Blacktail

“Scott Hawkins’s acclaimed sophomore novel, Blacktail, is an epic revenge fantasy seeping with feral rage. . . . Imagine a Disney movie for grown-ups; here, the talking animals have real blood dripping from their razor maws.”—Esquire

“Transportive. A magnificent, bloody saga that will change the way you look at the world.”—Nat Cassidy, USA Today bestselling author of When the Wolf Comes Home and Mary

“A mad, feral fable—this is beautiful, brutal fantasy red in tooth and claw. Funny, heartbreaking, violent. All hail Blacktail. Down with the two-legs.”—Chuck Wendig, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Accidents and The Staircase in the Woods

“Eerie and unexpected, a strangely satisfying new take on the hero’s journey.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Will no doubt rank as one of the most imaginative novels you’ll read this year.”—Bloody Disgusting

“A very unique story that you should add to your to-be-read pile immediately.”—Cemetery Dance

“Blacktail is a serious, wild, trippy, and gory flight of imagination. It’s also an angry romp through our current wasteland. No one is spared the fang.”—Paul Tremblay, New York Times bestselling author of Horror Movie and A Head Full of Ghosts

“Mesmerizing and strange, like the headiest of folklore. Blacktail is one to savor; one to delight in the eccentricities of; one to sit with long after it ends.”—Olivie Blake, New York Times bestselling author of Girl Dinner

“The plot drips with as much pathos as blood and dung. It’s a dark and intense exploration of grief.”—Publishers Weekly

“The first book in over a decade from the author of beloved modern horror cult classic The Library at Mount Char is a cause for celebration.”—Literary Hub

“It’s a beautiful, fantastical tale full of meaning but one that is also going to keep you up at night as it delves into the horror of revenge.”—Parade

“Blacktail is utterly unique: a crazed collision between Jack London’s Whitefang and John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. It’s an outstanding, majestic animal story.”—Daily Mail

“Eleven years since the release of The Library at Mount Char, Scott Hawkins is back with another tremendous, imaginative dark fantasy . . . perfect for people who love Richard Adams.”—Book Riot

“Hawkins pulls no punches.”—Booklist

“Blacktail is furious, mythic, and utterly precise: literary eco-horror at its most ferociously original.”—The Ginger Nuts of Horror

“If you want dark fantasy that feels primal, weird, angry, and completely different from the standard hero’s journey, Blacktail is one of the standout reads of the season.”—Bibliolifestyle

“Blacktail is for readers who want horror to argue with them and who can afford the entry fee.”—What Sleeps Beneath

“Reader, be warned. This is not a gentle book, and those who cannot bear to see an animal hurt should guard their hearts. But persist, and you will be rewarded. Blacktail is as glorious as it is gruesome.”—V. E. Schwab, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

“Touching, horrifying, and entertaining. In many places it’s impossible—as with any well-written account of animals suffering because of our deeds—to not be moved.”—Mark Lawrence, Sunday Times bestselling author of Prince of Thorns and The Book That Wouldn’t Burn

“Wickedly sharp, unflinchingly brutal, and nothing short of a modern masterpiece. Blacktail will consume you.”—Marcus Kliewer, New York Times bestselling author of The Caretaker

“Blacktail is a journey through a universe simultaneously surreal and familiar, a tale that will leave claw marks on your brain that won’t quickly fade. You simply won’t read another book like it this year.”—Jason Pargin, author of John Dies at the End

“With a deeply rooted point of view inside an animal’s mind, Hawkins delivers a rich mythology laced with both humor and tragedy that will have you reconsidering your own place in the natural order.”—Max Doty, author of The House That Eats the Dead

“A tale of lupine vengeance—at first—whose stakes escalate to degrees I never saw coming. Unexpected, blood-soaked, and vividly told.”—qntm, author of There Is No Antimemetics Division

“Scott Hawkins waited a decade to follow The Library at Mount Char, and Blacktail was worth it: a gory, mythic fable that hands the story to the animals and casts us as the monsters. Just mind the bloodshed.”—25 Years Later