Never Hide from the Devil - by N T McQueen (Paperback)

About the Book

The government wants them dead. Fourteen-year-old Suren Simonian, an Armenian, lives as most boys his age do in the city of Van, eastern Anatolia. He goes to school, gawks at boys' fistfights, and does his best to avoid the Turkish gendarmes. Most days he spends with his Turkish best friend, Hamza. But in spring 1915, rumors spread through Van o

Book Synopsis

"Heart-wrenching, thought-provoking, and painfully timely." --Kirkus Reviews (STARRED review)"A jagged piece of shrapnel from 1915 Van, pulsing with the frantic, localized energy of a city under siege." --The Armenian Weekly

The government wants them dead.

Fourteen-year-old Suren Simonian lives a familiar boyhood in the Armenian city of Van in eastern Anatolia -- attending school, watching fistfights, and trying to stay out of the way of Turkish gendarmes. His closest companion is Hamza, his Turkish best friend, and most days feel ordinary enough.

But in the spring of 1915, rumors of massacres sweep through the region. Soon, Turkish troops surround Van with a single objective: the extermination of its Armenian population. As violence closes in, Suren is forced to confront the meaning of loyalty, courage, and manhood in a world that has turned deadly overnight.

Inspired by a true story of resistance during the Armenian Genocide, Never Hide from the Devil is a powerful coming-of-age novel about friendship, survival, and impossible moral choices in the face of unimaginable horror.

Review Quotes

"Heart-wrenching and thought-provoking, this slowly unfurling epic dramatizes the defense of the city of Van--a bitter victory in the first month of the Armenian genocide--through the eyes of 14-year-old Suren Simonian, forced to grow up too quickly." --Kirkus Reviews (STARRED REVIEW)

"Not merely a historical reconstruction... a jagged piece of shrapnel from 1915 Van... pulsing with the frantic, localized energy of a city under siege... rendered in prose that lands with a rifle's recoil, taut, sharp, and unforgiving." --Milena Baghdasaryan, The Armenian Weekly

About the Author

N.T. McQueen is an avid writer and dedicated college lecturer. With a master's degree in fiction from California State University, Sacramento, McQueen has brought unique perspectives on human nature to readers in his captivating novels Never Hide from the Devil (Cennan, 2026), The Cry of Dry Bones (2021), and Between Lions and Lambs (2011). His writing has been featured in North American Review, Stonecoast Review, Entropy, Sunlight Press, Atticus Review, Dappled Things, Grief Digest Magazine, and Foreword Magazine. He lives in California with his wife and daughters and enjoys fishing, traveling, and a tasty cup of coffee.