The Peculiarities

Product Description
A
Buzzfeed Best Book of the MonthFrom popular historical fiction author David Liss (A Conspiracy of Paper) comes the tale of a clueless young man embroiled in a deadly supernatural mystery in Victorian London. Rooted in strange conspiracies and secret societies, this absurdist comedic romp combines strange bedfellows with murderous creatures, resulting in an unexpectedly delightful consequences.“Intricate plotting, exquisite pacing, crackling suspense, and fascinating historical rabbit hole revelations.”―Shelf Awareness
Thomas’s problems are more serious than those of a typical young Victorian gentleman. His elder brother may be sabotaging the family’s bank. His childhood friend has died under mysterious circumstances. Far worse, leaves are sprouting on Thomas’s skin. Perhaps it is all the fault of the long-rumored “Peculiarities” lurking in London’s grey fog?
Proper society scoffs at the notion of magic, even as it seeps into their buildings, transfiguring the rich and poor alike. If Thomas is going to save the family business ―and stop turning into a tree―he’ll need help from some rather improper companions. Desperate for counsel, he seeks the advice of a lycanthropic medium and London’s unacceptable occult society, including a strange fellow named Aleister Crowley.
Review
“Even as
The Peculiarities veers far from the Benjamin Weaver template into strange and unsettling new terrain, infused with dark magic and vivid body horror, it should delight and surprise those who reveled in the intricate plotting, exquisite pacing, crackling suspense, and fascinating historical rabbit hole revelations that distinguished his earlier work.”
―
New York Journal of Books
“Wry, witty, twisty and tricky,
The Peculiarities will slowly draw you into Liss’s strange world of magic and monsters, and compel you to pay attention no matter how you might prefer to look away. An involving take on the mysteries of myths and mathematics that have been embedded in our collective consciousness.”
―Shana Abé,
New York Times, USA Today, and
Wall Street Journal bestselling author of
The Second Mrs. Astor
“Busy, busy, busy. First there’s Liss, who's known for his historical mysteries but who has also written middle-grade science fiction and Marvel stories―14 full-length novels since 2000, plus short fiction and comic books. Then there’s his latest, a historical fantasy that combines the worlds of high finance and occultism, specifically the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and aberrations such as lycanthropes, ghostly slashers called Elegants, and women giving birth to rabbits. The hero is Thomas Thresher, age 23, who has been doing little beyond gambling and whoring when he’s forced to take a junior clerk’s post with the family bank and get engaged to the daughter of a Jewish businessman (Liss expends an unpleasant amount of ink reflecting period-appropriate antisemitism). With the proposed nuptials and the bank’s problems in mind, Thomas stumbles on puzzling purchases of debts and London buildings. His investigations lead him to a Golden Dawn gathering, which includes William Butler Yeats, Bram Stoker, and Arthur Conan Doyle. He also meets Aleister Crowley, who becomes an ally, as well as a woman who has turned wolflike, while Thomas himself has green leaves growing on him. Many such Peculiars have appeared in London recently, along with a thick fog that has nasty tendrils, all of it tied perhaps to real estate and mystical portals. There are signs of haste in the writing, and Thomas’ frequent bouts of self-doubt slow the pace, but Liss tells his story well, with some nice Dickensian surprises. What’s most fun is when he snaps off a comic line that plays on the absurdities involved: “Yes, he is becoming a plant, but he comes from an excellent family.”
―Kirkus
“5/5 stars.
The Peculiarities is a rich, engrossing novel with an unusual hero. The pacing is quite Victorian in that the story unfolds by degrees, a slow bu