Cruel Prince meets Law & Order in Hush Hush City, the thrilling sequel to Dead Blood City and second installment in the Saoirse Reilly series! Saoirse Reilly, police detective and wayward psychic, is still reeling from the events of Dead Blood City. Her lies are piling up but there’s no time to deal. She and her loved ones are in danger once again. While investigating the murder of a Boston blueblood, Reilly is drawn into a supernatural power struggle centuries in the making.
Ancient monsters are prowling the streets and Domenico Alderisi, newly installed vrykolakas master, needs Reilly’s help securing his territory – which just so happens to be her hometown. Alderisi, once her enemy, may be the only one who can save the city. But he has his own agenda and a taste for Reilly’s blood. The only way for Reilly to protect all she holds dear may be to rely on her two-faced teacher, Dr. Emrys Somerled. The criminal psychologist and occult expert is something more than human. If anyone can take on monsters, it’s him. And he’d like to get closer to Reilly than ever before. There’s just one problem. Somerled is keeping secrets, too, and there’s nothing more dangerous. After all…
Stepping out of the silence is scary but secrets can kill.
Will Reilly escape the web of death and deception?
Find out in this urban fantasy meets gritty noir detective novel featuring imperfect heroes and slow burn dark romance with beautiful monsters who can’t be trusted.
Amazon: https://amzn.to/41Z1UUq
Welcome Jo! Your book, Hush Hush City, sounds absolutely thrilling! What is it that drew you to writing urban fantasy?
I’ve always loved fantasy and fairy tales. As I got older, I also
developed an interest in mystery and darker, grittier stories. Urban
fantasy is a good mix of both. Setting the Saoirse Reilly series in an
urban fantasy world gave me the opportunity to do some genre-bending and
subvert readers’ expectations. I
won’t give too much detail about that
to avoid spoilers!
Can you tell us a little about the main characters?
All of the characters in Hush Hush City and the Saoirse Reilly series are very important to me. They tell the story, I’m just writing it. Readers only think they care what happens in the story. What they really want to see is how characters change in response to what happens. Alderisi and Somerled are the fan favs with their big personalities and complex stories. They are definitely scene-stealers! I enjoy writing them but I’ll let my reviewers sing their praises. I’m going to focus on my favorites!
Saoirse Reilly is the protagonist, a Boston police detective with psychic abilities. She has been a love her or hate her kind of character for readers and that is intentional. She has taken a lot of hits throughout her life. As a result, she is a bit of a mess right now. But I believe in her. Other favs of mine are her partner, Bastian Perez, a loyal youngest son with excellent social skills and a sweet ride. Unlike Reilly, all my readers love Bastian. Delaney Bascom is my personal hero, a fourteen-year-old Autistic girl who seems to know everything. Reilly saves her from monsters in Dead Blood City, but there will come a time when Delaney returns the favor. Her ‘uncle’ is Aiden Ward, an idealistic ADA who sees glimmers of the future.
They say all books of fiction have at least one pivotal point where the reader just can’t put the book down. Can you give us one of the pivotal points in your book?
This is a hard question to answer without giving too much away! One of the pivotal points for me in Hush Hush City happens in Chapter 11, How He Falls Like Lightning. This chapter includes a scene that shocked (no pun intended) literally every beta and ARC reader that read it. It gave me second-hand shock writing it, if that’s even a thing! We learn something that solidifies Emrys Somerled’s role in the series.
Can you explain to us why it was important for you to write your story?
I began writing Dead Blood City, the first book in the Saoirse Reilly series, while working in a psychiatric hospital at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and following the death of a thirteen-year-old patient by suicide. The magic and monsters in Reilly’s world are metaphors for the very real evil and darkness that exists in our world. The painful experiences of my characters are things that real people go through every day. Unfortunately, treatment is not always enough to help them escape the darkness inside their own minds.
Writing Hush Hush City allowed me to continue a journey of healing and self-forgiveness that I started in my first novel. Reilly is on a treacherous and painful path but we are all walking it together. When I was working on DBC at work, in waiting rooms, at airports, and on my couch, I often wondered if there was any reason for it. And, sometimes, I felt very alone in a very dark place. Now the sun is shining through my windows, I have hundreds of readers, and I’m publishing the sequel. I hope that you, too, will read and grow.
What are you working on now?
I’m hard at work on the third book in the Saoirse Reilly series, Black Sight City, so named because it will be the darkest installment yet. This will be a major turning point for the series. For those wanting (demanding) more about Reilly’s heritage and the mysterious world we’ve only seen in flashbacks, this is the book for you! But be careful what you wish for. It is always darkest before dawn.
Final question: what would you like to say to your readers?
I absolutely love hearing from readers! You can learn more about me, the series, and how to reach out at JoDenning.com. I’m on TikTok, Insta, Twitter, and more. Feel free to message me any time. And I am grateful to every reader and reviewer! Thank you so much!
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