an unnecessarily lurid reveal, Samuel also discovers that she lacks genitalia. An undercurrent throughout the novel is Samuel's attempt to disentangle his desire to care for Zei from the sexual attraction and friendship he feels for his peers. By the end of the book Samuel seems to understand his emotions, but readers may not feel equally enlightened. In her debut, Richard has created an original dystopia populated with enigmatic characters. However, the plot is ponderous and feels more like a prologue than the first in a series. Those native to the whitelands are, aptly, white; Samuel's deceased mother's bronze skin marked her as coming from the redlands.

Readers will be drawn into this fascinating world but may get snagged on the rough edges. (Dystopian. 15-adult)

Kirkus Reviews