<p><b>Lusty, dark, queer fantasy - <i>The Red Winter</i> is perfect for fans of <i>The Witcher </i>and Susanna Clarke. Inspired by the eighteenth-century legend of the Beast of Gevaudan.<br /><br />'Charming, haunting, ambitious'<br />- T. KINGFISHER, author of <i>Nettle & Bone</i></b><br /><br /><b>A devastating love story. A bewitching twist on history. A blood-drenched hunt for purpose, power and redemption.</b><br /><br />In 1785, Professor Sebastian Grave receives the news he fears most: the terrible Beast of Gevaudan has returned, and the French countryside runs red in its wake. Sebastian knows the Beast. A monster-slayer with centuries of experience, he joined the hunt for the creature twenty years ago and watched it slaughter its way through a long and bloody winter. Even with the help of Sarmodel, the demon he plays host to, bringing the monster down nearly cost him his life.<br /><br />Now, two decades later, Sebastian has been recalled to the hunt by Antoine Avenel d'Ocerne, an estranged lover who shares a dark history with the Beast and a terrible secret with Sebastian. Drawn by both the chance to finish the Beast for good and the promise of a reconciliation with Antoine, Sebastian cannot refuse.<br /><br /><b>Some monsters, it seems, simply won't stay buried . . .<br /><br />'An absolute feast of a book: rich, red, sinfully delicious' </b><br /><b>- ALIX E. HARROW, author of <i>Starling House</i></b></p>