The Works of Vermin - by Hiron Ennes (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

He was sent to kill a pest. Instead, he found a monster.

One of BookPage's Most Anticipated SFF & Horror of Fall 2025

Enter the decadent, deadly city of Tiliard, a metropolis carved into the stump of an ancient tree. In its canopy, the pampered elite warp minds with toxic perfume; in its roots, gangs of exterminators hunt a colossal worm with an appetite for beauty.

In this complex, chaotic city, Guy Moulène has a simple goal: keep his sister out of debt. For her sake, he'll take on any job, no matter how vile.

As an exterminator, Guy hunts the uncanny creatures that crawl up from the river. These vermin are all strange, and often dangerous. His latest quarry is different: a centipede the size of a dragon with a deadly venom and a ravenous taste for artwork. As it digests Tiliard from the sewers to the opera houses, its toxin reshapes the future of the city. No sane person would hunt it, if they had the choice.

Guy doesn't have a choice.

"I will follow this writer anywhere." --Gillian Flynn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Gone Girl

Review Quotes

A USA Today Bestseller!
A BookPage Most Anticipated Novel!

"An intriguing work of whimsi-grotesquerie that's got it all: political intrigue, Wharton-esque manners, infectious disease, mysterious revenge, and, of course, toxic bugs." --Olivie Blake, New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six

"A lush and seductive story, rife with opulent horror and decaying decadence." --Sunyi Dean, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Book Eaters

"The Works of Vermin is a brilliant, shapeshifting puzzle-box of a book, as beautiful as it is bewildering." --Christopher Buehlman, author of Between Two Fires

"The Works of Vermin is a dazzling performance by a major new author." --Washington Post, Best Books of 2025

"Truly on par with VanderMeer and Miéville, an absolute thrill to read." --LitHub's Most Anticipated

"A hallucinatory scorpion sting of a concretized metaphor inhabiting the intersection of Jeff VanderMeer and N.K. Jemisin." --Elizabeth Bear

"Ennes's voice is a marvel: it drips, it scuttles, it glows and oozes and bites. An unforgettable ride of a novel from one of my favourite authors working today, this one will swallow you whole and then spit you out changed." --Freya Marske, internationally bestselling author of the Last Binding series

"Dazzling, elegant, and teeming with a glorious array of monstrosities, The Works of Vermin is at once wonderfully fresh and rotten to its worm-infested core. Loved it!" --Kerstin Hall, author of Asunder

"If you're a fan of Mervin Peake, Gene Wolfe, China Miéville-- mammal, have I got a book for you." --Peter Watts

"Ennes is an alchemist, and The Works of Vermin is its own, new element. A brilliant blend of intense intrigue and the fantastically macabre." --Johnny Compton, author of The Spite House

"Filled with some of the most twisted, inventive worldbuilding you'll ever see and a perfectly poised balance of ruthless mockery of the decadent and corrupt with a well of deep humanity for those beneath them, The Works of Vermin is not just a landmark novel of dystopian satire but one of the great speculative works of the twenty-first century." --Grimdark Magazine

"A twisted puzzle box of a book about family, revolution, and creatures that go bump in the night. Equal parts disturbing and moving, The Works of Vermin takes both Ennes' world building and craft to the next level." --BookPage, starred review

"A must-read for fantasy fans perceptive enough to see that tarnish can be as beautiful as the shine." --Library Journal

"Macabre and imaginative, The Works of Vermin is a must-read." --Voice Magazine (UK)

"Tiliard is a wonderfully gooey, oozy, rotting mess of a city, full of gnawing vermin and weaponized perfume, and the story of its revolution is a squicky blast." --Django Wexler, author of How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying

"Ennes draws a through line from Melville to contemporary horror." --Publishers Weekly

Praise for Leech

The RUSA Best Horror Novel of 2023!
Finalist for the British Fantasy Newcomer Award!
Finalist for the Endeavour Award!

"A wonderful new entry to Gothic science fiction, impeccably clever and atmospheric. Think Wuthering Heights... with worms!" --Tamsyn Muir

"So unique and utterly assured, I will follow this writer anywhere going forward." --Gillian Flynn, New York Times bestselling author of Gone Girl

"Emotionally complex, wildly inventive, and full of squirming terror... This is a must-read for readers looking for something new from the horror genre." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"[A] fascinating jigsaw puzzle... [that] only gets more intriguing as the novel goes on... Fans of gothic horror will devour it." --Booklist, starred review

"The fascinating world and original narrator that Ennes creates in their debut produce a sublime gothic sci-fi tale that grows into a story greater than the sum of its parts." --Library Journal, starred review

"Leech is perfect for readers who wished that Wuthering Heights had been just a little more like Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation." --BookPage, starred review

"Pure Gothic horror . . . [Leech] is a masterpiece of complex morality and uncertain identity, lurking within an intriguing puzzle" --The Wall Street Journal

"Leech uses language with starling acrobatism, creating a world steeped with more secrets than the human body can contain." --Cassandra Khaw

About the Author