Pre-order SERVANTS OF THE STORM... or the demons win.

Here are some great reasons to pre-order SERVANTS OF THE STORM, my Southern Gothic YA Horror, in the next week:

1. Because FREE BOOKPLATES AND SWAG.

If you pre-order SERVANTS OF THE STORM from any retailer in any form and email your address to whimsydark (at) gmail (dot) com, I'll send you a signed bookplate, bookmarks, and a temporary tattoo.

2. Because Kirkus said: 

"A hurricane ushers in a flood of evil in Savannah, Georgia, and the only girl capable of seeing the truth fights to save the souls of her loved ones.

After losing her best friend, Carly, during Hurricane Josephine a year ago, Dovey lives in a haze of antipsychotic medication—until the day she spots Carly in their favorite coffee shop, very much alive. Spurred by the sighting, Dovey ditches her meds, and it isn’t long before she’s seeing things no one else can: people with black, dead eyes and an unearthly-looking girl with fox ears. She follows one such creature to a run-down bar where she meets Isaac, a handsome stranger who lights her way down the rabbit hole of horror pulsing through Savannah: Demons are real, and Carly’s soul has been made a servant of one. Racing through a landscape thick with growing evil, Dovey sets off to save both her best friend’s soul and Savannah itself. Dawson draws an immersive, eerie setting and expertly unravels Savannah’s many dark secrets. Each skin-crawling demonic encounter couples with Dovey’s fighting spirit to propel the gruesome tale into an engaging page-turner. However, the swift ending provides little closure and will leave readers scratching their heads, wanting more.

A standout, atmospheric horror tale derailed by its abrupt ending. (Horror. 14-18)"

3. Because Publishers Weekly said:

"One year ago, Hurricane Josephine killed 16-year-old Dovey’s best friend Carly. But after spotting Carly at Savannah’s Paper Moon Coffee Shop, Dovey sets out on a quixotic quest to find her, eventually catching a glimpse of her friend being forced to operate a roller coaster in an abandoned amusement park where demons feed off drugged teenagers’ fear. Strong-willed Dovey refuses to be scared off by warnings from the attractive but morally compromised Isaac, even after a demon bites off the tip of her pinky, which will allow it to control her when she dies. Along with Isaac and her loyal friend Baker, biracial Dovey must free Carly from an afterlife of servitude without becoming enslaved herself. This genuinely frightening horror novel is also a character-driven paean to friendship, as Dovey and Baker’s devotion to Carly inspires them to courage and sacrifice. Featuring a heroine equally at home onstage as Ariel in The Tempest and shooting demons with her father’s .38 pistol, adult author Dawson’s (the Blud series) strong YA debut leaves room for future terrors."

4. Because New York Times bestselling author Madeleine Roux said:

"Dawson's Savannah is beautiful and haunting. . . . Right away, Dawson serves up atmosphere, humor and scares, balancing it all deftly. Turning the page felt like peeking around a corner; I wanted to know more but I was afraid of what might come next. It's gorgeous Southern Gothic with a swift kick." 

5. Because New York Times bestselling author Cherie Priest said:

""Servants of the Storm is a rich, strange, lyrical thing - a riveting read that sneaks back and forth between touching and terrifying, spooky and bright."

6. Because New York Times bestselling author Kevin Hearne said:

"I opened this book to read a little bit and DAMN, NO SLEEP FOR ME. I read most of it in the air and finished it when I got home before I hit the hay. Yeah. It grabbed me.

This is creeptastic Southern Gothic YA, definitely a juicy horror pie. I mean, LOOKIT THE COVER.

I like what Delilah did here. I mean she did a lot of stuff, but here’s one bit I especially appreciated: The heroine, Dovey, has to deal with some grief early on and she retreats from the world for a while, and when she comes back it’s a horror show out there. Kind of like life is sometimes. But the thing is, living in a haze isn’t life; ignoring or avoiding pain instead of dealing with it just keeps you saddled with baggage and you can’t grow that way. You have to fight through it and I admire Dovey for it."

7. Because the ending will leave you wanting to know what happens next, and the sequel hasn't been sold. 

Pre-orders tell bookstores and publishers that an author and book are worth investing in. If you'd like to see more books from me, especially book 2 in this series, a pre-order is your most straightforward way to say so.

Thanks for reading! You'll find an excerpt and all buy links for Servants of the Storm right here.