Spit Back the Bones - by Teagan Olivia King (Paperback)

About the Book

It's been three years since Mila Thomas' brother Jed went missing and his case went cold. Since then, Mila has fled town, running from the voices of the dead that reach her from the depths of the old family bog, afraid she would hear her brother's among them. Now she's back in town and must overcome her complicated history with the reverend's estranged son--the boy she never quite got over--to unearth the fate of the town's missing members and the family secrets that may be behind everything.

Book Synopsis

For fans of Midnight Mass comes a haunting new horromance. Something dreadful is festering in the old Thomas Bog. For years, it's done what it has been taught to do--it swallows. But it's done following orders.

It's been three years since Mila Thomas' brother Jed went missing and his case went cold. Since then, Mila has fled town, running from the voices of the dead that reach her from the depths of the old family bog, afraid she would hear her brother's among them.

But when her younger sister, Agatha, calls her back home to celebrate her graduation, Mila can't help but return to her old haunts. When she arrives, Mila comes face to face with the town reverend, who informs her that Agatha is now also missing. Finding her mother and the local police utterly useless, Mila opens herself up to the voices of the bog in the hopes that they can tell her where her sister is. But something else lurks beneath the bog's waters, something that would sooner hunt her than help her. As more bodies turn up on the sandy shores, Mila must overcome her complicated history with the reverend's estranged son--the boy she never quite got over--to unearth the fate of the town's missing members and the family secrets that may be behind everything.

Review Quotes

"Beautiful and impossibly filled with the stench of stagnant water and loamy earth, Spit Back the Bones is a slurry of pain, rage, and hope. In her haunting debut, King exposes the horrors of coming home to the ghosts we never really bury and the pervasive rot of regret." --Tanya Pell, author of Her Wicked Roots and Cicada

"Gruesomely romantic, Spit Back the Bones pulls you in as surely as the bog does. Gripping, ethereal, and ultimately hopeful." --Hannah Whitten, New York Times bestselling author of For the Wolf

"Emotional and atmospheric, Spit Back the Bones is dripping in heady bog water. You'll never look at black flies the same way again." --Saratoga Schaefer, author of Serial Killer Support Group and Traditional Wife

"Spit Back the Bones is at once grotesque and hauntingly beautiful, exploring grief, rage, love, and of course, power--those who take it, and those who reclaim it. A monstrous debut that yanks at the heartstrings so well it hurts." --Amanda Linsmeier, author of Starlings and Six of Sorrow

"Teagan Olivia King's debut tears through you like a scream and shows how home can be a place that holds you and haunts you all at once. Mila's dedication to her family will speak to anyone who has a sordid past they just can't shake--but can't bear to let go. Small-town religious corruption, a rekindled romance, and a bloodthirsty bog culminate in a story that will creep you out as much as it will lovingly embrace you." --Isa Agajanian, author of Modern Divination

"Spit Back the Bones will consume you. King's world is nightmarishly beautiful; her setting will claw beneath your skin and settle deep in your bones. Beyond its delectably dark prose, this debut offers a deeper exploration of love and loss and the monstrous form one's grief can take in the dark." --Skyla Arndt, author of Together We Rot and House of Hearts

"Lush with dread and steeped in folklore, Spit Back the Bones is a spellbinding fever dream of grief, rage, and the monsters we inherit." --Lindy Ryan, author of Bless Your Heart

"Grief, family legacy, and religious trauma make for a truly authentic American gothic, this one possessed by the grasping hands of a living bog. Spit Back the Bones is equally gruesome as it is beautiful." --Dawn Kurtagich, bestselling author of The Thorns

"Gorgeous and unsettling in the best of ways, Spit Back the Bones is an eerie, passionate meditation on grief, loss, and family, anchored by fierce protagonist Mila, whose voice simmers with longing and righteous rage. The unforgettable, beautifully crafted atmosphere of the bog coupled with King's lyrical prose makes this a story you won't soon forget." --Claire Legrand, New York Times bestselling author of Sawkill Girls

About the Author

Teagan Olivia King grew up in Michigan's wild Upper Peninsula but traded in the stormy shores of Lake Superior for the wind-beaten sandbars of Lake Huron. She holds a degree in Creative Writing from Northern Michigan University and is the author of several works of short horror fiction. She lives in an old farmhouse with her beloved, a rescue pup named Remus, a black cat named Chester, who may or may not harbor the soul of some long-dead deity, and probably some ghosts.