A standalone high-stakes middle grade fantasy by Alysa Wishingrad, author of the Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection The Verdigris Pawn.
Monsters are still lurking on Barrow's Bay.
Dare Coates is sure of it. No drifter or ruffian could have killed her father, the Captain of the Guard, while he was on patrol. But everyone insists that monsters have been gone for years now. Dare's mother. Her classmates. Even the governor, who swiftly marries her mother just months after her father's death.
Dare's suspicions grow even stronger when the governor suddenly ships her off to the mainland, away from any hope of uncovering the truth about her father's death.
Or so she thinks. Soon Dare finds solid proof that monsters still exist and she starts to question everything she's always known. Was her father who she thought he was? Who can she trust? Where is the line between good and evil?
The truth hides behind danger and deception. But with the help of an unlikely crew of cohorts and a stray beastie, nothing can stop Dare from finding out what happened to her father and exposing who the real monsters are.
Perfect for fans of Ellen Oh's Spirit Hunters and Lauren Oliver's The Magnificent Monsters of Cedar Street.
One determined girl searching for answers. A dangerous conspiracy that will stop at nothing to protect its secrets.
- A Strong Female Protagonist: Dare Coates is no damsel in distress. When the governor tries to send her away, she resolves to uncover the lies surrounding her father's death, no matter the cost.
- Mystery and Magic: Everyone on Barrow's Bay insists monsters are a thing of the past. But Dare finds proof they still exist, and that they hold secrets more powerful than she could ever imagine.
- An Unlikely Animal Companion: With the help of a stray beastie with mysterious abilities, Dare finds a friend she can trust in a world full of deception.
- A Secret Society: Dare discovers a powerful group of elites built on lies. Exposing them means confronting the governor who married her mother and challenging everything she thought she knew about good and evil.
