Lit Stroll
Join us for the library’s fifth annual Lit Stroll on Saturday, June 20, 2026, from 1–4:30 p.m., where readers come together to meet and celebrate beloved Illinois authors.
Each author will be featured at a downtown Arlington Heights venue: Mago Grill & Cantina, Hey Nonny and Arlington Ale House. Hear about their newest novels, grab a drink and mingle with other literary lovers as you stroll from location to location.
The event will culminate in a book signing at Arlington Ale House with books available for sale courtesy of The Book Stall.
Registration opens June 1 for Arlington Heights cardholders only. Registration opens to the general public on June 8, as space allows. Pick up your event lanyard at the Info Desk starting June 15. Space is limited; for adults 21 and older.
Featured Authors
Layne Fargo
Layne Fargo
Layne Fargo
Bestselling author of feminist stories such as The Favorites, They Never Learn and Temper, as well as co-author on the Young Rich Widows series.
Author Website | Author Instagram
Layne appears at Hey Nonny at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. Check your group schedule for further information.
Sandra Jackson-Opoku
Sandra Jackson-Opoku
Sandra Jackson-Opoku
Author of award-winning fiction, nonfiction and dramatic work. Her newest novel, Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes, is a sparkling debut mystery.
Author Facebook | Author Instagram
Sandra appears at Mago at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. Check your group schedule for further information.
Daniel Kraus
Daniel Kraus
Daniel Kraus
Pulitzer Prize-winning, New York Times bestselling writer of novels, TV and film. His novel Angel Down was the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner.
Author Website | Author Instagram
Daniel appears at Arlington Ale House at 3:10 p.m.
Event Details
Participants will be split into two groups to accommodate the crowd size. Both groups will see Layne Fargo and Sandra Jackson-Opoku, then convene at the Arlington Ale House for Daniel Kraus’ appearance. Register with one friend to ensure you are in the same Stroll Group.
Make sure you fill out the form in your confirmation email to complete the registration process.
You will be emailed the week of the event to pick up your lanyard.
Stroll Group Yellow
Stroll Group Yellow
1 p.m. Sandra Jackson-Opoku at Mago Grill & Cantina (115 W. Campbell St.)
2 p.m. Layne Fargo at Hey Nonny (10 S. Vail Ave.)
3:10 p.m. Daniel Kraus at Arlington Ale House (111 W. Campbell St.; Metropolis elevator to third floor)
Author book signing and reception immediately following at Arlington Ale House.
Stroll Group Blue
Stroll Group Blue
1 p.m. Layne Fargo at Hey Nonny (10 S. Vail Ave.)
2 p.m. Sandra Jackson-Opoku at Mago Grill & Cantina (115 W. Campbell St.)
3:10 p.m. Daniel Kraus at Arlington Ale House (111 W. Campbell St.; Metropolis elevator to third floor)
Author book signing and reception immediately following at Arlington Ale House.
Event Lanyard
Event Lanyard
The event lanyard is your ticket to Lit Stroll.
Please pick up your event lanyard at the Info Desk on the first floor of the library between June 15–19.
If you or someone in your group is unable to pick up your lanyard prior to the event, please arrive at the library check-in area at Mago Grill & Cantina at 12:30 p.m. to check in on the day of the event.
Please wear your lanyard at each venue throughout the stroll and stick to your assigned group to help with overcrowding.
Event Parking
Event Parking
Streets are closed around the event venues for Arlington Alfresco. Lit Stroll attendees can find a variety of parking options in four parking garages and six parking lots, just a quick walk away. See Map for parking options.
Books Inspired by Layne Fargo
The favorites
"She might not have a famous name, funding, or her family's support, but Katarina Shaw has always known that she was destined to become an Olympic skater. When she meets Heath Rocha, a lonely kid stuck in the foster care system, their instant connection makes them a formidable duo on the ice. Clinging to skating-and each other-to escape their turbulent lives, Kat and Heath go from childhood sweethearts to champion ice dancers, captivating the world with their scorching chemistry, rebellious style, and rollercoaster relationship. Until a shocking incident at the Olympic Games brings their partnership to a sudden end. As the ten-year anniversary of their final skate approaches, an unauthorized documentary reignites the public obsession with Shaw and Rocha, claiming to uncover the "real story" through interviews with their closest friends and fiercest rivals. Kat wants nothing to do with the documentary. But she can't stand the thought of someone else defining her legacy either. So, after a decade of silence, she's telling her story: from the childhood tragedies that created her all-consuming bond with Heath to the clash of desires that tore them apart. Sensational rumors have haunted their every step for years, but the truth may be even more shocking than the headlines"--
They never learn
"Scarlett Clark is an exceptional English professor. But she's even better at getting away with murder. Every year, she searches for the worst man at Gorman University and plots his well-deserved demise. Thanks to her meticulous planning, she's avoided drawing attention to herself - but as she's preparing for her biggest kill yet, the school starts probing into the growing body count on campus. Determined to keep her enemies close, Scarlett insinuates herself into the investigation and charms the woman in charge, Dr. Mina Pierce. Everything's going according to her master plan...until she loses control with her latest victim, putting her secret life at risk of exposure."--Publisher description
Temper
"A debut workplace noir novel of female ambition about what happens when fake violence draws real blood, for fans of Mrs. and Tangerine" --
Young Rich Widows : A Novel
"An 80s romp with big hair and even bigger secrets! Grab your popcorn and settle in for this incredibly fun and twisty read." - Jeneva Rose, New York Times bestselling author of You Shouldn't Have Come Here 1985, Rhode Island. A private jet carrying four partners of a Providence law firm crashes outside New York City, killing all aboard but leaving behind more questions than answers and setting the stage for four widows to find the truth. Justine: a former fashion model adjusting to suburban life Camille: a beautiful, young second wife whom some suspect is a gold digger Meredith: a stripper who was in a relationship with the firm's only female partner Krystle: a founding partner's wife committed to the firm being a legacy for her sons While the crash is initially ruled a tragic accident, something's not adding up: the team wasn't supposed to be in New York that day, and it's soon revealed there was a very large sum of cash that burned up with the plane. The scene is as wild as '80s neon, and the manic chase to uncover the Mafia-laced secrets gives this rip-roaring read a rad vibe that will linger long after the '80s soundtrack fades and the hairspray falls. "Young Rich Widows is hands down the most original thriller you'll read all year. Laugh out loud funny, twisty and full of surprises." - Wendy Walker, international bestselling author of What Remains
Desperate Deadly Widows
The widows are back! Big hair and bigger lies collide in the highly anticipated follow-up to Young Rich Widows, where nothing's more dangerous than a widow with nothing left to lose. Set in neon-drenched Providence, Rhode Island, circa 1987, just two years after a plane carrying four mafia-affiliated law-firm partners exploded over the Atlantic along with the cushy lives of their once wealthy wives. Now, Krystle fights to keep their fallen law firm afloat. Justine hustles as a lawyer-in-training. Meredith owns and operates the strip club where she once danced. And Camille orchestrates honey-pot schemes for scorned women-until one of her arrangements goes terribly wrong, and she becomes implicated in the debauched Mayor Tom's mysterious murder in the champagne room. With everything on the line, the widows must join forces once more. But as the conspiracy unravels beyond the mayor's demise, their search for justice pits first wife against second wife and widow against widow. With the widows' fragile bond now tested, will the women cement their friendships, or is loyalty a luxury they just can't afford? In this thrilling expansion of the Widows universe, brimming with sloshed champagne, smeared lipstick, and lethal secrets, Desperate Deadly Widows unfolds as an edge-of-your-seat thriller where desperation wears stilettos, trust is a poker chip, and redemption comes at the cost of everything you thought you knew
In These Hallowed Halls : A Dark Academia Anthology
ENROLLMENT BEGINS NOW A beguiling, sinister collection of twelve dark academia short stories from masters of the genre, including Olivie Blake, M. L. Rio, Susie Yang and more! In these stories, dear student, retribution visits a lothario lecturer; the sinister truth is revealed about a missing professor; a forsaken lover uses a seance for revenge; an obsession blooms about a possible illicit affair; two graduates exhume the secrets of a reclusive scholar; horrors are uncovered in an obscure academic department; five hopeful initiates must complete a murderous task and much more! Featuring brand-new stories from: Olivie Blake, M. L. Rio, David Bell, Susie Yang, Layne Fargo, J. T. Ellison, James Tate Hill, Kelly Andrew, Phoebe Wynne, Kate Weinberg, Helen Grant, and Tori Bovalino
Wuthering heights
Catherine Earnshaw, Heathcliff, and the windswept moors that are the setting of their mythic love are as immediately stirring to the reader of today as they have been for every generation of readers since the novel was first published in 1847
Daisy Jones & the Six
"Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go-Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it's the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she's twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things. Another band getting noticed is The Six, led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she's pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road. Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend. The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice"--
Outofshapeworthlessloser a memoir of figure skating, f*cking up, and figuring it out
"In this explosive tell-all memoir, an Olympic figure skater reveals her battle to survive mental illness, eating disorders, and the self-destructive voice inside that she calls "outofshapeworthlessloser." When Gracie Gold stepped onto center stage (or ice, rather) as America's sweetheart at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, she instantly became the face of America's most beloved winter sport. Beautiful, blonde, Midwestern, and media-trained, she was suddenly being written up everywhere from The New Yorker to Teen Vogue to People and baking cookies with Taylor Swift. But little did the public know what Gold was facing when the cameras were off. In 2017, she entered treatment for what was publicly announced as an eating disorder and anxiety treatment but was, in reality, suicidal ideation. While Gold's public star was rising, her private life was falling apart: Cracks within her family were widening, her bulimia was getting worse, and she became a survivor of sexual assault. The pressure of training for years with demanding coaches and growing up in a household that accepted nothing less than gold had finally taken its toll. Now Gold reveals the exclusive and harrowing story of her struggles in and out of the pressure-packed world of elite figure skating: the battles with her family, her coaches, the powers-that-be at her federation, and her deteriorating mental health. Told with unflinching honesty and stirring defiance, Outofshapeworthlessloser is not only a forceful reckoning from a world-class athlete but also an intimate account of surviving as a young woman in a society that rewards appearances more than anything and demands perfection at all costs"--
Beautiful ugly
"Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life. He calls his wife, Abby, to share some exciting news as she is driving home. He hears Abby slam on the brakes when she sees something in the road ahead. Over Grady's protests, Abby gets out of the car. When he eventually finds her car by the cliff edge, the headlights are on, the driver's door is open, her phone is still there... but his wife has disappeared. A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby. He can't sleep, and he can't write, so he travels to a tiny, remote Scottish island to try and get his life back on track. And then he sees the impossible: a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife"--Inside jacket flap
Yellowface
What's the harm in a pseudonym? Bestselling sensation Juniper Song is not who she says she is, she didn't write the book she claims she wrote, and she is most certainly not Asian American--in this chilling and hilariously cutting novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author R. F. Kuang in the vein of White Ivy and The Other Black Girl. Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars: same year at Yale, same debut year in publishing. But Athenas a cross-genre literary darling, and June didn't even get a paperback release. Nobody wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks. So when June witnesses Athenas death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athenas just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers to the British and French war efforts during World War I. So what if June edits Athenas novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song--complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn't this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That's what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree. But June cant get away from Athenas shadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring Junes (stolen) success down around her. As June races to protect her secret, she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves. With its totally immersive first-person voice, Yellowface takes on questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation not only in the publishing industry but the persistent erasure of Asian-American voices and history by Western white society. R. F. Kuang's novel is timely, razor-sharp, and eminently readable
The good girl
The daughter of a prominent Chicago judge and his socialite wife, inner-city art teacher Mia Dennett is taken hostage by her one-night stand, Colin Thatcher, who, instead of delivering her to his employers, hides her in a secluded cabin in rural Minnesota to keep her safe from harm
Books Inspired by Sandra Jackson-Opoku
Savvy Summers and the sweet potato crimes
"When Savvy Summers first opened Essie's soul food café, she never expected her customer-favorite sweet potato pie to become the center of a murder investigation. But when Grandy Jaspers, the 75-year-old neighborhood womanizer, drops dead at table two, she suddenly has more to worry about than just maintaining Essie's reputation for the finest soul food in the Chicagoland area. Even as the police deem Grandy's death an accident, Savvy quickly finds herself -- and her beloved café -- in the middle of an entire city's worth of bad press. Desperate to clear her name and keep her business afloat, Savvy and her snooping assistant manager, Penny Lopés, take it upon themselves to find who really killed Grandy. But with a slimy investor harassing her to sell her name and business, customers avoiding her sweet potato pie like the plague, and her police sergeant ex-husband suddenly back in the picture, will Savvy be able to clear the café's name and solve Grandy's murder before it all falls apart? After all, while Savvy always said her sweet potato pie was to die for, she never meant literally"--
Savvy Summers and the po'boy perils a mystery
"The next delectable mystery featuring quick-witted, unforgettable Savvy Summers, owner of a soul food café in Chicago. Savvy has her work cut out when an old friend hires her to cater a company luncheon at a nearby office building on Chicago's South Side. Stepping out of her traditional soul food comfort zone, Savvy whips together a menu of Creole classics, with her own spin, of course-mini po'boys with assorted fillings, sunburst salad, and bread pudding using Great Aunt Essie's famous buttermilk biscuits. But when someone is found dead in the company's conference room, Savvy's culinary creations are suddenly in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. While the focus should be on their delicious flavors and inventive techniques, Savvy's beloved café instead becomes the center of a murder investigation once again. Caught within a messy web of gossip, miscommunication, and fraught coworker relationships, Savvy will have to settle the confusion to clear her name. Somebody's hiding something, and with the help of her trusty assistant manager, Penny Lopés, Savvy sets out uncover exactly who is to blame. With familiar faces turning up the heat on her investigation and her café still in hot water, will Savvy be able to save her reputation before it's too late?"-- Provided by publisher
The river where blood is born
"[A] journey along the river of one family's history, carving a course across two centuries and three continents, from ancient Africa into today's America. Here, through the lives of Mother Africa's many daughters, we come to understand the real meaning of roots: the captive Proud Mary, who has been savagely punished for refusing to relinquish her child to slavery; Earlene, who witnesses her father's murder at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan; Big Momma, a modern-day matriarch who can make a woman of a girl; proud and sassy Cinnamon Brown, whose wild abandon hides a bitter loss; and smart, ambitious Alma, who is torn between the love of a man and the song of her soul"--Page 4 of cover
Revise the Psalm work celebrating the writing of Gwendolyn Brooks
Essays, poetry, and art included in this anthology celebrate the one-hundredth birthday of the late poet and cultural icon Gwendolyn Brooks
Red Line : Chicago horror stories
"The Second City is second to none when it comes to terror. From H.H. Holmes, America's first serial killer, to the Jane Byrne Interchange at rush hour, there's an ill wind blowing through the Windy City. In this new anthology, nineteen stories by nineteen authors from the Chicago area take you on a bloodcurdling tour of the best city in the world"--Page 4 of cover
Africa risen a new era of speculative fiction
"From award-winning editorial team Sheree Renée Thomas, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, and Zelda Knight comes an anthology of thirty-two original stories showcasing the breadth of fantasy and science fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora. A group of cabinet ministers query a supercomputer containing the minds of the country's ancestors. A child robot on a dying planet uncovers signs of fragile new life. A descendent of a rain goddess inherits her grandmother's ability to change her appearance-and perhaps the world. Created in the legacy of the seminal, award-winning anthology series Dark Matter, Africa Risen celebrates the vibrancy, diversity, and reach of African and Afro-Diasporic SFF and reaffirms that Africa is not rising-it's already here."--
Booked for murder
"In this atmospheric southern cozy debut, Madeline Brimley returns to the bookstore she inherited, discovering that small towns hold deadly secrets. Madeline Brimley left small town Georgia many years ago to go to college and pursue her dreams on the stage. Her dramatic escapades are many but success has eluded her, leaving her at loose ends. But then she gets word that not only has her beloved, eccentric Aunt Rose passed, but she's left Madeline her equally eccentric bookstore housed in an old Victorian mansion in the small college town of Enigma. But when she arrives in her beat-up Fiat to claim The Old Juniper Bookstore, and restart her life, Madeline is faced with unexpected challenges. The gazebo in the back yard is set ablaze and a late night caller threatens to burn the whole store down if she doesn't leave immediately. But Madeline Brimley, not one to be intimidated, ignores the threats and soldiers on. Until there's another fire and a murder in the store itself. Now with a cloud of suspicion falling over her, it's up to Madeline to untangle the skein of secrets and find the killer before she herself is the next victim"--
Arsenic and adobo
"The first book in a new culinary cozy series full of sharp humor and delectable dishes-one that might just be killer.... When Lila Macapagal moves back home to recover from a horrible breakup, her life seems to be following all the typical rom-com tropes. She's tasked with saving her Tita Rosie's failing restaurant, and she has to deal with a group of matchmaking aunties who shower her with love and judgment. But when a notoriously nasty food critic (who happens to be her ex-boyfriend) drops dead moments after a confrontation with Lila, her life quickly swerves from a Nora Ephron romp to an Agatha Christie case. With the cops treating her like she's the one and only suspect, and the shady landlord looking to finally kick the Macapagal family out and resell the storefront, Lila's left with no choice but to conduct her own investigation. Armed with the nosy auntie network, her barista best bud, and her trusted Dachshund, Longanisa, Lila takes on this tasty, twisted case and soon finds her own neck on the chopping block..."--
Trouble in Queenstown
"With Trouble in Queenstown, Delia Pitts introduces private investigator Vandy Myrick in a powerful mystery that blends grief, class, race, and family with thrilling results. Evander "Vandy" Myrick became a cop to fulfill her father's expectations. After her world cratered, she became a private eye to satisfy her own. Now she's back in Queenstown, New Jersey, her childhood home, in search of solace and recovery. It's a small community of nine thousand souls crammed into twelve square miles, fenced by cornfields, warehouses, pharma labs, and tract housing. As a Black woman, privacy is hard to come by in "Q-Town," and worth guarding. For Vandy, that means working plenty of divorce cases. They're nasty, lucrative, and fun in an unwholesome way. To keep the cash flowing and expand her local contacts, Vandy agrees to take on a new client, the mayor's nephew, Leo Hannah. Leo wants Vandy to tail his wife to uncover evidence for a divorce suit. At first the surveillance job seems routine, but Vandy soon realizes there's trouble beneath the bland surface of the case when a racially charged murder with connections to the Hannah family rocks Q-Town. Fingers point. Clients appear. Opposition to the inquiry hardens. And Vandy's sight lines begin to blur as her determination to uncover the truth deepens. She's a minor league PI with few friends and no resources. Logic pegs her chances of solving the case between slim and hell no. But logic isn't her strong suit. Vandy won't back off"--
The game is afoot
"A clever and hilarious new mystery about a mother who thinks she has to do it all-even solve a murder-from the author of It's Elementary. After rage quitting her job, Mavis finally has time to get all the rest she's been putting off. Or she should have the time. Hypothetically. Except she's taken on a new role: Supermom. Her hours are filled with chauffeuring her daughter, Pearl, around to her extracurricular activities, somehow ending up class mom, and...investigating another mystery? When Coach Cole, the director of the kids' soccer program, drops dead on a sunny Saturday morning, no one suspects foul play. However, the police soon discover something suspicious left on the field, making it clear that someone had it in for the coach. But who? Sure, parents got mad when he made their precious star athletes sit on the bench, but not that mad. Mavis is determined to find out, even if it takes her into the dark, dangerous underbelly of gentle parents and MLM girlbosses. Plus, it's an easy distraction from everything else going on. Like the panic attacks she keeps brushing off. Or the fact that she's unemployed and totally lost as to what her purpose and path in life should be. And then there's her ex-husband who's back in town and doing everything she's ever wanted, just as she's beginning a new relationship. Mavis knows a murder investigation probably isn't the self-care she needs right now. But how exactly are you supposed to take care of yourself when you don't even know who you are anymore?"--
The library game
"In The Library Game, Tempest Raj and Secret Staircase Construction are renovating a classic detective fiction library that just got its first real-life mystery. Tempest Raj couldn't be happier that the family business, Secret Staircase Construction, is finally getting the recognition it deserves. Known for enchanting architectural features like sliding bookshelves and secret passageways, the company is now taking on a dream project: transforming a home into a public library that celebrates history's greatest fictional detectives. Though the work is far from done, Gray House Library's new owner is eager to host a murder mystery dinner and literary themed escape room. But when a rehearsal ends with an actor murdered and the body vanishes, Tempest is witness to a seemingly impossible crime. Fueled by her grandfather's Scottish and Indian meals, Tempest and the rest of the crew must figure out who is making beloved classic mystery plots come to life in a deadly game. Multiple award winning author Gigi Pandian masterfully weaves wit and warmth in the Secret Staircase Mysteries. Readers will delight in the surprises Secret Staircase Construction uncovers behind the next locked door"--
Public anchovy #1
"While Geneva Bay's upper crust gets ready to party down at a Prohibition-themed fundraiser, pizza chef Delilah O'Leary is focused on seeing her struggling restaurant through the winter slow season. But Delilah's hopes of perfecting a new "free-from" pizza recipe for a charity bash are dashed when a dead body crashes the party. Soon, Delilah and her entire staff are trapped in an isolated mansion and embroiled in a dangerous game of cat and mouse. To catch an increasingly desperate killer, Delilah will have to top all of her previous crime-solving accomplishments, and a few pizzas, too"--
Books Inspired by Daniel Kraus
Angel down
"The critically acclaimed author of the "crazily enjoyable" (The New York Times) Whalefall returns with an immersive, cinematic novel about five World War I soldiers who stumble upon a fallen angel that could hold the key to ending the war. Private Cyril Bagger has managed to survive the unspeakable horrors of the Great War through his wits and deception, swindling fellow soldiers at every opportunity. But his survival instincts are put to the ultimate test when he and four other grunts are given a deadly mission: venture into the perilous No Man's Land to euthanize a wounded comrade. What they find amid the ruined battlefield, however, is not a man in need of mercy but a fallen angel, seemingly struck down by artillery fire. This celestial being may hold the key to ending the brutal conflict, but only if the soldiers can suppress their individual desires and work together. As jealousy, greed, and paranoia take hold, the group is torn apart by their inner demons, threatening to turn their angelic encounter into a descent into hell. Angel Down plunges you into the heart of World War I and weaves a polyphonic tale of survival, supernatural wonder, and moral conflict"--
Whalefall
"Jay Gardiner has given himself a fool's errand-to find the remains of his deceased father in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Monastery Beach. He knows it's a long shot, but Jay feels it's the only way for him to lift the weight of guilt he has carried since his dad's death by suicide the previous year. The dive begins well enough, but the sudden appearance of a giant squid puts Jay in very real jeopardy, made infinitely worse by the arrival of a sperm whale looking to feed. Suddenly, Jay is caught in the squid's tenacles and drawn into the whale's mouth where he is pulled into the first of its four stomachs. He quickly realizes he has only one hour before his oxygen tanks run out-one hour to defeat his demons and escape the belly of a whale."--
The sixth nik
"Deep into space, far past the triworld outposts, beyond range of the lethal trollbot internet, soars The Sickness: a ship woven from biomatter and capable of reacting to every need of its human crew. Sisilla, a nine-year-old cultist with a brain enhanced by arcane tech known as "niks," has boarded to investigate the enigma of Fem--a plague-riddled planet that has abruptly gone rogue. The mysterious crew includes a faceless assassin, a beautiful engineer jigsawed by plastic surgery, a peyote-addicted medic, and--most lethal of all--a rugged, NonModded captain with a score to settle with Sisilla. Other dangers abound. A hacked robot begins to believe Sisilla is its daughter. The Sickness itself is mutating, possibly even pregnant. And the secret of Fem is more horrific than anyone could have imagined. To survive, Sisilla will need to forsake her predetermined fate and embrace the unknown." -- Front jacket flap
Partially devoured : how Night of the Living Dead saved my life and changed the world
"Daniel Kraus first saw George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead when he was five years old. Through watching it approximately three hundred times since, Kraus discovered the many ways the film is tied to his childhood trauma and how its influence has carried into his adulthood. He couldn't help but wonder: Are there other admirers of the film out there who feel the same? Partially Devoured uses a frame-by-frame deep dive into Night of the Living Dead to produce a kaleidoscopic cultural investigation of the film's importance and to examine the author's early life of rural isolation and local violence"-- Provided by publisher
Pay the piper
In 2019, while sifting through University of Pittsburgh Library's System's George A. Romero Archival Collection, novelist Daniel Kraus turned up a surprise: a half-finished novel called Pay the Piper, a project few had ever heard of. In the years since, Kraus has worked with Romero's estate to bring this unfinished masterwork to light. Alligator Point, Louisiana, population 141: Young Renée Pontiac has heard stories of "the Piper" -- a murderous swamp entity haunting the bayou -- her entire life. But now the legend feels horrifically real: children are being taken and gruesomely slain. To resist, Pontiac and the town's desperate denizens will need to acknowledge the sins of their ancestors -- the infamous slave traders, the Pirates Lafitte. If they don't... it's time to pay the piper
The shape of water
*Winner of the 2018 Golden Globe Award for Best Director of a Motion Picture* *Winner of the 2018 Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director* Visionary storyteller Guillermo del Toro and celebrated author Daniel Kraus combine their estimable talent in this haunting, heartbreaking audiobook. The Shape of Water is set in Cold War-era Baltimore at the Occam Aerospace Research Center, which has recently received its most sensitive asset ever: an amphibious man captured in the Amazon. What unfolds is a stirring romance between the asset and one of the janitors on staff, a mute woman who uses sign language to communicate with the creature. Developed from the ground up as a bold two-tiered release-one story interpreted by two artists in the independent mediums of literature and film-The Shape of Water weaves together fantasy, horror, and romance to create a tale that is equally gripping on the big screen, and as an audio performance. Prepare for an experience unlike anything you've ever heard or seen. Praise for The Shape of Water audiobook: "This is a beautifully written tale filled with lush descriptions and poetic language, perfect for savoring on audio. Listeners new to the story will be enchanted, but even those who've seen the movie will be drawn into this first-rate adaptation of the poignant tale." - Booklist, starred review "Jenna Lamia's luminous narration of a love like no other is profoundly affecting and transformative." - AudioFile Magazine
The Autumnal: The Complete Series
Her estranged mother's death brings Kat Somerville back to Comfort Notch, New Hampshire, a home town she can barely remember. As she and her daughter Sybil try to settle into a new life, Kat discovers that sometimes home is best forgotten. WELCOME TO COMFORT NOTCH! HOME OF AMERICA'S PRETTIEST AUTUMN. YOU'LL NEVER WANT TO LEAVE. Following the death of her estranged mother, Kat Somerville and her daughter, Sybil, flee a difficult life in Chicago for the quaint--and possibly pernicious--town of Comfort Notch, New Hampshire. From NY Times best-selling author, Daniel Kraus (The Shape of Water, Trollhunters, The Living Dead), and rising star Chris Shehan, comes a haunting vision of America's prettiest autumn
Athanasia
Athanasia, where the heroic dead bleed power into the ground ... only to be unearthed by a down-on-her-luck young woman to unforeseeable consequences. Some secrets are best left buried. Forrest Molson is going nowhere. One year out of high school -- and one year into sobriety -- she's working with her father as assistant groundskeeper at Athanasia Cemetery, the final resting place of fallen members of the Dynamic Guild, Venture City's resident superheroes. At her lowest point, Forrest discovers Athanasia's darkest secret. At night, the cemetery soil bleeds a substance created from the spectacular substances that ooze from rotting superheroes. This ooze becomes Forrest's new drug -- and she's intent on using her unpredictable new powers to be judge, jury, and executioner of Venture City's evil citizens. But as she loses her mind to her new addiction, she inches closer to becoming the most evil of all. Athanasia is a superhero story seen through the darkest lens."--Amazon.com
Rotters
Grave-robbing. What kind of monster would do such a thing? It's true that Leonardo da Vinci did it, Shakespeare wrote about it, and the resurrection men of nineteenth-century Scotland practically made it an art. But none of this matters to Joey Crouch, a sixteen-year-old straight-A student living in Chicago with his single mom. For the most part, Joey's life is about playing the trumpet and avoiding the daily humiliations of high school. Everything changes when Joey's mother dies in a tragic accident and he is sent to rural Iowa to live with the father he has never known, a strange, solitary man with unimaginable secrets. At first, Joey's father wants nothing to do with him, but once father and son come to terms with each other, Joey's life takes a turn both macabre and exhilarating. Daniel Kraus's masterful plotting and unforgettable characters make Rotters a moving, terrifying, and unconventional epic about fathers and sons, complex family ties, taboos, and the ever-present specter of mortality
The living dead
New York Times bestselling author Daniel Kraus completes George A. Romero's brand-new masterpiece of zombie horror, the massive novel left unfinished at Romero's death! George A. Romero invented the modern zombie with Night of the Living Dead, creating a monster that has become a key part of pop culture. Romero often felt hemmed in by the constraints of film-making. To tell the story of the rise of the zombies and the fall of humanity the way it should be told, Romero turned to fiction. Unfortunately, when he died, the story was incomplete. Enter Daniel Kraus, co-author, with Guillermo del Toro, of the New York Times bestseller The Shape of Water (based on the Academy Award-winning movie) and Trollhunters (which became an Emmy Award-winning series), and author of The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch (an Entertainment Weekly Top 10 Book of the Year). A lifelong Romero fan, Kraus was honored to be asked, by Romero's widow, to complete The Living Dead. Set in the present day, The Living Dead is an entirely new tale, the story of the zombie plague as George A. Romero wanted to tell it. It begins with one body. A pair of medical examiners find themselves battling a dead man who won't stay dead. It spreads quickly. In a Midwestern trailer park, a Black teenage girl and a Muslim immigrant battle newly-risen friends and family. On a US aircraft carrier, living sailors hide from dead ones while a fanatic makes a new religion out of death. At a cable news station, a surviving anchor keeps broadcasting while his undead colleagues try to devour him. In DC, an autistic federal employee charts the outbreak, preserving data for a future that may never come. Everywhere, people are targeted by both the living and the dead. We think we know how this story ends. We. Are. Wrong
In memoriam
"It's 1914, and World War I is ceaselessly churning through thousands of young men on both sides of the fight. The violence of the front feels far away to Henry Gaunt, Sidney Ellwood and the rest of their classmates, all of whom are safely ensconced in their idyllic boarding school in the English countryside. They receive weekly dispatches from The Preshutian, their school newspaper, informing them of older classmates killed or wounded in action. Their heroic deaths only make the war more exciting. Gaunt, half-German, is busy fighting his own private battle--an all-consuming infatuation with his best friend, the gorgeous, rich, charming Ellwood--not having a clue that Ellwood is pining for him in return. Meanwhile, Gaunt's German mother and twin sister ask him to enlist as an officer in the British army to protect the family from the anti-German attacks they're already facing. Gaunt signs up immediately, relieved to escape his overwhelming feelings for Ellwood. The front is horrific, of course, and though Gaunt tries to dissuade Ellwood from joining him on the battlefield, Ellwood soon rushes to join him, fueled by his education in Greek heroics and romantic wartime poetry. Before long, most of their classmates have followed suit. Once in the trenches, the boys become intimately acquainted with the harsh realities of war. Ellwood and Gaunt find fleeting moments of solace in one other, but their friends are all dying, often in front of them, and no one knows when they'll be next."--
Piñata
"A Head Full of Ghosts meets Mexican Gothic in Piñata, a terrifying possession tale by author and artist Leopoldo Gout. They were worshiped by our ancestors. Now they are forgotten. Soon, they will make us remember. It was supposed to be the perfect summer. Carmen Sanchez is back in Mexico, supervising the renovation of an ancient abbey. Her daughters Izel and Luna, too young to be left alone in New York, join her in what Carmen hopes is a chance for them to connect with their roots. Then, an accident at the worksite unearths a stash of rare, centuries-old artifacts. The disaster costs Carmen her job, cutting the family trip short. But something malevolent and unexplainable follows them home to New York, stalking the Sanchez family and heralding a coming catastrophe. And it may already be too late to escape what's been awakened..."--