Careful Readers

A devil who deals in fire, brimstone, and fine print. The best weapon against ancient evil? Close reading.

Mephisto collects souls. He holds contracts for a Cuban American copyeditor, a novelist in Germany who sells well but can't make rent, and a Tokyo bar entertainer who reads Faulkner. For the first time, the devil's marks can compare notes. Each of them signed for what they needed most, and each of them is paying the price. One with no shadow, one in no mirror, and one without real language, the three of them do the only thing they were ever good at. They read closely. They work together to break the contracts that unmade them. Their path to salvation follows translation, diaspora, and human connection. At its heart the novel argues that close, unhurried attention to other people and their stories is a form of resistance in a distracted age.

Three lives across continents, woven by a Faustian bargain, and a climax that pays off.

For fans of Ryka Aoki's Light from Uncommon Stars, Ivonne Lamazares's The Tilting House, and Susanna Clarke's Piranesi.

“A tender, moving story that kept me reading from page one.” —Alice Blanchard, PEN/Faulkner Award winner and author of The Breathtaker

Cover design by Alexander Naughton