BELL WEATHER

Dennis Mahoney’s Bell Weather is a thoroughly original, thrilling epic.

Bell Weather begins with a young woman barely hanging on to life as she floats down a freezing and floral-strewn river in colonial Floria, a strange and vivid country set within a reimagined 18th Century. Her name is Molly Bell, and by the time she’s rescued from the swift current by Tom Orange, a surly local hero who runs a tavern plagued with trouble, she has lost both her memory and her identity. Far from home, her origins are unknown. Molly -- full of life and naturally calamitous -- is powerfully drawn to Tom, who keeps her close, yet keeps his respectful distance while she recovers. As she adjusts to the odd dynamics and characteristics of the isolated town of Root, fragments of Molly’s hidden past come to light against her will. A dramatic escape from a dangerous home in a faraway land, a desperate voyage overseas with threatening storms and shipmates. A grim, but loving brother with underworld connections, now mysteriously absent. Echoes of a tragedy she hasn't fully escaped. As perils intertwine and secrets are revealed, danger menaces the tavern Molly and Tom call home: supernatural weather, forest thieves who steal people's limbs, and a growing number of enemies who force them to decide between surviving on their own and risking everything together. This is immersive storytelling of the first order -- Charles Dickens-meets-David Lynch in a world of pure fiction born from the author’s brilliant imagination. Dennis Mahoney lives in upstate New York with his wife, son, and dog. His first novel, FELLOW MORTALS, was a Booklist Top Ten Debut in 2013. His second novel, BELL WEATHER, will be published by Holt in Summer 2015. He can be found online at AuthorDennisMahoney.com and @Giganticide.