The cover reveal for the new book The Contest by Jeff Macfee – a thoughtful, puzzle-packed mystery, perfect for fans of The Queen’s Gambit is happening today! This book will be released by Datura Books on February 11th, 2025.
ABOUT THE BOOK: Once a child prodigy of puzzles and logic games, Gillian Charles now barely ekes out a living in Los Angeles. With her sick mother facing eviction from her care facility, Gillian can’t say no when her childhood nemesis, Tommy, shows up at her apartment with a $50k offer. All she has to do is return to the place where it all started, where she swore she’d never set foot again: Miscellany.
Miscellany is a place of wonder and enchantment—a Disney World for puzzle lovers, and one that quickly owns the lives of those who stay too long. Tommy is running the park’s latest big game, and he’s convinced someone is leaking the answers. With investment and expansion in the cards, Miscellany can’t afford a scandal. As a former puzzler who kept her distance from Miscellany for twenty years, Gillian should find it easy to investigate while avoiding Miscellany’s charms and entanglements.
But when Gillian arrives, she discovers things aren’t so straightforward. Her turncoat ex-friend Martin Ellsberg holds the security reins, Tommy’s estranged wife Evelina spins PR webs around the park’s machinations, and the manipulative park founder Sebastian offers her the financial security and intellectual future she always wanted. With her mother’s circumstances growing more dire, and under pressure to sweep the accusations under the rug, Gillian finds childhood games all the more treacherous for adults.
Miscellany is offering Gillian the life she always wanted. But at what price?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jeff Macfee is the VP of IT for Gearbox Software and a graduate of Viable Paradise Writer’s Workshop. His short fiction has appeared in Needle: A Magazine of Noir and Shotgun Honey. He lives in North Texas with his wife and the chaos of three children.
Follow along on Datura Books website to stay informed on this book release!
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Pride month is almost here and I am so excited to read all of these books! Here is what I hope to read. Let me know what you will be reading for Pride month.
Check out the video below:
I really like the cover. It’s quite eye catching.