Ordinary Monsters

* THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER *'An enthralling read' GUARDIAN'A thrilling blend of fantasy and horror, richly imagined and masterfully executed' SFX'Terrific . . . A book that creeps up on you, wearing brass knuckles' CONN IGGULDENThe first in a captivating new historical fantasy series, ORDINARY MONSTERS introduces the Talents with a catastrophic vision of the Victorian world, and the gifted, broken children who must save it.There in the shadows was a figure in a cloak, at the bottom of the cobblestone stair, and it turned and stared up at them as still and unmoving as a pillar of darkness, but it had no face, only smoke . . .1882. North of Edinburgh, on the edge of an isolated loch, lies an institution of crumbling stone, where a strange doctor collects orphans with unusual abilities. In London, two children with such powers are hunted by a figure of darkness – a man made of smoke.Charlie Ovid discovers a gift for healing himself through a brutal upbringing in Mississippi, while Marlowe, a foundling from a railway freight, glows with a strange bluish light. When two grizzled detectives are recruited to escort them north to safety, they are confronted by a sinister, dangerous force that threatens to upend the world as they know it.What follows is a journey from the gaslit streets of London to the lochs of Scotland, where other gifted children – the Talents – have been gathered at Cairndale Institute, and the realms of the dead and the living collide. As secrets within the Institute unfurl, Marlowe, Charlie and the rest of the Talents will discover the truth about their abilities and the nature of the force that is stalking them: that the worst monsters sometimes come bearing the sweetest gifts.'A dazzling mountain of wild invention, Dickensian eccentrics, supernatural horrors and gripping suspense' JOE HILL'Expansive in scope and storytelling, Ordinary Monsters builds an electrifying Victorian world' CARI THOMAS

An engrossing piece of Gothic, Dickensian fantasy, centred around children gifted with magical powers . . . Miro’s meaty, detailed execution lends his story weight and depth and commands respect, Murky as London smog, dark as black pudding, this is a gaslit gothic tour de force . . . The fantasy is so rich and the atmosphere so immersive in this stand-out debut, that it’s easy to overlook the crispiness of the writing and the brilliantly propulsive plotting. And while drughrs, litches, keywrasses and orsines make for a wonderful new language of dread, it’s the characters that carry the day, A fantasy series so ambitious that it makes The Lord of the Rings look like a stroll in the Shire . . . Spanning the globe and crammed with good versus evil battles and hair’s breadth escapes, this book is great fun despite frim subject matter, thanks to J. M. Miro’s darkly witty style . . . Remarkably fresh, A thrilling blend of fantasy and horror, richly imagined and masterfully executed, Ordinary Monsters is a towering achievement: a dazzling mountain of wild invention, Dickensian eccentrics, supernatural horrors, and gripping suspense. Be warned... once you step into this penny dreadful to end all penny dreadfuls, you'll never want to leave

J.M. Miro is the pseudonymous author of Ordinary Monsters, the first book in the Talents series. He lives and writes in the Pacific Northwest.