A totally rewritten and updated version of The Smoke Hunter is rereleasing in April 2024 as Empire of Shadows, Book 1 of the Raiders of the Arcana series.
Nice Victorian ladies shouldn’t run off to find lost Central American cities.
One trifling little arrest shouldn’t have cost Ellie Mallory her job. It’s just the latest in a long line of injustices facing any brilliant female with archaeological ambitions in Victorian England.
When Ellie stumbles across the map to a mysterious ancient city, she knows she’s holding her chance to show the world what she’s capable of—but she’s not the only one after the prize. A disgraced professor and his ruthless handler are hot on her heels, willing to go to any extreme to acquire the map for themselves.
To race them through the uncharted jungles of British Honduras, Ellie needs a guide. The only one who knows the territory is maverick surveyor Adam Bates—and his determination to nose his way into Ellie’s secrets makes him a dangerous partner.
As Ellie and Adam navigate mysterious ruins, deadly cataracts and one seriously angry boar, she realizes more than just her ambition is at stake. There’s a deadly force lurking at the heart of the city—and if it falls into the wrong hands, it could shake the fate of the world.
What’s with the re-release?
The Smoke Hunter was my first novel, originally published in 2016 by Grand Central Publishing. I always planned to write more adventures for Ellie and Adam, but that didn’t become possible until I was able to regain the rights to the book from the publisher.
Before diving in to writing sequels, I wanted to take the time to bring Ellie’s first story up to scruff. I’ve learned quite a bit in the ten years since I first wrote it, and to make sure Book One of the series was on par with what came next, a revision felt justified.
In Empire of Shadows, you’ll find the same characters you loved, but with faster pacing, better research, and even more of the fun stuff that made so many of you fans of The Smoke Hunter.
