Evocation

There are genre mashups, and then there’s this paranormal horror second-chance enemies-to-lovers queer rom-com from Gibson (A Dowry of Blood), which flies by like a breezy beach read, but centers demons, witches, and polyamorous kinksters. The players are David, a bad-boy occult prodigy; Rhys, David’s scholarly, overearnest ex; and Moira, Rhys’s wife, a witch of vast but unarticulated talent. In alternating perspectives, David snarks hard about everything around him, Rhys whines about David, and Moira sighs, a watchful steel magnolia. The dynamic is campy, anxious, and angry, as the three circle each other in well-established ruts—until David comes to believe he’s the target of a demonic possession that only Rhys can thwart. Can this dysfunctional trio exorcise the threat, resolve past hurts, and enter into the triad relationship none of them can admit they want? It’s a pleasure to watch these three amusing characters fit together the puzzle of their relationship. (As Gibson writes of Rhys, “It was, he realized with creeping horror, love.”) This is an audacious and uncommon romp. Agent: Tara Gilbert, KT Literary. (May)