The Dark Mirror

Shannon expands the world of her Bone Season series in this pedal-to-the-metal fifth installment (after 2021’s The Mask Falling). It opens with series heroine Paige Mahoney awakening in an unfamiliar hotel somewhere outside of the Republic of Scion without any memory of the past six months. Paige, a 20-year-old with ESP, works to make her way back to her home and the struggle against the Sargas, a subgroup of the Rephaim, “immortal humanoids of the Netherworld,” who traveled to Earth after a Rephaim civil war and have been attempting to control human clairvoyants. Her journey takes her through Venice, where she learns of a new Sargas plot: Operation Ventriloquist, a scheme to overtake governments “from within” by turning their leaders into puppets. The stakes are high, the pace is rapid, and Shannon’s gift for evocative prose makes the shadowy streets of Venice come alive. Readers who need their memories jogged regarding both the characters’ elaborate backstories and Shannon’s frequent neologisms will find a comprehensive glossary at the back of the book. Series fans will be thrilled. Agent: David Godwin, David Godwin Assoc. (Feb.)