"The Sin-Eater" is one more collection of Miss Macleod's mystic Runes of the Celts. Like all the others, it has a morbid charm altogether irresistible. It is easy to see that the author's imagination is responsible for much of the magic and mystery of her characters, nurtured though their originals may be upon dreams and a marvelous folklore. No human beings ever lived in a world so fervent with poetry and passion. The atmosphere of the whole is indescribable. Horrors are written of and crimes abound, all softened by the unearthly surroundings till they fail to shock the reader. A study of these weird but undeniably beautiful tales leaves one with an unreal and fantastic dreaminess of the brain that is pleasurably unwholesome. --Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science and Art, Volume 81

“For fans of The Handmaid’s Tale...a debut novel with a dark setting and an unforgettable heroine...is a riveting depiction of hard-won female empowerment” (The Washington Post). The Sin Eater walks among us, unseen, unheard Sins of our flesh become sins of Hers Following Her to the grave, unseen, unheard The Sin Eater Walks Among Us. For the crime of stealing bread, fourteen-year-old May receives a life sentence: she must become a Sin Eater—a shunned woman, brutally marked, whose fate is to hear the final confessions of the dying, eat ritual foods symbolizing their sins as a funeral rite, and thereby shoulder their transgressions to grant their souls access to heaven. Orphaned and friendless, apprenticed to an older Sin Eater who cannot speak to her, May must make her way in a dangerous and cruel world she barely understands. When a deer heart appears on the coffin of a royal governess who did not confess to the dreadful sin it represents, the older Sin Eater refuses to eat it. She is taken to prison, tortured, and killed. To avenge her death, May must find out who placed the deer heart on the coffin and why. “Very much reminiscent of The Handmaid’s Tale…it transcends its historical roots to give us a modern heroine” (Kirkus Reviews). “A novel as strange as it is captivating” (BuzzFeed), The Sin Eater “is a treat for fans of feminist speculative fiction” (Publishers Weekly) and “exactly what historical fiction lovers have unknowingly craved” (New York Journal of Books).

Damage suffuses The Sin Eater and Other Stories. From within Elizabeth Frankie Rollins' construct of the blighted home an adulterous husband calls on the services of a stranger to expunge his guilt, a young couple is diagnosed with the bubonic plague, and a bored woman finds herself growing a tail. Yet these others don't dwell; instead, they frame themselves in a way that is sound in structure and sentiment and plunges them from metaphor into modern-day marvel. In the evocative stories of this debut collection, even the tightest crevices dazzle with restorative possibility.

Seventeen-year-old Twylla lives in the castle. But although she's engaged to the prince, Twylla isn't exactly a member of the court. She's the executioner. As the Goddess embodied, Twylla instantly kills anyone she touches. Each month, she's taken to the prison and forced to lay her hands on those accused of treason. No one will ever love a girl with murder in her veins. Even the prince, whose royal blood supposedly makes him immune to Twylla's fatal touch, avoids her company.But then a new guard arrives, a boy whose easy smile belies his deadly swordsmanship. And unlike the others, he's able to look past Twylla's executioner robes and see the girl, not the Goddess. Yet Twylla's been promised to the prince, and knows what happens to people who cross the queen. However, a treasonous secret is the least of Twylla's problems. The queen has a plan to destroy her enemies, a plan that requires a stomach-churning, unthinkable sacrifice. Will Twylla do what it takes to protect her kingdom? Or will she abandon her duty in favor of a doomed love?

Sin Eater - A person who consumes a ritual meal in order to spiritually take on the sins of a deceased person. If only it were that simple.7 death row inmates. 7 sins to devour. Nelle Lockwood, one half of the nightmare detective agencies with her friend and mentor Buck McGraw, is given a most unusual request from the warden of a secretive prison: With Nelle as The Last Sin Eater, she is compelled to help absolve these evil people of their sins, but within the walls of the undersea tempestra prison lurks nightmarish creatures far beyond that of mere mortals... With Buck, Air Marshal Nestor Holden & his cocky corvid Edgar, Nelle must traverse uncomfortable conversations & hardships unlike anything she's ever faced. Author T. J. Lea's (THE EXPRESSIONLESS, NoSleep Podcast, Writers Mythos) "The Last Sin Eater" seeks to bridge the gap between Lovecraftian horror and dark fantasy, provoking difficult conversations, horrific creatures and spine tingling tension. As the inaugural novella in the expanding universe that makes up the collective first book: "Strangeness In Sturgeon: Echoes", what follows in successive novellas due out in 2021 is a blend of mystery, deep-seated horror ranging from the supernatural to the existential, a diverse set of characters and an immersion that makes you feel like you're within each of the unique locales and even more unique nightmares. There's more locked up in this prison than just inmates and Nelle will soon find out that some secrets are best left bounded... "Incredibly visceral, thought-provoking, and filled with unexpected twists, The Last Sin Eater by T. J. Lea is a masterfully written horror tale, although it's definitely not one for the faint of heart. Nelle is a strong and intriguing heroine who brings you along as she unlocks secrets about her past and the Church of the Duskwalkers while dealing with some of the most despicable inmates you'll ever meet." - USA Today bestselling author Angela Campbell.

Khamun Cross has been assigned an objective that will change his life: to protect Sanna Steele from the dark forces that desire to steal her soul. Khamun is a member of a secret society of Guardian Angels whose battle against The Cursed has been raging for centuries. The Cursed roam the earth to harvest souls for the Dark army, while the Guardian Angels desire to protect The Light. Khamun has been commissioned to watch over Sanna, but in doing so, he also satisfies his secret cravings for the sins of The Cursed. Like a vampire, he feeds off of his enemies. What was now tainted is purified by his touch, and he returns them to The Light. Unbeknownst to Sanna, she is the key to the war, and The Cursed are desperate to have her at all costs. They hunt her, as well as her family and friends, relentlessly. Will Khamun and his team be able to save her from the Dark? Kai Leakes delivers a classic tale of good versus evil in this supernatural thriller.