by Joseph Fink
First published 2020
The Faceless Old Woman has lived invisibly in every home in Night Vale for as long as anyone can remember. No one questions her presence until she begins telling her story. Her tale starts in the early 1800s on a Mediterranean estate where she enjoyed a happy childhood before tragedy struck. She climbed through Europe's criminal networks, joined mysterious smugglers on dangerous sea voyages, and plotted elaborate revenge against those who wronged her. Death did not stop her. Her spirit wandered the world for decades before settling in Night Vale. Now she watches over a man named Craig, sometimes helping him, sometimes tormenting him, always manipulating his life in ways he cannot understand. As she recounts her swashbuckling past through eerie flashbacks, her current obsession with Craig grows more intense. Her centuries of experience in crime and vengeance will collide with her present day schemes in Night Vale, bringing her long journey full circle in ways neither Craig nor the reader will expect.
Genres: mystery, crime, fantasy, horror, supernatural, 21st-century
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Europe, Mediterranean, Night Vale
Period: 1800s, 21st Century
384 pages · ebook · Harper Perennial
Content warnings: death, murder, violence