Out Now: The Raptor & The Wren (Miriam Black, Book 5)

WELL, HELLO THERE.

I WROTE A BOOK.

Actually, I’ve written six of them in this particular series — I finished a draft of the sixth Miriam Black book, Vultures, yesterday, and today sees the release of the fifth and penultimate book, The Raptor & The Wren. Available in both hardcover and paperback on the same day, and also, obviously, ebook.

Buy in print (Indiebound), or in e-book (Amazon | B&N | iTunes)

I’ll leave you with the official description* first:

Miriam Black, in lockstep with death, continues on her quest to control her own fate in The Raptor and the Wren, the brand-new fifth book in the Miriam Black series.

Having been desperate to rid herself of her psychic powers, Miriam now finds herself armed with the solution — a seemingly impossible one. But Miriam’s past is catching up to her, just as she’s trying to leave it behind. A copy-cat killer has caught the public’s attention. An old nemesis is back from the dead. And Louis, the ex she still loves, will commit an unforgivable act if she doesn’t change the future. 

Miriam knows that only a great sacrifice is enough to counter fate. Can she save Louis, stop the killer, and survive? 

Hunted and haunted, Miriam is coming to a crossroads, and nothing is going to stand in her way, not even the Trespasser.

(*Actually, I see a different official description on bookselling sites, which is honestly a little spoiler-iffic? Dunno what’s up there.)

And maybe we should jump into a couple-few reviews…

“Wendig expertly splashes Miriam’s considerable emotional pain across the page, never sparing her the price of her gut-wrenching circumstances, and closes with a shocking twist that is a true game-changer.” — Publishers Weekly

“With a dark storyline and an even darker protagonist, this vivid adventure takes readers on an emotional, violent ride. VERDICT: The fifth book in the series (after Thunderbird) drives further down the road into Miriam Black’s life: the trauma, the fears, and the forgiveness. It will please fans of Joe Hill and Joe Abercrombie.” — Library Journal

“Wendig dials to eleven the violent maelstrom that is Miriam’s life, pulling in a gaggle of familiar characters from past installments along the way, tying them together into a tangled rat king of death and discovery. This time around, the narrative hits even harder than before, propelling Miriam well beyond her comfort zone and forcing her to dig herself in even deeper to survive. As usual, Wendig writes like he’s driving a truck full of dynamite downhill, on ice, and his brakes are out, careening madly from one absurd action beat to another, with black humor keeping pace all the way.” — Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog

“The Miriam Black series flips between genres, blending together elements of horror, mystery, psychological thriller, and urban fantasy into something deliciously addictive. Raptors is more on the thriller/horror/dark UF bent, a novel full of sharp writing, harrowing plot and subplots, and devastating characters. The Raptor and the Wren is an heartbreaker of a book that’ll leave you gasping for breath by the final page. Bring on the finale!” — Tor.com

If you haven’t seen the series trailer:

My own thoughts?

I wrote this book in the fall of last year, which was, umm, an interesting time politically, and one in which I found myself getting very little sleep, so this book was sort of stolen from and produced by a ongoing fight with insomnia. Not that I recommend it as part of your writing regimen, but honestly, I think that contributed well to the overall vibe of the book.

This is a pretty, um, rough book. Like, if you imagine the Miriam Black books to be an entire series of Empire Strikes Back-level downers, then this book is the Empire Strikes Back of that series. It represents a hard row to hoe for poor Miriam, and shows her growing and changing while also grappling with a series of new existential threats for her and those around her.

It also contains an owl called BIRD-OF-DOOM, so there’s that.

I never know exactly where to put the Miriam books on a genre-scale — some call these urban fantasy, but this book has no “urban” in it, nor is it particularly fantastical, though the supernatural is an everpresent backdrop. It’s a little bit crime, for sure. It’s a little bit horror, most definitely. They’re thrillers, no doubt, supernatural thrillers, written with the kind of (hopefully) relentless pacing where you read it with a breathless pace — the pace of someone being chased through a house by a machete-wielding murderer.

Yesterday, as noted, I just finished the sixth and final (!) book, Vultures — which should come out a year from now, roughly. That one is a bit longer than all the others, and it both sad and exhilarating to have finished a six-book series. I won’t spoil what’s to come in that book, because then I’d spoil what’s to come in this book.

Beautiful cover, by the way, is from Adam S. Doyle.

Anyway. I hope you enjoy it, and the series. If you have enjoyed any of these books, I’d sure love a review written at a site like Amazon or Goodreads, or spraypainted on a city bus, or written in elegant calligraphy on the side of a whale, or burned into the moon using a big laser. Thanks!

A note: do not start with this book. You need to read the rest first.

The Miriam Black series is, in order:

Blackbirds — print | ebook

Mockingbird — print | ebook

The Cormorant — print | ebook

Thunderbird — print | ebook

The Raptor & The Wren — print | ebook