The Girl in the Green Silk Gown

by Seanan McGuire

Overview

The second book in the Ghost Roads series returns to the highways of America, where hitchhiking ghost Rose Marshall continues her battle with her killer—the immortal Bobby Cross.

Once and twice and thrice around,
Put your heart into the ground.
Four and five and six tears shed,
Give your love unto the dead.
Seven shadows on the wall,
Eight have come to watch your fall:
One’s for the gargoyle, one’s for the grave,
And the last is for the one you’ll never save.
 
For Rose Marshall, death has long since become the only life she really knows.  She’s been sweet sixteen for more than sixty years, hitchhiking her way along the highways and byways of America, sometimes seen as an avenging angel, sometimes seen as a killer in her own right, but always Rose, the Phantom Prom Date, the Girl in the Green Silk Gown.

The man who killed her is still out there, thanks to a crossroads bargain that won’t let him die, and he’s looking for the one who got away.  When Bobby Cross comes back into the picture, there’s going to be hell to pay—possibly literally.

Rose has worked for decades to make a place for herself in the twilight.  Can she defend it, when Bobby Cross comes to take her down?  Can she find a way to navigate the worlds of the living and the dead, and make it home before her hitchhiker’s luck runs out?
               
There’s only one way to know for sure.
 
Nine will let you count the cost:
All you had and all you lost.
Ten is more than time can tell,
Cut the cord and ring the bell.
Count eleven, twelve, and then,
Thirteen takes you home again.
One’s for the shadow, one’s for the tree,
And the last is for the blessing of Persephone.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780756413804
Publisher:	Astra Publishing House
Publication date:	07/17/2018
Series:	Ghost Roads , #2
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	376,985
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Seanan McGuire lives and works in Washington State, where she shares her somewhat idiosyncratic home with her collection of books, creepy dolls, and enormous blue cats.  When not writing—which is fairly rare—she enjoys travel, and can regularly be found any place where there are cornfields, haunted houses, or frogs.  A Campbell, Hugo, and Nebula Award-winning author, Seanan's first book (Rosemary and Rue, the beginning of the October Daye series) was released in 2009, with more than twenty books across various series following since.  Seanan doesn't sleep much.  

You can visit her at www.seananmcguire.com.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "The Girl in the Green Silk Gown"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Seanan McGuire.
Excerpted by permission of DAW.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

★ 06/04/2018
In McGuire’s beautifully written second story featuring hitchhiking ghost Rose Marshall (after 2014’s Sparrow Hill Road), set in the same world as the InCryptid series, Rose must confront her most dangerous foe: Bobby Cross, the immortal who ran her down when she was only 16. Bobby’s car runs on the spirits of the restless dead, and for him, Rose is the girl that got away. Rose loves her unlife: her true love, Gary Daniels, is finally with her, 60 years after her death, and Rose enjoys ushering the newly dead into their next state of being. Rose has a tattoo that protects her from Bobby, but when he damages the tattoo, Rose must become flesh and blood again—to her horror—and enlist the help of her onetime nemesis, folklorist Laura Moorehead. McGuire gives the headstrong Rose a rich history and firmly anchors her in her present as she crisscrosses the country and spends time in her diner, the Last Dance, with those she loves. This stunning, richly imagined story of love and destiny features an irresistible heroine and is one of the accomplished McGuire’s best yet. Agent: Diana Fox, Fox Literary. (July)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for the Ghost Roads series

"Hitchhiking ghosts, the unquiet dead, the gods of the old American roads—McGuire enters the company of Lindskold and Gaiman with this book, creating a wistful, funny, fascinating new mythology of diners, corn fields, and proms in this all-in-one-sitting read!" —Tamora Pierce, #1 New York Times bestelling author

"Seanan McGuire doesn't write stories, she gifts us with Myth—new Myths for a layered America that guide us off the twilight roads and lend us a pretty little dead girl to show us the way home." —Tanya Huff, author of the Blood books

"McGuire is a writer to be reckoned with, landing stone-cold emotional blows in quick succession while simultaneously stringing laugh-out-loud moments alongside lush descriptions, knife-sharp badinage and quickfire action sequences." —Strange Horizons

"This stunning, richly imagined story of love and destiny features an irresistible heroine and is one of the accomplished McGuire's best yet." —Publishers Weekly

"The author takes a deliberately lyrical tone with this series, making the story feel like a folk song. She has a gift for putting her heroines in danger and finding creative ways to return them to see them out of it." —Library Journal

"The first volume of McGuire's Ghost Stories is an evocative and profoundly creative work that instantly wraps around readers' imaginations.... This emotional, consistently surprising collection of adventures is also a striking testament to the power of American myths and memories." —RT Reviews (top pick)

"If you've read any of McGuire's previous books, then you'll know she has a penchant for wit and humor; it's on display here as well. As with the myths she uses to create the world, it's all blended together quite impressively." —Culturess

From the Publisher

06/15/2018
In this strong sequel to McGuire's gripping Sparrow Hill Road, ghost Rose Marshall, aka the girl in the green silk gown, is still being stalked by Bobby Cross. Not content with killing her 60 years ago, he wants to punish her even more in the afterlife. He may even have found a way to bring her back to life, which is definitely not something she wants. On the plus side, Rose has been reunited with lost love Gary and has gained valuable and unexpected allies to help her fight Cross. The author takes a deliberately lyrical tone with this series, making the story feel like a folk song. She has a gift for putting her heroines in danger and finding creative ways to return them to see them out of it. VERDICT McGuire's fans will relish this ghostly treat, as will those with a penchant for the supernatural, specifically works by Simon R. Green.—Laurel Bliss, San Diego State Univ. Lib.

Library Journal