From critically acclaimed author Laura Bickle (Dark Alchemy)ย comes the first novel in the Wildlands series, NINE OF STARS. Longmire meets Patricia Brigg's Mercy Thompson in this exciting new series that shows how weird and wonderful the West can truly be.
Winter has always been a deadly season in Temperance, but this time, thereโs more to fear than just the cold...
As the daughter of an alchemist, Petra Dee has faced all manner of occult horrors โ especially since her arrival in the small town of Temperance, Wyoming. But she canโt explain the creature now stalking the backcountry of Yellowstone, butchering wolves and leaving only their skins behind in the snow. Rumors surface of the return of Skinflint Jack, a nineteenth-century wraith that kills in fulfillment of an ancient bargain.
The new sheriff in town, Owen Rutherford, isnโt helping matters. Heโs a dangerously haunted man on the trail of both an unsolved case and a fresh kill - a bizarre murder leading him right to Petraโs partner Gabriel. And while Gabe once had little to fear from the mortal world, heโs all too human now. This time, when violence hits close to home, there are no magical solutions.
Itโs up to Petra and her coyote sidekick Sig to get ahead of both Owen and the unnatural being hunting them all โ before the trail turns deathly cold.
Laura Bickle grew up in rural Ohio, reading entirely too many comic books out loud to her favorite Wonder Woman doll. After graduating with an MA in SociologyโCriminology from Ohio State University and an MLIS in Library Science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, she patrolled the stacks at the public library and worked with data systems in criminal justice. She now dreams up stories about the monsters under the stairs. Her work has been included in the ALAโs Amelia Bloomer Project 2013 reading list and the State Library of Ohioโs Choose to Read Ohio reading list for 2015-2016. More information about Lauraโs work can be found at www.laurabickle.com.