Creatures of want and ruin

Format:

Book

Title:

Creatures of want and ruin

Author:

Tanzer, Molly author

ISBN:

9781328710253

Publication:

Boston : Mariner Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018.

Physical Description:

348 pages ; 21 cm

Series title(s):

Diabolist's library series ;

Number in series:

General Note:

"A John Joseph Adams book."

Includes excerpt from Creatures of charm and hunger.

Summary:

"Amityville baywoman Ellie West fishes by day and bootlegs moonshine by night. It's dangerous work under Prohibition--independent operators like her are despised by federal agents and mobsters alike--but Ellie's brother was accepted to college and Ellie's desperate to see him go. So desperate that when wealthy strangers ask her to procure libations for an extravagant party Ellie sells them everything she has, including some booze she acquired under unusual circumstances. What Ellie doesn't know is that this booze is special. Distilled from foul mushrooms by a cult of diabolists, those who drink it see terrible things--like the destruction of Long Island in fire and flood. The cult is masquerading as a church promising salvation through temperance and a return to 'the good old days', so it's hard for Ellie to take a stand against them, especially when her father joins, but Ellie loves Long Island, and she loves her family, and she'll do whatever it takes to ensure neither is torn apart."-- Provided by publisher.

Subject(s):

Alcohol trafficking -- Fiction.

Cults -- Fiction.

Long Island City (New York, N.Y.) -- History -- 20th century -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Long Island City (New York, N.Y.) -- History -- 20th century -- Fiction.

New York (State) -- New York -- Long Island City.

Genre:

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Woodburn Public Library	Tanzer	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

"Profound and enthralling. This book is a delicate dream, mixing its own internal mythology with a brutal tale of prejudice and human frailty. I can't recommend it enough. Tanzer is absolutely one to watch." -- Seanan McGuire, bestselling, award-winning author of In an Absent Dream

Amityville baywoman Ellie West fishes by day and bootlegs moonshine by night. It's dangerous work under Prohibition--independent operators like her are despised by federal agents and mobsters alike--but Ellie's brother was accepted to college and Ellie's desperate to see him go. So desperate that when wealthy strangers ask her to procure libations for an extravagant party Ellie sells them everything she has, including some booze she acquired under unusual circumstances.

What Ellie doesn't know is that this booze is special. Distilled from foul mushrooms by a cult of diabolists, those who drink it see terrible things--like the destruction of Long Island in fire and flood. The cult is masquerading as a church promising salvation through temperance and a return to "the good old days," so it's hard for Ellie to take a stand against them, especially when her father joins, but Ellie loves Long Island, and she loves her family, and she'll do whatever it takes to ensure neither is torn apart.

Author Notes

MOLLY TANZER is the author of Creatures of Will and Temper , Vermilion, and The Pleasure Merchant . She is also the co-editor of Mixed Up: Cocktail Recipes (and Flash Fiction) for the Discerning Drinker (and Reader).

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Tanzer's charming, confident follow-up to Creatures of Will and Temper continues the conceit of drawing on famous literary source texts for character and plot material; here, The Great Gatsby crashes into the works of H.P. Lovecraft, with, of course, chaotic results. On Long Island in the 1920s, Ellie West does bootlegging by boat to help pay for her brother's education. One night, she inadvertently gets into an altercation with another sailor that ends in her acquiring some odd new bottles of moonshine; those bottles end up at a party thrown by Delphine "Fin" Coulthead and her rich husband and friends. Fin is out of her element in the endless parties of the Roaring '20s, a situation only made worse by the nightmarish paranormal effects of the tainted liquor. Fin and Ellie make an appealing team as they work to figure out what's wrong and stop it, and the depiction of Long Island is a fine example of nuanced, lovely landscape writing. The portrayal of groups of normal people falling into mob violence and hatred of the other groups is genuinely unnerving, and Tanzer resists simplistic moral takes. Some elements of the plot are a touch predictable, but the overall effect is delightful. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

Tanzer's follow-up to Creatures of Will and Temper (2017) returns to the compelling historical-fantasy world where demons live among us. The seaside village of Amityville, NY, is deep into Prohibition. Ellie West is a moonshiner and the family's sole breadwinner. On a stormy night, she comes upon a stash of booze that has a strange power over those who drink it. This discovery leads Ellie to Fin, another unconventional woman, and they gather their diverse group of outcast friends to do battle with a KKK-like cult that is tapping a supernatural evil and the townspeople's racism to gain power. Once again, Tanzer expertly weaves an authentic historical setting into a tense, engrossing supernatural frame with lush descriptions and a steadily building pace. The alternating points of view of the two female protagonists, unwilling to live within society's confines, really stand out. Despite the supernatural, historical setting, readers will see themes and issues that reverberate eerily with our present. For fans of Lara Elena Donnelly's Amberlough (2017) or V. E. Schwab's A Darker Shade of Magic (2015).--Becky Spratford Copyright 2018 Booklist