DEEPWOOD CITY

If your brother abandoned you, would you follow him to the most dangerous city to find out why?

In a world where having magic can get you killed, children born with magic are forced to use their powers to battle dark creatures. 13-year-old Nippa is terrified of the magic burning inside her, but she has someone who will save her: her brother John. He promised to protect her, to hide her so that she would not have to use her magic.

But when John breaks all his promises and disappears, Nippa is left to fend for herself. She follows John to the most feared city in the kingdom: Deepwood City. A place where children are sent if they can't suppress their magic; a place of monsters, dark secrets, and merciless bounty hunters. What is her brother doing here?

This is an adventure story full of mystery and suspense, with a hint of dark fairy tales about it. The young heroine is vulnerable yet determined to face her fears... and finds her world turned upside down.
Everything Nippa believed about magic and herself is challenged when she enters Deepwood City. She meets the Seekers, proud and defiant bounty hunters, who use their magic freely to protect the city. For the first time Nippa sees magic being used for good. Could everything she learned about magic be wrong? When she finally finds John and uncovers his secret, Nippa has to make a decision. Will she embrace her powers and save her brother, or turn her back on it and lose John forever?

Simone Schümmelfeder is a German writer, based in Dublin.