We’re excited to show off Victo Ngai’s stunning cover art for Lara Elena Donnelly’s debut novel Amberlough, publishing February 2017 from Tor Books. A fantasy/espionage thriller, Amberlough has been described as Le Carré meets Cabaret as a double-agent schemes to protect his smuggler lover during the rise of a fascist government coup.
Check out the full cover and learn more about the novel below!
Tor Books Editor Diana Pho had this to say:
Lara’s keen sense of atmospheric language swept me away from the very first chapter. The characters are beautifully flawed and engaging, the political costs feel chillingly real, and I wish the Bumble Bee Cabaret actually existed, so I could be its regular customer! Victo Ngai’s art perfectly captures the decadence and effervescent energy of the book. Reading Amberlough is like getting drunk from too much champagne, but knowing the hangover would be worth it.
And author Lara Elena Donnelly was equally enthusiastic about the cover:
You probably cant use this but…. HOLY F—K! HOLY F—K! OH MY GOD IT’S SO BEAUTIFUL! I have to add that I’m pleased to see Aristide on the cover, so obviously not white. […] Also, the scene represented on the cover ended up being one of my favorite in the book, and it wouldn’t even have existed without my fabulous editor, Diana Pho.
But mostly I’m freaking speechless with awe. …I just. WOW.
Amberlough is due out February 17, 2017 from Tor Books. From the catalog copy:
Welcome to Amberlough City, the illustrious but corrupt cosmopolitan beacon of Gedda. The radical One State Party—nicknamed the Ospies—is gaining popular support to unite Gedda’s four municipal governments under an ironclad, socially-conservative vision.
Not everyone agrees with the Ospies’ philosophy, including master spy Cyril DePaul and his lover Aristide Makricosta, smuggler and emcee at the popular Bumble Bee Cabaret. When Cyril’s cover is blown on a mission, however, he must become a turncoat in exchange for his life. Returning to Amberlough under the Ospies’ watchful eye, Cyril enters a complex game of deception. One of his concerns is safeguarding Aristide, who refuses to let anyone—the crooked city police or the homophobic Ospies—dictate his life.
Enter streetwise Cordelia Lehane, top dancer at the Bee and Aristide’s runner, who could be the key to Cyril’s plans—if she can be trusted. As the twinkling lights of nightclub marquees yield to the rising flames of a fascist revolution, these three will struggle to survive using whatever means—and people—necessary. Including each other.
