Jack

This reissue of Nebula and Hugo Award–winner Willis’s stunning WWII-set novella, originally published in 1991, takes readers into the mind of Jack Harker, a member of a London air raid rescue squad. When a new volunteer, Jack Settle, joins the squad, he proves to have an uncanny ability to detect life under the rubble left by bombs. Despite his heroics, Settle doesn’t drink or dine with the other volunteers and always leaves before the sun rises, claiming he must return to his day job. As Settle’s rescue count grows and his unusual behavior continues, Harker becomes suspicious and he launches an investigation into Settle’s true motives and life before joining the squad. But as he inches closer to the tragic truth, his thoughts begin to tangle. Parallels and allusions to Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the protagonist of which is Harker’s namesake, enhance this dark, genre-bending war story. Strange, unsettling, and thoroughly engrossing, this twisted tale will captivate horror and fantasy readers. Agent: Chris Lotts, Lotts Agency (Apr.)