Stephen King's The Gunslinger meets Breaking Bad in Laura Bickle's novel Dark Alchemy.
Some secrets are better left buried …
Geologist Petra Dee arrives in Wyoming seeking clues to her father's disappearance years ago. What she finds instead is Temperance, a dying western town with a gold rush past and a meth-infested present. But under the dust and quiet, an old power is shifting. When bodies start turning up—desiccated and twisted skeletons that Petra can't scientifically explain—her investigations land her in the middle of a covert war between the town's most powerful interests. Petra's father wasn't the only one searching for the alchemical secrets of Temperance, and those still looking are now ready to kill. Armed with nothing but shaky alliances, a pair of antique guns, and a relic she doesn't understand, the only thing Petra knows for sure is that she and her coyote sidekick are going to have to move fast—or die next.
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Dark Alchemy
Stephen King's The Gunslinger meets Breaking Bad in Laura Bickle's novel Dark Alchemy.
Some secrets are better left buried …
Geologist Petra Dee arrives in Wyoming seeking clues to her father's disappearance years ago. What she finds instead is Temperance, a dying western town with a gold rush past and a meth-infested present. But under the dust and quiet, an old power is shifting. When bodies start turning up—desiccated and twisted skeletons that Petra can't scientifically explain—her investigations land her in the middle of a covert war between the town's most powerful interests. Petra's father wasn't the only one searching for the alchemical secrets of Temperance, and those still looking are now ready to kill. Armed with nothing but shaky alliances, a pair of antique guns, and a relic she doesn't understand, the only thing Petra knows for sure is that she and her coyote sidekick are going to have to move fast—or die next.
Stephen King's The Gunslinger meets Breaking Bad in Laura Bickle's novel Dark Alchemy.
Some secrets are better left buried …
Geologist Petra Dee arrives in Wyoming seeking clues to her father's disappearance years ago. What she finds instead is Temperance, a dying western town with a gold rush past and a meth-infested present. But under the dust and quiet, an old power is shifting. When bodies start turning up—desiccated and twisted skeletons that Petra can't scientifically explain—her investigations land her in the middle of a covert war between the town's most powerful interests. Petra's father wasn't the only one searching for the alchemical secrets of Temperance, and those still looking are now ready to kill. Armed with nothing but shaky alliances, a pair of antique guns, and a relic she doesn't understand, the only thing Petra knows for sure is that she and her coyote sidekick are going to have to move fast—or die next.
Laura Bickle grew up in rural Ohio, reading entirely too many comic books out loud to her favorite Wonder Woman doll. After graduating with an MA in Sociology–Criminology from Ohio State University and an MLIS in Library Science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, she patrolled the stacks at the public library and worked with data systems in criminal justice. She now dreams up stories about the monsters under the stairs. Her work has been included in the ALA’s Amelia Bloomer Project 2013 reading list and the State Library of Ohio’s Choose to Read Ohio reading list for 2015-2016. More information about Laura’s work can be found at www.laurabickle.com.
Editor’s note: Laura Bickle is the author of Dark Alchemy, a western-tinged fantasy fantasy billed as a mix of The Gunslinger and Breaking Bad. With her book coming out on April 28, we’re giving her a chance to discuss one of its primary antagonists—the trickster god Coyote, a mainstay in legends and lore. Coyote doesn’t follow the […]
April leaves us with a hefty slate of new releases on its way out the door, including a Star Wars book that peeks at a dysfunctional Dark Jedi relationship; a long-awaited, gear-shifting second novel; and the launch of two new fantasy series.
My grandfather lives in Wyoming. My time visiting him there planted in me a love for the entire region and its history. Within the last year, I’ve been exploring the stranger side of my obsession by delving into the “weird western” fantasy subgenre, and Laura Bickle’s latest Wildlands Novel, Nine of Stars, may be one of my favorite examples […]
December is the perfect season for a binge, be it on food (it’s sweater weather), alcohol (family time ahoy!), or books and television (it’s cold outside!). Well, we can’t tell you what to eat or drink, but we relish telling you what books to read to scratch a particular itch. In that spirit, this holiday […]
The Western is part of the American mythology. There’s just something about those wide open spaces and their freedom from law and order that fires our imaginations. Rockstar Games knows this—which is why they’ve just announced they are returning to the wide vistas and strange haunts of their own Western series, Red Dead Redemption, with a highly anticipated […]
