The Mercy Makers

In this sensual and suspenseful fantasy, Gratton (The Queens of Innis Lear) brings to life an empire governed by four mystical forces: rising, falling, flow, and ecstatic. Iriset mé Isidor is an architect, someone skilled in manipulating these forces. Operating under the name Silk, she builds illegal devices for her father, Little Cat, on behalf of his expansive crime ring and publishes scandalous papers on the forbidden topic of human architecture, or using the forces to manipulate life itself. Silk is widely branded a heretic, but Iriset is protected by her father—until Little Cat’s base is raided by the army. Iriset is taken prisoner as Little Cat’s daughter, though no one knows that she and Silk are one and the same. When Amaranth mé Esmail, the Moon Eater’s Mistress and sister to the emperor himself, takes Iriset under her wing, she finds herself tangling with the highest powers in the empire—and learning some startling truths about her world. Gratton spins a web of intrigue, mistaken identity, and simmering sexual tension from which the reader will not want to escape. With a beautifully constructed world and enthralling characters, this is sure to appeal to fans of Hannah Whitten’s The Foxglove King. Agent: Laura Rennert, Andrea Brown Literary. (June)