[ORIGINAL DRAFT SAMPLE] She is twenty-nine when the FBI comes for her, but Catherine Themis was only seventeen, grieving and naive and angry, the first time she wiped someone else's blood from her fingers and felt the snake rise in her chest. She was seventeen when she stepped into the dark and never looked back. ***** By day, Catherine Themis is an unassuming civilian administrator for the Dedwich Police Department, but by night, she is a notorious vigilante known as The Hangman. Struggling with her violent urges and the psychological cost of her actions, Catherine becomes the target of an obsessive serial killer and a relentless FBI agent, and as the hunt for the Hangman intensifies, Catherine must decide which life she wishes to live and what she values more: vengeance or her fading humanity? A psychological thriller in the vein of MINDHUNTER and HANNIBAL, SERPENT HEART is a deep-dive into the life and history of a conflicted vigilante forced to confront her inner demons and evade a national manhunt. Catherine questions the efficacy of her own convictions as the FBI closes in and a vindictive murderer puts her family, love, and identity in jeopardy. With everything on the line and time running out, who will Catherine Themis become? --- [[AVAILABLE ON AMAZON]] [[REMOVED 24 DEC 2021]] [[2019 Watty Winner - Mystery & Thriller]]

Sylas hates parties, but when he's invited to a fancy charity ball, he goes along for his sister's sake. After inadvertently stealing a magical relic, he finds himself caught in a deadly intrigue, on the run, and falling in love with a man as dangerous as the magic now bound to his life. ***** At twenty-three, Sylas Lovecraft has yet to find his Sign. Signs allow Crafters to channel magic into spells. From the stereotypical wand to crochet hooks and stirring spoons, Signs can be anything used to Create. When a Crafter dies, their Sign becomes a Relic: an artifact retaining traces of its former owner's power. Highly prized and valuable, Relics are often sold at auction to the highest bidder. While accompanying his sister to a charity ball held by the powerful Spellwright family, Sylas accidentally steals a valuable Relic, unexpectedly finds his Sign, and lands in a world of trouble. Because the Spellwrights want their Relic back, and Signs are only Relics if the Crafter is dead. (Book One of the Devil's Song Trilogy) Content Warning: language and light sexuality. Cover designed by Adam Budny