May 1, 2020

Sorcerer D.W. Griffith is spinning dark thoughts into the hearts of Americans with The Birth of a Nation, and the Klan is ready to rise. But bootlegger Maryse Boudreaux has a magic sword (she chases monsters called the Ku Kluxes) and is ready to bring down evil. From Nebula, Locus, and Alex Award-winner Clark; with a 75,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 1, 2020
This fantastical horror tale, set in early 1920s Georgia, has considerable resonance for the present-day United States. Maryse Boudreaux is a 25-year-old Black bootlegger who lost her family in a brutal Klan attack. She can see things that are hidden to most, and, in her pursuit of vengeance, wields a mystical blade tied to the spirits of African slaves and chiefs. Maryse and her friends with the sight?Sadie, a brash sharpshooter, and Chef, a female veteran of WWI?are called to Macon by Gullah matriarch Nana Jean to serve as soldiers in the ongoing war against Black bodies. Extradimensional monsters, which they call Ku Kluxes, have been possessing willing white hosts after being summoned by prominent Klan members, but an exponentially greater threat appears in the sinister Butcher Clyde, who spews a hateful noise that is the antithesis of the joyful shouts at Nana Jean's house and the singing of the spirits in Maryse's sword. Clark's latest is set in a visceral world, steeped in historical detail and full of engaging characters, that asks the question, Who is to blame for the hate that hate made? Highly recommended for all readers of speculative fiction, particularly fans of Lovecraftian monsters and body horror.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

Starred review from August 15, 2020
What if White supremacy was not only a monstrous philosophy, but was enabled by actual horrific monsters? Clark's feverishly inventive period adventure imagines this scenario in blunt and grisly detail. The story begins in 1922 on the Fourth of July, with the Ku Klux Klan literally on the march in Macon, Georgia. At first glance, everything looks very much the way it did in real-life history, except it's clear from the first chapter that there are in this white-hooded crowd of White people both human, garden-variety racist "Klans" and demonic carnivores hiding among them known as "Ku Kluxes." The task of drawing out, hunting down, and killing the Ku Kluxes before they can wreak havoc falls to three fearless Black women: sharpshooter Sadie, who aims her trusty Winchester rifle from any distance with deadly precision; Cordelia Lawrence, who won her nickname, "Chef," and her battle regalia while fighting with the Black Rattlers regiment during World War I; and their leader, Maryse Boudreaux, the narrator, whose way with a sword is as fearsome as her ability to commune with spirits. This motley trio has been a bulwark against the army of beasts during the early-20th-century peak of Jim Crow racial segregation and violence. But Maryse's sixth sense tells her there's even bigger trouble ahead, and its locus appears to be miles away at Stone Mountain, where both Klans and Ku Kluxes are gathering to mobilize for a near-apocalyptic assault. Clark's novel is at once rousing, boisterous, and clever. He channels the kitschy motifs of early-20th-century pulp horror into a narrative that both spoofs and exalts that flamboyant tradition. In the process, he cunningly and pithily weaves in African folklore, American history, and sociopolitical tropes that resonate with our present-day racial upheaval. Devotees of Lovecraft Country, Get Out, and other horror adventures with African American themes: Take note. Thrills, chills, macabre humor, and engaging heroines to root for: What more could a reader want?

COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from August 31, 2020
Nebula Award winner Clark (The Black God’s Drums) vividly reimagines the Ku Klux Klan’s second wave in this thrilling, provocative, and thoroughly badass fantasy. In Prohibition-era Macon, Ga., Maryse Boudreaux and friends—the scrappy Sadie and the unassuming WWI-veteran Chef—spend their days slaying Ku Kluxes, demons unleashed by a spell cast by Sorcerer D.W. Griffith in the form of the propaganda film Birth of a Nation. After a gripping and humorous battle between this ragtag trio and the Ku Kluxes, Klan ringleader Butcher Clyde, a creature who feeds on hate, reveals his master plan: use Griffith’s spell to summon the Grand Cyclops. Maryse sets out to put an end to this reign of terror, but when Butcher Clyde makes Maryse an offer too tempting to refuse she must first conquer her own lust for vengeance. Clark expertly uses fantasy to highlight the mysticism underlying the nation’s darkest moments. Lyrical interludes, mythicized “oral histories” of Gullah traditions, and haunting retellings of African American folklore add rich texture throughout. Readers will be both captivated and entertained by this fast-paced alternate history, which doubles as a meditation on the all-consuming power of hate and violence. Agent: Seth Fishman, the Gernert Company.