Tuesday, November 26, 2013

What is Stefan Bachmann reading?

The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Stefan Bachmann, author of The Whatnot.

One book he tagged:
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

This one's so great. A semi-murder mystery based on actual events in early 19th century Iceland. It's dark, chilling, atmospheric, and so terrifically written. Great characters, great setting, stark and haunting. When I think about it, it's actually a quiet book - it doesn't have any big set-pieces or chases - but it reads like a thriller, and the suspense is always high. It kind of reminds me of...[read on]
About The Whatnot, from the publisher:
Oh, the Sly King, the Sly King, in his towers of ash and wind.

Pikey Thomas doesn't know how or why he can see the changeling girl. But there she is. Not in the cold, muddy London neighborhood where Pikey lives. Instead, she's walking through the trees and snow of the enchanted Old Country or, later, racing through an opulent hall. She's pale and small, and she has branches growing out of her head. Her name is Henrietta Kettle.

Pikey's vision, it turns out, is worth something. Worth something to Hettie's brother—a brave adventurer named Bartholomew Kettle. Worth something to the nobleman who protects him. And Pikey is not above bartering—Pikey will do almost anything to escape his past; he'll do almost anything for a life worth living.

The faeries—save for a mysterious sylph and a mischievous cobble faery or two— have been chased out of London. They've all gone north. The army is heading north, too. So Pikey and Bartholomew follow, collecting information, piecing together clues, searching for the doorway that will lead them to Hettie.

The Whatnot is the enthralling, surprising, and unforgettable companion to Stefan Bachmann's internationally bestselling debut novel The Peculiar.
Learn more about the book and author at Stefan Bachmann's website and blog.

My Book, The Movie: The Peculiar.

Writers Read: Stefan Bachmann (April 2013).

The Page 69 Test: The Peculiar.

Writers Read: Stefan Bachmann.

--Marshal Zeringue