Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about but haven’t yet read. Most of the time they’re books that have yet to be released, but not always. It’s based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme, which was originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.
This week my Can’t-Wait-For is No Gods For Drowning by Hailey Piper!
Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Sapphic MC, F/F
Published on: 20th September 2022
Goodreads
IN THE BEGINNING, MAN WAS PREY.
WITHOUT THE GODS, THEY'LL BE PREY AGAIN.
The old gods have fled, and the monsters they had kept at bay for centuries now threaten to drown the city of Valentine, hunting mankind as in ancient times. In the midst of the chaos, a serial killer has begun ritually sacrificing victims, their bodies strewn throughout the city.
Lilac Antonis wants to stop the impending destruction of her city by summoning her mother, a blood god—even if she has to slit a few throats to do it. But evading her lover Arcadia and her friends means sneaking, lying, and even spilling the blood of people she loves.
Alex and Cecil of Ace Investigations have been tasked with hunting down the killer, but as they close in—not knowing they're hunting their close friend Lilac—the detectives realize the gods may not have left willingly.
As flooding drags this city of cars and neon screaming into the jaws of sea demons and Arcadia struggles to save the people as captain of the evacuation team, Lilac’s ritual killings at last bear fruit, only to reveal her as a small piece in a larger plan. The gods’ protection costs far more than anyone has ever known, and Alex and Cecil are running out of time to discover the true culprit behind the gods’ disappearance before an ancient divine murder plot destroys them all.
Set in an alternate reality which updates mythology to near-modern day, NO GODS FOR DROWNING is part hunt for a serial killer, part noir detective story, and unlike anything you’ve ever read before.
Hailey Piper has written multiple horror novels with spec-fic elements (and queer leads), but this is definitely the one I’m most excited for! I love the idea of monsters so scary the gods ran away (or did they???) and while I’m not a fan of detective stories as a general rule of thumb, it’s very different when I already I know who the killer is and it’s only the police who don’t.
And I’m both horrified and intrigued by the idea of a serial killer who…actually has a genuinely good motive??? How am I supposed to process that?!
I love the idea of ‘updated’ mythology, and I’m very, very curious about these gods. Does updated mythology mean they’ll be gods we know – like the Ancient Greek pantheon – set in the modern day? Or has Piper created entirely new ones for this story? What was the cost of their protection???
Guess we’ll find out in September!
This one’s on my Unmissable SFF of 2022 list – do you think you’ll be reading it too?
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