Description

Journey to the beginnings of the bloody days of the Haitian Revolution, with a classic tale of revenge and reclamation, reimagined with a horror twist, in The Curse of Monte Cristo.

France, 1788. Edmond Dantes, a Haitian of African descent and Parisian citizen has been sentenced to a life of hell at Chateau d’If for treason against the Ancien Regime. Once a man of faith, Edmond believes he’s been abandoned by God, and the only thing that keeps him going is his deep hatred of those who he believes have framed him. Faria, an older prisoner who becomes a mentor to Edmond, confesses, “I am not flesh of this realm. Your lust for revenge drew me here.”

Together, they escape the prison and return to Saint Domingue, where the smell of rebellion is thick in the air. Edmond, once an enslaved man himself, thought he had escaped the colonized land and his past life for good, only to return as the wealthy and mysterious Count of Monte Cristo. In pursuit of his enemies – including Mercedes, once his fiancee – he finds his careful rage growing only more reckless and ravenous. Haydee, a young revolutionist, tries to use his fury for good, while Faria, drunk off the misery Edmond has caused, hungers for the fresh taste of innocent blood. As Edmond’s enemies begin to catch on to the count’s true identity, and the fight for liberation from the French colonists swells to a pop, Edmond must reckon with the deal he’s made with Faria. Is it any more sinister – or any different – than the pact he’s made with his own inner demons?

Publisher Review

“This reimagined version of a classic is such a clever and entertaining mash-up of genres that I suspect Dabel and Holder are from an alternate universe where Alexandre Dumas wrote it this way. Kudos as well to the letterist and illustrator, Lentz and Catraca, who were obviously inspired.” (Dean Koontz, #1 New York Times bestselling author)