Even Though I Knew the End

by C. L. Polk

Overview

A New York Times Best Romance of 2022!

C. L. Polk turns their considerable powers to a fantastical noir with Even Though I Knew the End.

“Eerie, sharp and fiercely bittersweet.” —The New York Times

A magical detective dives into the affairs of Chicago's divine monsters to secure a future with the love of her life. This sapphic period piece will dazzle anyone looking for mystery, intrigue, romance, magic, or all of the above.

An exiled augur who sold her soul to save her brother's life is offered one last job before serving an eternity in hell. When she turns it down, her client sweetens the pot by offering up the one payment she can't resist—the chance to have a future where she grows old with the woman she loves.

To succeed, she is given three days to track down the White City Vampire, Chicago's most notorious serial killer. If she fails, only hell and heartbreak await.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250849458
Publisher:	Tor Publishing Group
Publication date:	11/08/2022
Pages:	144
Sales rank:	28,220
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

C. L. Polk is the author of the World Fantasy Award winning novel Witchmark, the first novel of the Kingston Cycle. After leaving high school early, they have worked as a film extra, sold vegetables on the street, and identified exotic insect species for a vast collection of lepidoptera before settling down to write silver fork fantasy novels. Polk lives near the Bow River in Calgary, Alberta, in a tiny apartment with too many books and a yarn stash that could last a decade. They ride a green bicycle with a basket on the front. They spend too much time on Twitter.

Editorial Reviews

06/06/2022

World Fantasy Award winner Polk (The Midnight Bargain) does what they do best with this genre-bending fantasy noir novella that brings lofty magic to a grimy 1940s city and showcases queer love along the way. Ten years earlier, warlock and private investigator Elena Brandt made a deal with the devil, bargaining away her soul to save the most precious thing in the world to her. Now she has only three days left before her deal is up and she goes to Hell. She should be spending that precious time with Edith Jarosky, the love of her life, or Teddy, her estranged brother. Instead, her best client reveals herself to be a demon and makes Elena an offer she can’t refuse: if Elena can track down a serial killer, she can have her soul back and live out her days in comfort with Edith. Simple enough—except the murders are gruesome human sacrifices used to invoke an ancient, evil, and terribly powerful magic. Though readers will wish they had more time to explore this shadowy world, Polk’s focus on character development makes every interaction matter as they craft a layered exploration of love and power with genuine emotional stakes and a soaring, perfectly bittersweet payoff. It’s another winner. Agent: Caitlin McDonald, Donald Maass Literary. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

An NPR Best Speculative Fiction Book of 2022!

“Eerie, sharp and fiercely bittersweet.” —The New York Times

“Noir and fantasy often seem to go together, but those two elements seldom uplift each other quite as well as they do in Even Though I Knew the End” —The Washington Post

“Stylish supernatural noir with a heart and a thrumming pulse. I devoured it.” —Laini Taylor

“This is a must-read for those who like their queer fantasy with a little grit and a lot of soul (pun intended).” —Booklist, starred review

“Even Though I Knew the End rockets along from the very first page, with the details of author C.L. Polk’s alternate Chicago revealing themselves exactly when required.” —BookPage, starred review

“Powerful, emotional, stylish and smart, Polk proves themself yet again to be a talent not to be ignored.” —Locus

“Even Though I Knew the End is Polk at the height of their considerable powers: romance, enchantment, tragedy, and courage to the bitter end.” —Elizabeth Bear

“Readers who fell into recent Jazz Age urban fantasies...will love Polk's latest.” —Library Journal, starred review

“Bracing as a slug of bourbon, with a twist of pain on the drop—or is that hope? Polk’s back with a cold-eyed winner.” —Max Gladstone

“C.L. Polk twists the hardboiled detective subgenre into something new and fresh and enticingly queer. …[Even Though I Knew the End is] a thrilling, charming novella.” —Tor.com

“Vivid and charming with a touch of noir edge, but way more heart.” —Rebecca Roanhorse

“A layered exploration of love and power with genuine emotional stakes and a soaring, perfectly bittersweet payoff. It’s another winner.” —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

★ 09/01/2022

In Polk's (Soulstar) alternate-history Jazz Age Chicago, where angels live among the godly and demons stalk the streets, Helen Brandt is a woman who sold her soul to save her brother. She has one last chance to get it back and spend the rest of her days with the woman she loves. She thinks her task is to figure out which demon is poaching on another's Chicago turf. But demons lie—and so, as Helen discovers, do angels. This bittersweet urban fantasy romance wraps its tale of love and inevitable loss in a desperate search for a serial killer that begins as a murder mystery and then grows wings—and tentacles. Polk's world, where angels answer the prayers of the faithful while demons prey on the fallen, turns standard concepts of good and evil on their heads as the heroine learns that her world is not what she thought it was. VERDICT Readers who fell into recent Jazz Age urban fantasies such as Desideria Mesa's Bindle Punk Bruja and fans of time-travel or fantasy romances with tragic endings, like Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife, will love Polk's latest.—Marlene Harris

Library Journal