‘This book will destroy you’
– Premee Mohamed, author of The Butcher of the Forest

Daedalus of Crete is many things: the greatest architect in the world; the constructor of the Labyrinth that imprisoned the Minotaur; and the grieving father of Icarus, the boy who plunged into the sea as they flew from the grasp of the tyrannical King Minos.

Now, Daedalus seeks to reunite with Icarus in the underworld even as he revisits his own memories of Crete, hoping to understand what went so terribly wrong at the end of his son’s life. Daedalus will confront any terror to see Icarus again – whether it be the vengeful spirit of Minos, the cunning Queen Persephone or the insatiable ghost of the Minotaur.

But the truth, stalking Daedalus in the labyrinth of his own heart, might be too monstrous for him to bear . . .

Breathtaking and profound, Daedalus is Dead is the remarkable debut from Seamus Sullivan – a beautiful reimagining of the Greek myth of Daedalus.

* * *

‘Sullivan breathes new bold life into old myths by asking one devastating question: why did Icarus do it?’ – Sunyi Dean, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Book Eaters

‘Rich and vividly imagined; as intricate, cruel and haunted as the labyrinth at its heart’ – Malcolm Devlin, author of And Then I Woke Up

"Poetic and poignant... Suffused with a striking emotional depth, building up to a gut-wrenching climax. Overall, Daedalus is Dead reads like an achingly beautiful letter from a flawed father to a vanished son . . . A short and searing book that had me in tears by the end" - Locus

"Sullivan gradually peels back the layers of Daedalus’s past, including several revelations that will shift readers’ views of the inventor significantly. In the crowded field of revisionist retellings, this stands out" - Publishers Weekly