The Last Hour Between Worlds - Melissa Caruso

A whip-smart adventure fantasy packed with rival guilds, reality-bending magic, and sapphic pining, The Last Hour Between Worlds is the brilliant launch of a new series from David Gemmell Award-nominated author, Melissa Caruso. Kembral Thorne is spending a few hours away from her newborn, and she's determined to enjoy herself at this party no matter what. But when the guests start dropping dead, Kem has no choice but to get to work. She is a Hound, after all, and she can't help picking up the scent of trouble. She's not the only one. Her professional and personal nemesis, notorious burglar Rika Nonesuch, is on the prowl. They quickly identify what's causing the mayhem: a mysterious grandfather clock that sends them down an Echo every time it chimes. In each strange new layer of reality, time resets and a sinister figure appears to perform a blood-soaked ritual. As Kem and Rika fall into increasingly macabre versions of their city, they'll need to rely on their wits--and each other--to unravel the secret of the clock and save their home. For more from Melissa Caruso, check out: Swords and Fire \nThe Tethered Mage \n The Defiant Heir \n The Unbound Empire Rooks and Ruin \nThe Obsidian Tower \n The Quicksilver Court \n The Ivory Tomb \n \nA whip-smart adventure fantasy packed with reality-bending magic, and sapphic romance, The Last Hour Between Worlds is the brilliant launch of a new series from David Gemmell Award-nominated author, Melissa Caruso. In the Deep Echoes, no one can save you. Kembral Thorne has a few hours away from her newborn, and she's determined to enjoy herself at the year-turning ball. But when guests start dropping dead, she can't help sniffing out trouble--she's a Hound, after all. Especially when her professional and personal nemesis, notorious burglar Rika Nonesuch, is also on the prowl. Everyone knows you shouldn't get involved with Echo games. Let alone one involving ancient Echo lords who can turn layers of reality into a gameboard with human lives for pieces. But as the ballroom grows stranger and more otherworldly with each strike of the hour, it's clearly too late. Kem knows the rules: One Echo down is no big deal. Stay alert for trouble. Four Echoes down, there are things with eyes in their teeth, and walls that drip blood. Four is the limit. As the party plunges through increasingly deadly realities, the rules can't help Kem anymore. She'll have to rely on her wits--and Rika--to unravel the most dangerous game of