First published 2016
Charles Thomas Tester scrapes together a living on the streets of New York, moving between Harlem, Flushing Meadows, and Red Hook. He understands the practical magic of survival: how the right clothes can make him invisible to trouble, how a guitar case opens certain doors, how his Black skin draws unwanted attention from white people and police. When Tom accepts a job delivering a mysterious occult book to a secretive sorceress in Queens, he expects easy money. Instead, he opens a gateway to powers that dwarf anything he has known. Ancient entities stir from their slumber, drawn by forces Tom has accidentally awakened. A supernatural storm gathers strength in Brooklyn, threatening to consume not just the city but the entire world. Tom finds himself caught between cosmic horrors and the everyday terrors of racism in 1920s New York. He must navigate both if he hopes to survive what he has set in motion.
Genres: american-fiction, 20th-century, african-american, horror, supernatural
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: cosmic-horror, supernatural-elements
Setting: Harlem, Flushing Meadows, Red Hook, Brooklyn, Queens
Period: 1920s
154 pages · Kindle Edition · Tordotcom
Content warnings: racism, violence