Ballad of the Bone Road

Author A.C. Wise
Ebook
On sale Jan 27, 2026 | 416 Pages | 9781835413791

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In the glittering city of Port Astor, where faerie roads criss-cross with human highways, nothing is ever quite as it seems.

This haunting dark fantasy tale of faith and fanaticism, doomed love and desperate bargains is perfect for fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Ava Reid and A. G. Slatter.


Port Astor is a city of secrets. Once home to the Hollow Queen and her court, the fae have been driven out by industrialists and religious leaders. But just below the surface, their legacy remains in traceries of hidden roads, strange apparitions and spectral hauntings.  

Brix and Bellefeather are paranormal investigators, clearing out Port Astor's ghosts and devouring its demons. Both have their own secrets: Bellefeather shares her body with a demon, Belezial; Brix has trapped the ghost of his fiancée in the world of the living, unwilling to let her go.

When Brix is asked to investigate an apparent haunting at the prestigious Peony Hotel, he comes across a young couple tangled up in one of the city’s most infamous stories. They have summoned the ghost of Jimmy Valentine, tragic movie star and supposed favorite of the Hollow Queen herself. Meanwhile, Bellefeather is called back to her childhood home by her estranged sister, whose preacher husband Clarence has gotten a young woman from his congregation pregnant. But when Bellefeather arrives, she realizes whatever has taken over Clarence and his ‘flock’ is more sinister than faith, and Ava’s is no normal pregnancy.

The fae have not forgotten that Port Astor once belonged to them. And the Hollow Queen won’t give up her kingdom so easily.
A.C. Wise is the author of Hooked and the bestselling Wendy, Darling. She also has two short story collections published by Lethe Press, Catfish Lullaby, a novella published by Broken Eye Books (2019), and The Ghost Sequences, a short story collection published by Undertow Books (2021), which was shortlisted for a 2021 Bram Stoker Award. 

Her work has won the Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, as well as twice being a finalist for the Nebula Award, twice being a finalist for the Sunburst Award, and being a finalist for the Lambda Literary Awards. In addition to her fiction, she contributes semi-regular review columns to The Book Smugglers and Apex Magazine. Originally from Canada, she now lives in Pennsylvania, US. 

She tweets at @ac_wise.

About

In the glittering city of Port Astor, where faerie roads criss-cross with human highways, nothing is ever quite as it seems.

This haunting dark fantasy tale of faith and fanaticism, doomed love and desperate bargains is perfect for fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Ava Reid and A. G. Slatter.


Port Astor is a city of secrets. Once home to the Hollow Queen and her court, the fae have been driven out by industrialists and religious leaders. But just below the surface, their legacy remains in traceries of hidden roads, strange apparitions and spectral hauntings.  

Brix and Bellefeather are paranormal investigators, clearing out Port Astor's ghosts and devouring its demons. Both have their own secrets: Bellefeather shares her body with a demon, Belezial; Brix has trapped the ghost of his fiancée in the world of the living, unwilling to let her go.

When Brix is asked to investigate an apparent haunting at the prestigious Peony Hotel, he comes across a young couple tangled up in one of the city’s most infamous stories. They have summoned the ghost of Jimmy Valentine, tragic movie star and supposed favorite of the Hollow Queen herself. Meanwhile, Bellefeather is called back to her childhood home by her estranged sister, whose preacher husband Clarence has gotten a young woman from his congregation pregnant. But when Bellefeather arrives, she realizes whatever has taken over Clarence and his ‘flock’ is more sinister than faith, and Ava’s is no normal pregnancy.

The fae have not forgotten that Port Astor once belonged to them. And the Hollow Queen won’t give up her kingdom so easily.

Author

A.C. Wise is the author of Hooked and the bestselling Wendy, Darling. She also has two short story collections published by Lethe Press, Catfish Lullaby, a novella published by Broken Eye Books (2019), and The Ghost Sequences, a short story collection published by Undertow Books (2021), which was shortlisted for a 2021 Bram Stoker Award. 

Her work has won the Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, as well as twice being a finalist for the Nebula Award, twice being a finalist for the Sunburst Award, and being a finalist for the Lambda Literary Awards. In addition to her fiction, she contributes semi-regular review columns to The Book Smugglers and Apex Magazine. Originally from Canada, she now lives in Pennsylvania, US. 

She tweets at @ac_wise.

Books for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Every May we celebrate the rich history and culture of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. Browse a curated selection of fiction and nonfiction books by AANHPI creators that we think your students will love. Find our full collection of titles for Higher Education here.

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