The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo
Leslie Bruin is assigned to the backwoods township of Spar Creek by the Frontier Nursing Service, under its usual mandate: vaccinate the flock, birth babies, and weather the judgements of churchy locals who look at him and see a failed woman. Forged in the fires of the Western Front and reborn in the cafes of Paris, Leslie believes he can handle whatever is thrown at him—but Spar Creek holds a darkness beyond his nightmares.
Something ugly festers within the local congregation, and its malice has focused on a young person they insist is an unruly tomboy who must be brought to heel. Violence is bubbling when Leslie arrives, ready to spill over, and he'll have to act fast if he intends to be of use. But the hills enfolding Spar Creek have a mind of their own, and the woods are haunted in ways Leslie does not understand.
The Woods All Black is a story of passion, prejudice, and power — an Appalachian period piece that explores reproductive justice and bodily autonomy, the terrors of small-town religiosity, and the necessity of fighting tooth and claw to live as who you truly are.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Praise for this book
A World Fantasy Award Nominee!
A Men's Health Most Anticipated Fantasy!
An Indie Next Pick!
An NPR Best of the Year Selection!
“Mandelo doesn’t pull any punches, including in his delivery of PEAK queer revenge. If you don’t absolutely howl with schadenfreude at the ending, I don’t know what to do with you.” —Shelley Parker-Chan for SciFiNow
“Tense, haunting, and deeply human, this is the Appalachian horror of the year.” —Gretchen Felker-Martin, author of Manhunt
“The Woods All Black is a hopeful, wrathful meditation on monstrous religiosity and queer survival. A bloody, howling catharsis of a book.” —Tasha Suri, World Fantasy Award-winning author of the Jasmine Throne series
“The Woods All Black blends revenge, identity, and love in a tense and slow-building story that surges to a horrifically satisfying conclusion. This is a viscerally brutal and ultimately hopeful tribute to queer forebears, both known and lost to time.” —Booklist, starred review
“A compelling tale about the tension between the perceived safety of following orders and rules established by others, the strength found in being one’s true self, and the terrible power in violent revenge.” —Library Journal
“The Woods All Black blew my mind and cemented Lee Mandelo as a king of modern gothic.” —Fabienne Schwizer, Grimdark
“Retribution has never been this sexy.” —Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Ghost Eaters and What Kind of Mother
Praise for Feed Them Silence
“Feed Them Silence is a toxic love story with the world we're killing. You'll want to put it down, but you won't.” —Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of The Once and Future Witches
“Holy hell, what a visceral and heart-clenching book. Feed Them Silence is a searing portrait of what it means to give up distance for the sake of understanding.” —Sarah Gailey, bestselling author of Magic for Liars
“Marvelously original and told with sensual perfection, Feed Them Silence is a beautiful, haunting testament to human need—and a lament for everything it destroys.” —Andy Davidson, author of The Hollow Kind
“An unsettling exploration of intimacy...Feed Them Silence subtly illuminates the disintegration of boundaries: humans and animals, work and love, research and exploitation.” —E.J. Beaton, author of The Councillor
“Mandelo delivers a powerful message about environmentalism and the limits of technology that doubles as a page-turning story about a collapsing marriage. Urgent, intimate, immediate, this is sure to wow.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“This novella... will make readers consider their own beliefs regarding ethics, research, technology, and relationships.” —Library Journal
Additional Praise for Lee Mandelo
“Hooks you hard and fast from the start, then drags you kicking and screaming and loving it on a twisted backroad nightmare full of bad boys and badder revenants. A damn fine mystery thriller, wrapped in aching gorgeous prose and gasping action.” —Sam J. Miller on Summer Sons
“A gripping, gasoline-drenched story of ghosts, friendships, and things left unspoken.” —Sarah Pinsker on Summer Sons
“Full of angst and lingering spirits, Mandelo’s debut is like Tennessee molasses—dense, dark, slow-moving, and with a distinct Southern flavor.” —Publishers Weekly on Summer Sons
“So visceral that you can feel the clammy sweat of fear and secrets, and it's full of the ugly rubbing edges of masculine frustration that's both the desire for violence, and desire itself.” —Shelley Parker-Chan on Summer Sons
About the AuthorLee Mandelo (he/him) is a USA Today bestselling writer, scholar, and editor whose work focuses on queer/trans and speculative fiction. His recent books include the original anthology Amplitudes: Stories of Queer Futurity, the contemporary gay Southern gothic novel Summer Sons, and the novellas Feed Them Silence and The Woods All Black. Mandelo's own short fiction, scholarship, and criticism can be read in publications including Reactor, Post45, Uncanny, and Capacious; he has also been a past nominee for various awards including the Lambda, Nebula, World Fantasy, Goodreads Choice, and Hugo. He holds a PhD in Gender Studies from the University of Kentucky and currently resides in Louisville. Further information, interviews, and sundry little posts about current media he's enjoying can be found at leemandelo.com or @leemandelo on socials.
Title: The Woods All Black
Author(s): Lee Mandelo
ISBN: 9781250790323
Copyright 2024
Release Date: March 19, 2024
Publisher: Tor Publishing Group
Countries: United States, Canada | Learn more about available countries
Language: English
Format: ePub,mobi | Learn More about our supported formats
Dragonmount is a proud provider of DRM-free eBooks. By purchasing any eBook from our store, you are not only helping support our website, but you are helping small businesses thrive in a market traditionally dominated by large companies. Learn more in our eBook FAQ.
About The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo
The Woods All Black is equal parts historical horror, trans romance, and blood-soaked revenge, all set in 1920s Appalachia
Leslie Bruin is assigned to the backwoods township of Spar Creek by the Frontier Nursing Service, under its usual mandate: vaccinate the flock, birth babies, and weather the judgements of churchy locals who look at him and see a failed woman. Forged in the fires of the Western Front and reborn in the cafes of Paris, Leslie believes he can handle whatever is thrown at him—but Spar Creek holds a darkness beyond his nightmares.
Something ugly festers within the local congregation, and its malice has focused on a young person they insist is an unruly tomboy who must be brought to heel. Violence is bubbling when Leslie arrives, ready to spill over, and he'll have to act fast if he intends to be of use. But the hills enfolding Spar Creek have a mind of their own, and the woods are haunted in ways Leslie does not understand.
The Woods All Black is a story of passion, prejudice, and power — an Appalachian period piece that explores reproductive justice and bodily autonomy, the terrors of small-town religiosity, and the necessity of fighting tooth and claw to live as who you truly are.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Praise for this book
A World Fantasy Award Nominee!
A Men's Health Most Anticipated Fantasy!
An Indie Next Pick!
An NPR Best of the Year Selection!
“Mandelo doesn’t pull any punches, including in his delivery of PEAK queer revenge. If you don’t absolutely howl with schadenfreude at the ending, I don’t know what to do with you.” —Shelley Parker-Chan for SciFiNow
“Tense, haunting, and deeply human, this is the Appalachian horror of the year.” —Gretchen Felker-Martin, author of Manhunt
“The Woods All Black is a hopeful, wrathful meditation on monstrous religiosity and queer survival. A bloody, howling catharsis of a book.” —Tasha Suri, World Fantasy Award-winning author of the Jasmine Throne series
“The Woods All Black blends revenge, identity, and love in a tense and slow-building story that surges to a horrifically satisfying conclusion. This is a viscerally brutal and ultimately hopeful tribute to queer forebears, both known and lost to time.” —Booklist, starred review
“A compelling tale about the tension between the perceived safety of following orders and rules established by others, the strength found in being one’s true self, and the terrible power in violent revenge.” —Library Journal
“The Woods All Black blew my mind and cemented Lee Mandelo as a king of modern gothic.” —Fabienne Schwizer, Grimdark
“Retribution has never been this sexy.” —Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Ghost Eaters and What Kind of Mother
Praise for Feed Them Silence
“Feed Them Silence is a toxic love story with the world we're killing. You'll want to put it down, but you won't.” —Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of The Once and Future Witches
“Holy hell, what a visceral and heart-clenching book. Feed Them Silence is a searing portrait of what it means to give up distance for the sake of understanding.” —Sarah Gailey, bestselling author of Magic for Liars
“Marvelously original and told with sensual perfection, Feed Them Silence is a beautiful, haunting testament to human need—and a lament for everything it destroys.” —Andy Davidson, author of The Hollow Kind
“An unsettling exploration of intimacy...Feed Them Silence subtly illuminates the disintegration of boundaries: humans and animals, work and love, research and exploitation.” —E.J. Beaton, author of The Councillor
“Mandelo delivers a powerful message about environmentalism and the limits of technology that doubles as a page-turning story about a collapsing marriage. Urgent, intimate, immediate, this is sure to wow.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“This novella... will make readers consider their own beliefs regarding ethics, research, technology, and relationships.” —Library Journal
Additional Praise for Lee Mandelo
“Hooks you hard and fast from the start, then drags you kicking and screaming and loving it on a twisted backroad nightmare full of bad boys and badder revenants. A damn fine mystery thriller, wrapped in aching gorgeous prose and gasping action.” —Sam J. Miller on Summer Sons
“A gripping, gasoline-drenched story of ghosts, friendships, and things left unspoken.” —Sarah Pinsker on Summer Sons
“Full of angst and lingering spirits, Mandelo’s debut is like Tennessee molasses—dense, dark, slow-moving, and with a distinct Southern flavor.” —Publishers Weekly on Summer Sons
“So visceral that you can feel the clammy sweat of fear and secrets, and it's full of the ugly rubbing edges of masculine frustration that's both the desire for violence, and desire itself.” —Shelley Parker-Chan on Summer Sons
About the Author
Lee Mandelo (he/him) is a USA Today bestselling writer, scholar, and editor whose work focuses on queer/trans and speculative fiction. His recent books include the original anthology Amplitudes: Stories of Queer Futurity, the contemporary gay Southern gothic novel Summer Sons, and the novellas Feed Them Silence and The Woods All Black. Mandelo's own short fiction, scholarship, and criticism can be read in publications including Reactor, Post45, Uncanny, and Capacious; he has also been a past nominee for various awards including the Lambda, Nebula, World Fantasy, Goodreads Choice, and Hugo. He holds a PhD in Gender Studies from the University of Kentucky and currently resides in Louisville. Further information, interviews, and sundry little posts about current media he's enjoying can be found at leemandelo.com or @leemandelo on socials.
Title: The Woods All Black
Author(s): Lee Mandelo
ISBN: 9781250790323
Copyright 2024
Release Date: March 19, 2024
Publisher: Tor Publishing Group
Countries: United States, Canada | Learn more about available countries
Language: English
Format: ePub,mobi | Learn More about our supported formats
Dragonmount is a proud provider of DRM-free eBooks. By purchasing any eBook from our store, you are not only helping support our website, but you are helping small businesses thrive in a market traditionally dominated by large companies. Learn more in our eBook FAQ.
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