A Book of Tongues (Hexslinger, #1)

In Gemma Files's "boundary-busting horror–fantasy debut," former Confederate chaplain Asher Rook has cheated death and now possesses a dark magic ( Publishers Weekly ). He uses his power to terrorize the Wild West, leading a gang of outlaws, thieves, and killers, with his cruel lieutenant and lover, Chess Pargeter, by his side.

"Gemma Files has one of the great dark imaginations in fiction―visionary, transgressive, and totally original." —Jeff VanderMeer

Pinkerton agent Ed Morrow is going undercover to infiltrate the gang, armed with a shotgun and a device that measures sorcerous energy. His job is to gain knowledge of Rook's power and unlock its secrets. But there is someone else who has Rook in her sights: the Lady of Traps and Snares, a bloodthirsty Mayan goddess who will stop at nothing to satisfy her own desires.

Caught between the good, the bad, and the unholy, Morrow will have to ride out a storm of magical mayhem to survive, in this debut novel, the first book of Files's "weird Western Hexslinger trilogy . . . [which] is chock full of hellish horrors" (Mike Allen, author of Unseaming ).

"Ridiculously vivid . . . A magic-riddled, horror-strewn West with hexes running around wrecking reality and a spectrum of queer characters." —Tor.com

"Definitely promising—tantalizing, even, because it sets up such a fertile scenario and hammers home the themes of love, sacrifice, and apotheosis." — Strange Horizons

"Truly one-of-a-kind: violent, carnal and creepy." — Fangoria