King of Dead Things

An immersive, adventurous debut.

Holness has created a fantasy London that feels incredibly real. Richly peppered with Caribbean folklore, creatures from African diasporic mythology, death and life magic, wrapped up in a high stakes plot that impacts friendships, found family, and preservation of culture.

– Author of the Walter Award Honoree Root Magic * Eden Royce *
The magic in this book is so alive. It snaps, crackles and pops, sometimes threaded into the everyday – as small as a wink – and at other times pounding through the streets – vast, deadly and godly. An entrancing debut with heartfelt, laugh out loud characters and big questions of identity, belonging and how to hold onto the stories that matter. – Author of The Sunday Times Bestseller Thread Needle * Cari Thomas *
King Of Dead Things is a delicious tale of magic and sacrifice set in a modern London that blends the real and the fantastical. The ingenuity shown in combining Caribbean spirituality and creatures with teenagers lives today make it a perfect blend of dangerous adventure, high stakes, and exploration of friendship. Both flawed and tangibly real, I loved every character. There had better be a sequel! – Author of New York Times Bestseller Skin of the Sea and Soul of the Deep * Natasha Bowen *