It helps that these three characters are such lovable disasters.

By focusing only on a few characters, this story feels so much more real. You don’t always know your life is about to be wrecked until it is.

But this small scope feels like a far more relavant portrayal of a society in crisis. As the novel builds up, we get the sense that there’s a lot more going on than what these three characters see, and indeed there is. But rather than focusing on the power plays of that fascist movement, this novel goes a lot more in-depth it focuses on just three of the characters affected by the new regime, and how they react to the disappearances, the burgeoning fear.Īnd I think this is the narrative choice that makes the whole book so haunting. This was like watching a slow-motion train wreck, and I loved it.Īmberlough follows a city set in a world paralleling 1920s counterculture as it slowly falls under the power of a fascist sect. The Dancer: Streetwise Cordelia Lehane, burlesque performer at the Bumble Bee Cabaret and Aristide’s runner, could be the key to Cyril’s plans-if she can be trusted.Īs the twinkling marquees lights yield to the rising flames of a fascist revolution, these three will struggle to survive using whatever means - and people - necessary. The Spy: Covert agent Cyril DePaul thinks he’s good at keeping secrets, but after a disastrous mission abroad, he makes a dangerous choice to protect himself…and hopefully Aristide too. By night, he moves drugs and refugees under the noses of crooked cops.

The Smuggler: By day, Aristide Makricosta is the emcee for Amberlough City’s top nightclub. Librarian note: an older cover for this edition can be found here.Ī double-agent sacrifices all his ideals in order to save his smuggler lover before a government coup takes over their decadent city in Lara Elena Donnelly’s glam spy thriller debut, now a Nebula finalist for Best Novel!

Amberlough by lara elena donnelly