The Dissonance

Hamill (A Cosmology of Monsters) returns with a dark and enchanting account of four friends whose dabbling in the supernatural as teenagers threatens their present happiness. In the 1990s, Hal, Athena, Erin, and Peter discover the Dissonance, which enables them to transform negative emotions into great feats of magic, and form a power-hungry coven. In 2019, now adults and their coven dissolved due to some unstated disaster, the friends must reckon with the consequences of their impulsive adolescent actions. Toggling between the two timelines to tease out what happened between now and then, Hamil weaves a tale of magic, teen angst, the power of enduring friendship, life in small-town America, sexuality, and the use of religion (in this case, Christianity) as a tool of subjugation. As the friends learn more of what they are capable of, they also discover what, and who, is behind the forces of Dissonance, building to a shocking conclusion that will change them forever. Fantasy readers won’t want to put this down. Agent: Kent Wolf, Neon Literary. (July)