A deadly curse, two young strangers thrown together by fate, and a road trip through a disunited Kingdom.

'Had me gripped from start to finish ... timely, horrifying, and hugely entertaining' Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Dance Tree and The Mercies 'Swerves through a fascinating, fractured landscape of folkloric traditions and contemporary divisions' Cari Thomas, Sunday Times-bestselling author of Threadneedle 'A vibrant and devastating tale of loss and love ... Characters to treasure' - Saara El-Arifi, Sunday Times-bestselling author of Faebound Rowena has always been a rebel: foul-mouthed, light-fingered, the last to leave a party. Unfortunately, she's also cursed - marked by Death since birth. When Rowena's boyfriend and father die in quick succession her mother sends her North to her gran, the one healer strong enough to lift the curse before her eighteenth birthday. Halim is proud, independent and just a few payments away from owning his truck. Unfortunately, his latest cargo is Rowena. Every gun-patrolled, hard county border they cross poses a threat to his future, as do Rowena's increasingly dark visions. Their journey takes them across a disunited kingdom where folk marry the old ways of spells and superstition with reawakened prejudices. Can Rowena and Halim overcome their differences and forge an alliance in order to survive?

"Gripping and lyrical" - Irish Times

"Beguilingly strange ... Shared vicissitudes create a firm bond in a propulsive narrative in which there's always something odd or horrible around the next corner" - Financial Times