Description: A young man with a terrible past finds his unlikely protector: the oddly-altered enforcer of a backwater Florida town. Edgar Award-winner David Liss's latest novel reads like Hiaasen meets Crichton--a razor-sharp allegory pulled straight from today's headlines.
"At once pulse-pounding and full of heart, this is a shape-shifting thriller that locks into your nerve-center and doesn't let go."--Rhodi Hawk, author of This Town Won't Tell Who is Iliana Marek? Is she the bully who alongside her foster father police chief Bryce Hillard, controls and terrorizes Tylor, Florida? Or is she the reborn guardian angel of Dan Gibson, a social pariah responsible for the suicide of Faye Kristic, a death which he cannot remember ten years later. Dan's once-promising future is in tatters. He lives in an apartment on his estranged parents' property, works at a convenience store with a terrible boss, and is addicted to prescription drugs. But ten years after Faye's death, Iliana suddenly takes Dan's side, and a lot of bad people start dying fast. As Dan becomes entangled in the ensuing chaos, he needs to finally discover what part he played in the death of Faye Kristic, and why the changes to Iliana make her no longer entirely human.
Review Quotes: Advance Praise for The Death and Birth of Iliana Marek
"In his new novel, David Liss not only plays enchantingly with the best of the crime-noir conventions, but he delves smartly into the enduring theme of serious literature--the universal quest for self, for identity. The Death and Birth of Iliana Marek is both narratively compelling and richly thought-provoking."--Robert Olen Butler, author of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain "At once pulse-pounding and full of heart, this is a shape-shifting thriller that locks into your nerve-center and doesn't let go. David Liss is one of the best storytellers alive."
--Rhodi Hawk, author of This Town Won't Tell "This novel's potboiler pace and mise en scène have all the earmarks of a Fitzhugh-or Hiaasen-like dive into corruption and old, stanky secrets in the dark belly of semirural Florida. I love it."
--Green Man Review "A novel that is simultaneously suspenseful, thought-provoking, darkly humorous, and genuinely affecting."
--Hank Schwaeble, author of Normal for the Spider "A bold, genre-shifting novel that challenges expectations while delivering a gripping, character-driven ride."
--Read at Joe's On The Peculiarities "David Liss masterfully blends rich historical fiction with terrifying supernatural body horror. He stands with Robert Louis Stevenson and Bram Stoker."
--Jonathan Maberry, author of V-Wars and Ink "A fun, horrific, engaging mystery, both for the story and for watching an accomplished writer stepping out into new territory."
--Jeffrey Ford, author of A Natural History of Hell "David Liss turns a new corner, and at the end of it is a splendid, unique and surprising tale."
--Joe R. Lansdale, author of Hap and Leonard "Wry, witty, twisty and tricky."
--Shana Abé, author of The Second Mrs. Astor "David Liss leans into early 20th century occult thinking with the same mystical fervor as Crowley, Mathers, and Yeats."
--Mark Teppo, author of the Codex of Souls series