The Invocations

Powell's Picks of the Month

Hot new releases and under-the-radar gems for adults and kids.

From the author of New York Times bestseller House of Hollow comes a darkly seductive witchy thriller where, though both men and demons lurk in shadows, girls refuse to go quietly into the night.

Three girls, one supernatural killer on the loose . . .

Zara Jones believes in magic because the alternative is too painful to consider — that her murdered sister is gone forever and there is nothing she can do about it. Rather than grieving and moving on, Zara decides she will do whatever it takes to claw her sister back from the grave — even trading in the occult.

Jude Wolf may be the daughter of a billionaire, but she is also undeniably cursed. After a deal with a demon went horribly wrong, her soul has been slowly turning necrotic. It's a miserable existence marred by pain, sickness, and monstrous things that taunt her in the night. Now that she's glimpsed what's beyond the veil, Jude's desperate to find someone to undo the damage she's done to herself.

Enter Emer Byrne, an orphaned witch with a dark past and a deadly power, a.k.a. the solution to both Zara's and Jude's problems. Though Emer lives a hardscrabble life, she gives away her most valuable asset — her invocations — to women in desperate situations who are willing to sacrifice a piece of their soul in exchange for a scrap of power. Zara and Jude are willing, but they first have to find Emer.

When Emer's clients start turning up dead all over London, a vital clue leads Zara and Jude right to her. If a serial killer is targeting her clients, Emer wants to know why — and to stop them. She strikes a tenuous alliance with Zara and Jude to hunt a killer before they are next on his list, even if she can't give them in return what Zara and Jude want most: a sister and a soul.

"Sutherland's Invocations has been one of my favorite reads of the year. This story is exceptionally crafted. Equal parts visceral and haunting, its twists and turns will lure readers in, and its compulsive plot will keep them engrossed until the end." Ayana Gray, New York Times bestselling author of the Beasts of Prey trilogy

"Lyrical, grotesque and pulsing with feminist rage, this is sapphic horror at its very finest. Sutherland is a luminous (albeit slightly terrifying) talent." Laura Steven, author of The Society for Soulless Girls

"Readers hungry for their next dark, witchy, feminist read will have plenty to feast on here." The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"...the twisty, haunting tale unveils the chilling social inequities that disempower women." Publishers Weekly, starred review

Krystal Sutherland is the New York Times and indie bestselling author of House of Hollow, A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares and Our Chemical Hearts, which was adapted into a film by Amazon Studios. Her books have been published in more than twenty countries and nominated for the Carnegie Medal and YA Book Prize, among others. Originally from Australia, she has lived on four continents and currently calls London home.