The Forest Demands Its Due

A Lesson in Vengeance meets The Taking of Jake Livingston in this page-turning YA horror/fantasy set in dark academia about a queer Black teen who discovers the sinister history of his boarding school and the corrupt powers behind it all.Regent Academy has a long and storied history in Winslow, Vermont, as does the forest that surrounds it. The school is known for molding teens into leaders, but its history is far more nefarious.Seventeen-year-old Douglas Jones wants nothing to do with Regent's king-making; he's just trying to survive. But then a student is murdered and, for some reason, by the next day no one remembers him having ever existed, except for Douglas and the groundskeeper's son, Everett Everley. In his determination to uncover the truth, Douglas awakens a horror hidden within the forest, unearthing secrets that have been buried for centuries. A vengeful creature wants blood as payment for a debt more than 300 years in the making-or it will swallow all of Winslow in darkness.And for the first time in his life, Douglas might have a chance to grasp the one thing he's always felt was missing: power. But if he's not careful, he will find out that power has a tendency to corrupt absolutely everything.A high-octane mystery of murder and magic for fans of Ace of Spades, House of Hollow, and Get Out!

DELUXE LIMITED EDITION features red sprayed edges, a reversible jacket that readers can color in and make their own, and endpapers featuring two more paintings from the book! Available for a limited time while supplies last.From award-winning and USA Today bestselling author Kosoko Jackson comes his adult speculative debut, a stand-alone novel blending time travel and globe-hopping adventure, art history, and dark fantasy about magical paintings and the lengths people will go to collect them, destroy them…or be destroyed.A picture is worth a thousand nightmares.Art has always been an escape for struggling painter Lewis Dixon. But other than his mom, who has recently passed away, no one has ever praised his work. If he is being honest, there’s really no one in his life. So he is shocked when the British Museum shows an unusual interest in his art. This is his chance to show the world what he’s capable of…he just has no idea that he might also be saving the world at the same time.As Lewis soon learns, he has not been invited to participate in a curated show, but rather a test: to see if the fugue-like exhilaration he experiences when painting is actually magic, a power that allows him to enter nine very special paintings—paintings made by his great-grandfather. Spread across the globe, these paintings have unbelievable eldritch abilities…and not necessarily beneficial ones. In terms of power, these are the most valuable works of art in the world, and there are those out there who would do anything to possess just one.And Lewis, upon passing the test, has been asked to destroy them all.Partnered with an alluring agent in museum’s employ, Noah Rao, Lewis must travel to Japan, Australia, Nigeria—and the past—plunging himself into a world of black markets, gothic magic, ancient history, and cursed objects to save those unlucky enough to call any of the paintings their own—or to free the world from those who would misuse the power of the paintings. In doing so, he will need to discover if he has what it takes to truly be an artist, the confidence to finally open himself up to someone who could give his lonely life meaning, and the strength to enter and navigate a reality where magic is everywhere.