First published 2016
Stella Reyes runs an elite underground restaurant in Oakland, sourcing impossible ingredients from global black markets. When a mysterious Cambodian supplier offers her an unprecedented delicacy—a rare mushroom rumored to induce extraordinary sensory experiences—she risks everything to secure the specimen. But each experimental dish comes with escalating dangers: her suppliers grow increasingly unstable, rival chefs begin tracking her sources, and the mushroom's effects prove far more unpredictable than any culinary technique she's encountered. As her reputation grows, so do the threats surrounding her increasingly radical gastronomic experiments. One wrong ingredient could destroy her reputation—or her life. Stella must decide how far she'll go to create the perfect, most dangerous meal.
Genres: adventure, mystery, thriller, 21st-century, food-and-drink, culinary
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: dangerous-obsession, high-stakes, risky-business
Setting: Cambodia, Oakland
Period: 21st-century
122 pages · Paperback · CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Content warnings: graphic-violence, substance-abuse