Vicious - (Villains) by V E Schwab (Hardcover)

About the Book

Includes the Tor.com short story, Warm up; an excerpt from the novels sequel, Vengeful; and, an excerpt from the first book in the Shades of Magic trilogy, A darker shade of magic.

Book Synopsis

A masterful tale of ambition, jealousy, and superpowers from the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil.

Includes a short story set in the Villains universe, "Warm up", and a teaser of the next book in the series, Vengeful.

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates--brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find--aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge--but who will be left alive at the end?

In Vicious, V. E. Schwab brings to life a gritty comic-book-style world in vivid prose: a world where gaining superpowers doesn't automatically lead to heroism, and a time when allegiances are called into question.

"A dynamic and original twist on what it means to be a hero and a villain. A killer from page one...highly recommended!" --Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of Marvel Universe vs The Avengers and Patient Zero

Review Quotes

Entertainment Weekly's 27 Female Authors Who Rule Sci-Fi and Fantasy Right Now

Praise for the Villains Series
"V. E. Schwab is one of those authors you just have to read....She is a literary force to be reckoned with, a writer who packs more punch into a single chapter than most do in a whole series. With each new book, Schwab's already finely honed skills get sharper and fiercer, and Vengeful is no exception." -Reactor

"An epic collision of super-powered nemeses. The writing and storycraft is Schwab's own superpower as this tale leaps off the page in all its dark...glory." --Chuck Wendig, author of Blackbirds on Vicious

"Fresh, merciless, and, yes, vicious. Wow." --Mira Grant, New York Times bestselling author of the Newsflesh Trilogy on Vicious

"Reading this book destroyed me physically and emotionally....I would recommend this book to anyone in a heartbeat." -The LA Times on Vicious

Praise for V. E. Schwab
"Unmissable... Nobody can write like V. E. Schwab" - Jodie Picoult on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

"Immersive... A time-sweeping, character-juggling, lesbian vampire mystery." ―The New York Times on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

"One of the most propulsive, compulsive and captivating novels in recent memory."- The Washington Post on The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

About the Author

VICTORIA "V.E." SCHWAB is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than a dozen books, including the acclaimed Shades of Magic series, This Savage Song, Our Dark Duet and Vicious. Her work has received critical acclaim, been featured in the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Washington Post and more, translated into more than a dozen languages, and has been optioned for television and film. When she's not haunting Paris streets or trudging up English hillsides, she splits her time between Nashville, TN and Edinburgh, Scotland and is usually tucked in the corner of a coffee shop, dreaming up monsters.