First published 2025
Charlie Book lives alone on the Christabel, a nineteenth century freighter that sits half submerged off Galveston's coast. Mangrove trees have grown through the ship's deck over the decades, creating what Book calls the Floating Forest. When a storm approaches the Gulf, Book expects another quiet night aboard his unusual home. Instead he finds Ruby Cahill waiting at the dock. Years ago their romance ended badly, and he never thought he'd see her again. Ruby brings a desperate woman named Mae and her infant child. Mae claims she's fleeing a coven of witches who want the baby for terrible purposes. She begs Book to hide them on the remote vessel. Book thinks the witch story sounds insane, but he can't turn Ruby away. As the storm builds and they reach the floating forest, dark figures gather back on shore. The night birds take flight through wind and rain, searching the coastline for their quarry.
Genres: fantasy, horror, supernatural, adult-fiction, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, eerie, suspenseful, tension-filled
Tropes: forced-proximity, found-family, protecting-the-innocent, second-chance-romance
Setting: Galveston, Christabel, Floating Forest, Gulf
Period: 19th-century
320 pages · Paperback · St. Martin's Griffin
Content warnings: kidnapping, violence