The Society of Unknowable Objects

· Random House
Ebook
352
Pages
Eligible
This book will become available on July 31, 2025. You will not be charged until it is released.

About this ebook

The world of unknowable objects - magical items that most people have no idea possess powers - has been quiet for decades . . .

But three current members of a secret society have remained watchful, meeting every six months in the basement of a bookshop in London. They are pledged to protect their archive of magical items hidden away, safe from the outside world - and keep the world safe from them. But when Frank Simpson, the longest-standing member of the Society of Unknowable Objects, hears of a new artefact coming to light in Hong Kong, he sends the Society's newest member, author Magda Sparks, to investigate.

Within hours of arriving in Hong Kong, Magda is facing death and danger, confronted by a professional killer who seems to know all about unknowable objects, specifically one that was stolen from him a decade before. Magda is forced to flee, using an artefact that not even the rest of the Society knows about.

Returning to London, Magda learns hers is not the only secret being kept from the other two members. And that the most pernicious secret is about the nature of the Society’s mission. Her discoveries will lead her on a perilous journey, across the Atlantic to the deep south of the United States - not in pursuit of an unknowable object, but an unknowable person: the killer she first faced in Hong Kong. In doing so, Magda begins to understand that there are even more in the world who are chasing these magical items, and that her own family’s legacy is tied up in keeping all these secrets under wraps.

Magic has always been too powerful to reveal to the world. But Magda will learn there might be something even more powerful: the truth.

Praise for Gareth Brown's The Book of Doors:

'Joyful, exuberant, and crackling with adventure. This book is as magical as those it celebrates.' STUART TURTON, author of The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

'A stunning fever dream of a story that feels completely real – don't miss this fantastic thriller debut.' LEE CHILD

'A real page-turner - incredibly ambitious and inventive, The Book of Doors is a great read.'
ROSIE ANDREWS, author of The Leviathan

About the author

Gareth Brown is the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Book of Doors. He spent many years working in the UK Civil Service and is currently Director of Screening for NHS Scotland. He lives with his wife and their two Skye terriers near Edinburgh, but as an avid traveller he can often be found in different cities around the world, poking about in curiosity shops in search of unknowable objects.

You can follow him on Bluesky @garethjohnbrown.bsky.social, on Instagram garethjbrown13, and his website www.garethbrownbooks.com

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.