The Thorns - by Dawn Kurtagich (Paperback)

About the Book

"Touch a line, you break your spine. Stacey is the dusty air, the cracked soil, the drought. To thirteen-year-old Bethany Sloane, she's everything. Abandoned by her mother at a remote African boarding school, Bethany will do anything to stay in Stacey's good graces. And that means learning the rules of each twisted game. Touch a crack, you break your back. Seventeen years later, Bethany is a bestselling author. Disabled now, she can't remember what happened back in the bush. But there's no mistaking Stacey Preston's name in her inbox. Glassy, glassy, cut my arsey. That email brings Bethany's childhood rushing back. The Glass Man was just a story the Thorns invented, a game of wits. But every game has its rules-and consequences for breaking them. To stay alive this round, Bethany needs to play right into Stacey's hands. Dark and disturbing, The Thorns explores the horrifying world of adolescent abuse, controlling friendships, and blinding obsession."--Bookshop.org.

Book Synopsis

In this hauntingly twisted tale, an author reconnects with an old boarding school friend, forcing her to reckon with their shared past and the imaginary creature she thought they left behind.

Touch a line, you break your spine.

Stacey is the dusty air, the cracked soil, the drought. To thirteen-year-old Bethany Sloane, she's everything.

Abandoned by her mother at a remote African boarding school, Bethany will do anything to stay in Stacey's good graces. And that means learning the rules of each twisted game.

Touch a crack, you break your back.

Years later, Bethany is a bestselling author. Disabled now, she can't remember what happened back in the bush. But there's no mistaking Stacey Preston's name in her inbox.

Glassy, glassy, cut my arsey.

That email brings Bethany's childhood rushing back. The Glass Man was just a story the Thorns invented, a game of wits. But every game has its rules--and consequences for breaking them. To stay alive this round, Bethany needs to play right into Stacey's hands.

Dark and disturbing, The Thorns explores the horrifying world of adolescent abuse, controlling friendships, and blinding obsession.

Review Quotes

"Take Mean Girls, stir in a substantial serving of reality, add a dash of parental neglect, and drag it out to bake in the unrelenting South African sun, and you get The Thorns. So many of us have had Staceys in our lives, and this is the most honest account of abusive friendships I've ever read: it made me feel seen. Kurtagich has created a brutal, visceral, and unflinching masterpiece that will haunt you long after you put it down." --Ann Dávila Cardinal, author of The Storyteller's Death

"Kurtagich blends together the world of adolescent friendships and all-consuming obsession in this dazzling triumph of a novel that burrows into your flesh like briars. The Thorns oozes with an atmosphere that emerges bloody from the page and leaves you gasping for more." --Teagan Olivia King, author of Spit Back the Bones

"Dawn Kurtagich's writing is as sharp as it gets, pulling readers into a world thick with atmosphere and emotion. Her ability to weave psychological tension with vivid, immersive prose makes her storytelling utterly unforgettable. Kurtagich knows what she's doing, and she's not afraid to rip out your heart in the process." --Shea Ernshaw, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Long Live the Pumpkin Queen

"Another Dawn Kurtagich masterpiece, The Thorns left me wrecked, mind-blown, and in absolute awe! To anyone who has had a Stacey in their life: you will get this. To everyone else: be glad that you don't, but be prepared for The Thorns to burrow deep into your soul anyway." --Kat Ellis, author of The Devouring Light

"Brutal and beautiful, The Thorns is half a fever dream, half a nightmare that captures the feeling of adolescent girlhood with unflinching honesty." --Lyndall Clipstone, author of Lakesedge and Tenderly, I am Devoured

"Unflinching. Wicked. Needle-sharp. The Thorns is penned with an abundance of brutality and tenderness. This is feminist horror at its best." --Lucy Rose, author of The Lamb

Praise for Dawn Kurtagich

"Dawn Kurtagich really is the queen of darkness..." --Josh Winning, author of Heads Will Roll

"Scary stuff!" --R. L. Stine, author of the Goosebumps and Fear Street series

"Kurtagich is one of my favorite writers." --Evelyn Skye, New York Times bestselling author of The Hundred Loves of Juliet

"Dawn Kurtagich has an amazing mind. Creepy, but amazing." --Christopher Pike, bestselling author of the Thirst series

"Kurtagich's horror imagery is satisfying and affecting." --School Library Journal

"Kurtagich's writing is evocative and fearless." --Cat Winters, author of In the Shadow of Blackbirds and The Raven's Tale

Praise for The Madness

"Sharp and relentless, The Madness has a bite that won't let go." --Kiersten White, New York Times bestselling and Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of And I Darken

"Fiercely feminist and fantastically eerie, The Madness is Welsh Gothic at its most intoxicating. Dawn Kurtagich really is the queen of darkness, drawing beautifully on Bram Stoker's Dracula to deliver a story that's smart, fresh, and frightening in equal measure. This book wraps itself around you like a wraith and refuses to let go." --Josh Winning, author of Burn the Negative

"If you thought Mina Harker deserved more credit, more power, and more agency, this Dracula remix is for you. The Madness zeroes in on the original's undercurrent of sexual violence and puts its targets--young women--in the starring roles, arming them not only with wooden stakes and arcane lore but also with love and solidarity. Kurtagich's vampires, like Stoker's, are vicious, calculating predators, but this time the prey bites back." --Amelinda Bérubé, author of Here There Are Monsters

"In The Madness, Dawn Kurtagich has created a stunning Dracula retelling--creepy, insidious, and visceral. This book will haunt me for a long time--in the very best way." --Amy McCulloch, author of Breathless

"Exquisitely dark, disturbing, and clever as hell! Kurtagich's hypnotic retelling electrifies and relentlessly propels the reader forward with one cliff-hanger after another. If you think you've heard this story before, think again. The Madness is a tour de force of feminist horror." --Paulette Kennedy, bestselling author of The Witch of Tin Mountain

"The Madness is genuinely chilling and endlessly compelling. Welsh folklore, small towns, and secrets--this story is Gothic horror at its finest." --Emily Lloyd-Jones, author of The Bone Houses

"I devoured The Madness. A modern interpretation of Dracula cast with familiar characters, the story is deferential, referential, and yet wholly its own terrifying achievement. Kurtagich's writing is lively and gorgeous. This original spin on a familiar tale is guaranteed to keep you turning the pages until the sun comes up." --Joshua Moehling, author of And There He Kept Her and Where the Dead Sleep

"Kurtagich has taken the classic horror novel and dragged it into the twenty-first century in this fabulous, feminist, and fierce retelling. Mina Harker was one of the most passive women in literature, representing Victorian virtue until she is attacked, and then is considered soiled because of it. The Mina of The Madness is intelligent, flawed, and fiercely relatable. She takes matters into her own hands, and forms a band of badass women, reimagining Stoker's boys club in a manner that will leave you pumping your fist in the air with triumph." --Ann Dávila Cardinal, award-winning author of The Storyteller's Death

"A retelling with teeth, The Madness is exquisitely timely and elegantly told, reimagining vampires into our current world with rich imagination." --Hannah Whitten, New York Times bestselling author of For the Wolf

"An atmospheric and immersive read! This feminist take on Dracula, focusing on victim experiences and with spot-on commentary about the parallels between men and monsters, is as fast-paced as it is carefully wrought. With bone-chilling imagery and deep characterizations, this is a fantastic reimagining of the classic Dracula tale." --Wendy Heard, author of You Can Trust Me and Hunting Annabelle

"The Madness is a mesmerizing indictment of female exploitation sculpted from the decaying bones of a classic. An intricate and empathetic reimagining that haunted me in more ways than one. My new favourite thriller!" --Isabel Agajanian, author of Modern Divination

"Dawn Kurtagich's official debut novel! My reading experience of The Madness consisted of the investigation of mysterious psychic trauma...strong female protagonists, and a labyrinthine, Welsh castle, all of which are drenched in the pervasive echoes of Bram Stoker's Dracula. I especially enjoyed the mixed-media storytelling including bits of letters, texts, and message board discussions--so interactive and immersive! The Madness checks a lot of boxes for thrill seekers and horror hounds!" --Sadie Hartmann (@mother.horror)

"A propulsively dark Welsh Gothic reimaging of Dracula, which centers on the compelling and lushly drawn women of the tale. Dawn Kurtagich masterfully weaves local folklore with a malevolent conspiracy of powerful men to deliver a novel that is viscerally creepy and unforgettable." --Danielle Paige, New York Times bestselling author of the Dorothy Must Die series and Wish of the Wicked

Praise for Teeth in the Mist

"Dawn Kurtagich breathes life into Faustian lore." --Hypable

"Kurtagich delivers a creepy, atmospheric tale of subjugation, female self-empowerment, and redemption." --Publishers Weekly

"Kurtagich's writing is evocative and fearless. Teeth in the Mist abounds with atmosphere, mystery, and horror and gleefully plays with the Faust legend in ways both modern and classically Gothic." --Cat Winters, author of In the Shadow of Blackbirds and The Raven's Tale

"Delightfully disturbing...an eerie, atmospheric, satanic spooky story." --Kirkus Reviews

"In Teeth in the Mist, Dawn Kurtagich weaves genres, time periods, and sets of characters with deft fingers. Connecting all is the mysterious Mill House. Readers will be fascinated, perplexed, often freaked out, and always wanting to turn the next page." --Juliet Marillier, author of the Blackthorn & Grim series

Praise for And the Trees Crept In (The Creeper Man)

"Will haunt readers with its raw emotions, palpable pain, and consistent character voices...Frightening and compelling, this gothic will easily sweep fans up into its creeping sense of hysteria." --Kirkus Reviews

"And the Trees Crept In is a hauntingly immersive tale of insanity, terror, and what happens when you're not even safe in your own home." --Hypable

"Kurtagich's horror imagery is satisfying and affecting--her descriptions of the day-to-day decay the girls face are as rich and scary as the monstrous man who scuttles around on all fours and the teeming mud pits that are waiting in the woods. A great next read for teens who enjoy being scared." --School Library Journal (starred review)

"Kurtagich evokes an all-pervading atmosphere of horror with dark imagery and language evoking rot, decay, and death...This unique novel is for teens who enjoy being immersed in a dark, complex horror story." --Voya (starred review)

"Kurtagich has created an incredibly assured, claustrophobic horror with a fractured and troubled teen narrator that will have you gripped to the very last page." --Book Trust

"Horror fans will be caught by the gripping cover image, and there's plenty to scare them here, even during the second reading that the surprise ending might encourage them to undertake." --The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Dark, twisted, and terrifying, And the Trees Crept In will keep your stomach in knots from page one. A must-read for horror fans everywhere!" --Susan Dennard, New York Times bestselling author of Truthwitch and Windwitch

"And the Trees Crept In should come with a warning label: Best read in the light of day, with lots of smiling people around, and candy canes and unicorns and cute babies. A beautifully written, gorgeous nightmare of a novel." --David Arnold, bestselling author of Mosquitoland and Kids of Appetite

"An enthralling, unsettling fairy tale that will have you turning pages long into the night." --Michelle Zink, author of This Wicked Game and Lies I Told

"A fight for survival, an encroaching forest, a cursed manor, and dark secrets...Kurtagich's terrifying take wrapped my heart up and squeezed until I was as cold as the dead things haunting its pages." --Alexandra Sirowy, author of The Creeping and The Telling

Praise for The Dead House

"A haunting new thriller..." --EW.com

" This book will pique readers' interest on multiple levels." --Library School Connection

"A horror tale made creepier by the integration of diary entries, grainy pictures, interview transcripts, newspaper clippings, doodles, stills from video recordings, and other media, Carly/Kaitlyn's story is told as 'found footage' pieced together by followers of 'the Johnson incident, ' which remains an unsolved mystery. Kurtagich maintains the creepy and dark tone through to the end, where readers are not given a neat a tidy ending--ghosts still haunt, pieces of the story remain missing, and life goes on despite the terrible tragedy at the prestigious Elmbridge High School." --Voya (October 2015 print issue)

"Kurtagich's debut is a taut, psychological suspense novel centered around disturbed teenagers Carly and Kaitlyn Johnson and the horrifying series of events that culminated in a deadly fire at a residential high school. Not for the faint of heart, this is a gory and grimly compelling story, made more so by the novel's visual elements. Readers will be left wondering if the supernatural elements are real or all part of a troubled girl's damaged mind." --Booklist

"This creepy boarding school novel meshes real-world issues with a paranormal mystery in a fun but scary debut...Fans of horror novels will appreciate the creepy photographs scattered throughout, and the multiple perspectives are smoothly integrates...a worthy addition to high school horror collections." --School Library Journal

"I do love an unreliable narrator (or two), and this endlessly twisty psychological horror manipulated from the off. A Buzz Book of the Bologna Children's Book Fair in 2014, this is Orion imprint Indigo's biggest debut title of the year." --The Bookseller

"Insightful characterization and a detailed exploration of the importance of the emergent identity to the teenage self." --Publisher's Weekly