USA Today posted the cover reveal and excerpt for Melissa Marr’s latest book, Carnival of Souls. The book releases on September 4 and is the first of a new series.
“Photographing the mask actually on fire was key to getting across that sense of realism we were after for this,” Freeman says, “then manipulating the flames so we have something equally dramatic, eye-catching and beautiful. This piece was a real pleasure to work on.”
Synopsis:
In a city of daimons, rigid class lines separate the powerful from the power-hungry. And at the heart of The City is the Carnival of Souls, where both murder and pleasure are offered up for sale. Once in a generation, the carnival hosts a deadly competition that allows every daimon a chance to join the ruling elite. Without the competition, Aya and Kaleb would both face bleak futures—if for different reasons. For each of them, fighting to the death is the only way to try to live.
All Mallory knows of The City is that her father — and every other witch there — fled it for a life in exile in the human world. Instead of a typical teenage life full of friends and maybe even a little romance, Mallory scans quiet streets for threats, hides herself away, and trains to be lethal. She knows it’s only a matter of time until a daimon finds her and her father, so she readies herself for the inevitable. While Mallory possesses little knowledge of The City, every inhabitant of The City knows of her. There are plans for Mallory, and soon she, too, will be drawn into the decadence and danger that is the Carnival of Souls.
Exclusive excerpt: ‘Carnival of Souls’ by Melissa Marr