The epic standalone dystopian romance from the Sunday Time bestselling author of A Study in Drowning and Lady Macbeth . Perfect for fans of The Hunger Games and The Last of Us SURVIVAL SACRIFICE A LOVE THAT RISKS EVERYTHING ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ''Stunning . . . Among the dystopian greats.'' Chloe Gong ''Brilliant and devastating, Fable for the End of the World will arm you with the strongest tools we have: both anger and hope.'' Allison Saft ''Knife-edged and tender-hearted, I will be thinking of the final line for years to come'' Courtney Gould ------------------------------------------------------ By encouraging massive accumulations of debt, a single corporation, Caerus, controls all aspects of society. Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town, barely scraping a living from their taxidermy shop. But their mother has secretly accrued enormous debt - and the only way out is to offer her daughter up to be a sacrifice for Caerus''s livestreamed assassination event: the Lamb''s Gauntlet. Melinoe is the assassin chosen for this spectacle. The product of years of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, she''s a living weapon, famous for her cold brutality and deadly beauty. But she''s also haunted by her failure in the last gauntlet, when she broke down live on screen. But as Mel pursues Inesa across the wasteland, each determined to claim victory, they begin to question what they''ve been taught. Could there be more to life than survival? Could they be capable of more than death? Could they, against all the odds, be falling in love? ---------------------------------- PRAISE FOR AVA REID ''A gargantuan hit . . . Dark and brooding, skillful storytelling and intricate character development breathe new life into literature. Dripping in atmosphere . . . One to order immediately.'' Glamour ''A bewitching read with prose like gold. '' Tasha Suri ''A knife of a book: blood-stained, sharply beautiful, and necessary . . . I couldn''t look away'' Alix E. Harrow ''I was spellbound from the very first page.'' Freya Marske ...

Autorentext

Ava Reid is the Sunday Times and #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning, Lady Macbeth, Innamorata and more. Her books have been published in over fourteen territories. She lives in the New York area.

Klappentext

**FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF LADY MACBETH AND A STUDY IN DROWNING

'There's one thing about Ava Reid; she doesn't miss.'** Sasha Peyton Smith
'You'll start saving space on your shelf for Ava Reid.' Kendare Blake

The Last of Us meets The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes in this stand-alone dystopian romance about survival, sacrifice, and love that risks everything.

By encouraging massive accumulations of debt from its underclass, a single corporation, Caerus, controls all aspects of society.

Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town where they scrape by running a taxidermy shop. Unbeknownst to Inesa, their cruel and indolent mother has accrued an enormous debt-enough to qualify one of her children for Caerus's livestreamed assassination spectacle: the Lamb's Gauntlet.

Melinoë is a Caerus assassin, trained to track and kill the sacrificial Lambs. The product of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, she is a living weapon, known for her cold brutality and deadly beauty. She has never failed to assassinate one of her marks.

When Inesa learns that her mother has offered her as a sacrifice, at first she despairs-the Gauntlet is always a bloodbath for the impoverished debtors. But she's had years of practice surviving in the apocalyptic wastes, and with the help of her hunter brother, she might stand a chance of staying alive.

For Melinoë, this is a game she can't afford to lose. Despite her reputation for mercilessness, she is haunted by painful flashbacks. After her last Gauntlet, where she broke down on livestream, she desperately needs redemption.

As Mel pursues Inesa across the wasteland, both girls begin to question everything: Inesa wonders if there's more to life than survival, while Mel wonders if she's capable of more than killing.

And both wonder if, against all odds, they might be falling in love.

Zusammenfassung

The Last of Us meets The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes in this stand-alone dystopian romance about survival, sacrifice, and love that risks everything.

By encouraging massive accumulations of debt from its underclass, a single corporation, Caerus, controls all aspects of society.

Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town where they scrape by running a taxidermy shop. Unbeknownst to Inesa, their cruel and indolent mother has accrued an enormous debtenough to qualify one of her children for Caerus's livestreamed assassination spectacle: the Lamb's Gauntlet.

Melinoë is a Caerus assassin, trained to track and kill the sacrificial Lambs. The product of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, she is a living weapon, known for her cold brutality and deadly beauty. She has never failed to assassinate one of her marks.

When Inesa learns that her mother has offered her as a sacrifice, at first she despairsthe Gauntlet is always a bloodbath for the impoverished debtors. But she's had years of practice surviving in the apocalyptic wastes, and with the help of her hunter brother, she might stand a chance of staying alive.

For Melinoë, this is a game she can't afford to lose. Despite her reputation for mercilessness, she is haunted by painful flashbacks. After her last Gauntlet, where she broke down on livestream, she desperately needs redemption.

As Mel pursues Inesa across the wasteland, both girls begin to question everything: Inesa wonders if there's more to life than survival, while Mel wonders if she's capable of more than killing.

And both wonder if, against all odds, they might be falling in love.