This gilded abyss

Nix is a sergeant with a troubled past and an excellent record of keeping those under her command alive. One of her ghosts resurfaces in the form of Kessandra, an aristocratic "people's princess" and Nix's ex-lover. Despite the anger, tension, and guilt running between them, Kess needs Nix's help to solve the mystery behind a horrific disease causing its victims to violently attack everyone around them. Unfortunately, the clues can only be found on a deep-sea vessel traveling to a domed underwater city. Dangers multiply in this fragile, confined environment, but so too do the sparks between lady and bodyguard. Having a lot in common with horror movies like Underwater or Leviathan, This Gilded Abyss departs from the cozy style that readers of Thorne's Tomes & Tea series may expect. However, fans of shows like Arcane will love the magic-tech setting and the relationship between Nix and Kess, while players of the video game series Bioshock will have many predictions about the industrious, luxurious undersea city of Fall. A complicated, sapphic romance as well as a tale of horrors unleashed by corruption, greed, and hubris.

Taking a detour from all things cozy, Thorne (Can't Spell Treason Without Tea) amps up the tension and danger in this fast-paced standalone fantasy. Sgt. Nix Marr swore she would never take another assignment in the Crypt, the deep sea mines underneath the submerged city of Fall and the primary source of ichoron, a metallic substance with seemingly limitless applications. Her last deployment to the mines ended with her best friend dead and Nix's heart broken by her royal ex, Subarch Kessandra "Kess" Marie Vendermere Biltean III. Now, however, Kess needs Nix's help investigating a massacre in Fall, and she's not above using bribery to get her way. Nix reluctantly agrees to act as Kess's bodyguard aboard the Luminosity, the submersible that makes the three day trip to Fall. They soon discover that the ship offers no safety from the violence sweeping Fall as an illness that "incites violent rage in its victims" spreads among the passengers, putting both women in terrible danger. Thorne skillfully weaves together horror, mystery, and sapphic romance to create an un-put-downable fantasy. Hannah Whitten fans should snap this up. Agent: Taryn Fagerness, Taryn Fagerness Agency. (Nov.)