First published 2023
Wilder Harlow sits in his seaside cottage, determined to write one last book. This will be his account of childhood summers in New England, where he and his friends encountered the Daggerman, a menacing figure who terrorized their town. Wilder plans to expose his former friend Sky, who stole Wilder's unfinished memoir and transformed it into a bestselling novel called The Sound and the Dagger. Sky died before explaining this betrayal, leaving Wilder consumed by the need for revenge through his writing. As Wilder works on his manuscript, he discovers notes written in Sky's distinctive green ink appearing throughout his cottage. The events he describes begin to mirror his present reality in disturbing ways. He sees a dark-haired woman drowning in the nearby cove, though no one else witnesses her presence. Wilder questions whether Sky's spirit has returned to torment him. His perception of reality fractures as he struggles to complete what he believes will be both his final book and his final act.
Genres: literary-fiction, mystery, contemporary, psychological-thriller
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Setting: New England, Seaside Cottage
Period: Contemporary
352 pages · Paperback · Viper
Content warnings: death, mental-illness