BOHEMIAN GOSPEL

Set against the historical reign of the Golden and Iron King, BOHEMIAN GOSPEL is rich in details that recall "Game of Thrones." This novel, the first of a trilogy, follows Mouse's heart-thumping and blood-bathed quest to uncover her past and define her destiny.

Thirteenth-century Bohemia is a dangerous place for a girl, especially one as odd as Mouse, born with unnatural (perhaps super-natural) senses and an uncanny intellect. Is young Mouse a child of the church or a demon of questionable lineage? Even Mouse doesn't know for sure. When young King Ottakar shows up at the Abbey, having been fatally wounded by a traitor's arrow, Mouse breaks every church rule to save him. A nascent but powerful attraction sways Mouse to flaunt all propriety, and travel with the handsome King to Prague as his personal healer. Mouse soon finds herself almost crushed by Court intrigue and the political malevolence against Ottakar threatens to separate the the young lovers forever. Mouse's unusual gifts give rise to a violence and strength that surprise everyone — most of all herself. Dana Chamblee Carpenter’s award-winning short fiction has appeared in The Arkansas Review, Jersey Devil Press, and Maypop. Her debut novel, BOHEMIAN GOSPEL, won Killer Nashville’s 2014 Claymore Award. She teaches creative writing and American Literature at a private university in Nashville, Tennessee.