Description

* THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER *

‘An enthralling read’ GUARDIAN
‘A thrilling blend of fantasy and horror, richly imagined and masterfully executed’ SFX
‘Terrific . . . A book that creeps up on you, wearing brass knuckles’ CONN IGGULDEN
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The first in a captivating new historical fantasy series, ORDINARY MONSTERS introduces the Talents with a catastrophic vision of the Victorian world, and the gifted, broken children who must save it.

There in the shadows was a figure in a cloak, at the bottom of the cobblestone stair, and it turned and stared up at them as still and unmoving as a pillar of darkness, but it had no face, only smoke . . .

1882. North of Edinburgh, on the edge of an isolated loch, lies an institution of crumbling stone, where a strange doctor collects orphans with unusual abilities. In London, two children with such powers are hunted by a figure of darkness – a man made of smoke.

Charlie Ovid discovers a gift for healing himself through a brutal upbringing in Mississippi, while Marlowe, a foundling from a railway freight, glows with a strange bluish light. When two grizzled detectives are recruited to escort them north to safety, they are confronted by a sinister, dangerous force that threatens to upend the world as they know it.

What follows is a journey from the gaslit streets of London to the lochs of Scotland, where other gifted children – the Talents – have been gathered at Cairndale Institute, and the realms of the dead and the living collide. As secrets within the Institute unfurl, Marlowe, Charlie and the rest of the Talents will discover the truth about their abilities and the nature of the force that is stalking them: that the worst monsters sometimes come bearing the sweetest gifts.
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‘A dazzling mountain of wild invention, Dickensian eccentrics, supernatural horrors and gripping suspense’ JOE HILL

‘Expansive in scope and storytelling, Ordinary Monsters builds an electrifying Victorian world’ CARI THOMAS

J.M. Miro’s book ‘Ordinary Monsters’ was a #5 Sunday Times bestseller w/e 04-06-2022.

Publisher Review

Ordinary Monsters is a towering achievement: a dazzling mountain of wild invention, Dickensian eccentrics, supernatural horrors, and gripping suspense. Be warned... once you step into this penny dreadful to end all penny dreadfuls, you'll never want to leave -- Joe Hill, #1 New York Times bestselling author of HEART-SHAPED BOX Haunting, tense, earth-shattering ... A riveting mix of magic and terror -- Tamora Pierce, author of TRICKSTER'S CHOICE From the very first page, you're pulled into a world of hope and fear, dark and light, the known and the unimaginable. A world that is equal parts magic and pain. Readers should prepare themselves: there's nothing ordinary about Ordinary Monsters -- Alma Katsu, author of THE FERVOR and HUNGER Ordinary Monsters is one of my favorite books of the year?it's full of surprises, atmospheric as hell, and moves like a runaway train. Nothing in this book is what you expect it to be and it couldn't be more satisfying -- Kelly Braffet, author of SAVE YOURSELF and LAST SEEN LEAVING J.M. Miro's Ordinary Monsters reads like a Dickensian X-Men. At once lush and refined, grounded and fantastical, it will pull you into its world in the way of the most fulfilling entertainments -- Andrew Pyper, bestselling author of THE RESIDENCE and THE DERMATOLOGIST Epic, sprawling, and evocative?a sweeping and richly-imagined gaslight fantasy that takes readers on an incredible journey. Miro immerses us in the grime and grit of life, but also makes them believe that monsters and miracles are possible -- A.C. Wise, author of HOOKED Expansive in scope and storytelling, Ordinary Monsters builds an electrifying Victorian world: grimy but luminous, magical but deadly, with a cast of diverse and gripping characters that feel entirely modern -- Cari Thomas, bestselling author of THREADNEEDLE