Dark Country highlights the multicultural mythologies, magic, histories, beauty, and horror of living in pseudo-modern South Africa. As the body count grows, Esmé must figure out who is behind the heinous crimes before she ends up the final sacrifice. The media catches wind of the threat against the citizens of Pretoria, and their reported speculations promise a post-Apartheid Satanic Panic. But the clock isn't all that's working against them.

With assistance from her team-a brusque detective, eccentric millionaire, stoic priest, hawkeyed secretary, and handsome British forensic criminologist-Esmé hopes to find the killer before he strikes again. Esmé is the target of a cat-and-mouse game with a serial killer who uses the paranormal to do his bidding, with the intent of becoming a god on Earth. But she doesn't know the scope of what she's up against. When a ravaged corpse is discovered in Pretoria, South Africa, Esmé Snyder-an occult-crime expert-is called in to investigate. Too often people mistake monsters for gods. (Oct.From multi-Bram Stoker Award Nominee Monique Snyman, Dark Country highlights the multicultural mythologies, magic, histories, beauty, and horror of living in pseudo-modern South Africa. Agent: Gandolfo Helin, Fountain Literary Management. A few scenes, particularly one in which Rachel is drugged and then forcibly kissed without consent, are unfortunate missteps in an otherwise enjoyable, frenetically paced fantasy, which was a Bram Stoker Award nominee. Though there are many familiar YA tropes-a dead parent, a community outsider, a dreamy boy next door-Snyman’s creative adoption of English folklore adds a unique twist, and satisfying frights abound.

With the help of Orion, a fae stuck in the human world, Rachel launches an assault on the Annis’s realm.

Dougal calls it the Black Annis (the Night Weaver)-a fae that eats children. Then, while coming back from a party, Rachel and Dougal come face to face with the creature that is kidnapping the kids and entrancing the adults. Helping her is Dougal Mackay, the grandson of Rachel’s endearing neighbor, Mrs. The children of Shadow Grove are disappearing, and while the adults don’t seem to care, Rachel Cleary, 17, decides she’s going to find them.

Dark Country by Monique Snyman