
The story begins innocently enough – Agnes is using a queer community forum to advertise the sale of her grandmother’s beloved apple peeler (of all things), and invites buyers to send her a message. We then dive into the novel and the first few attempts at communication between Agnes and Zoe. We now have the stage set – Agnes has died, and Zoe is a person of interest. Due to Zoe Cross’ questionable involvement in the death of Agnes, certain pieces of communication are omitted or redacted.Īs a reader, this works very well to pique our curiosity. The novella documents the virtual conversations between Agnes and Zoe Cross, a lady she meets online.

The book begins with a note from the author, stating that there are edits and corrections in this story, caused by the untimely demise of 24-year old Agnes Petrella (our protagonist). Let’s now take a look at what Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke is all about. Along with being a playwright, screenwriter and a prolific author of horror and dark fiction, LaRocca is also a member of the Horror Writers’ Association. He resides in Boston, Massachusetts with his partner.

La Rocca now identifies as non-binary and prefers the pronouns ‘he/they’. Published in 2021, this is LaRocca’s first work of fiction which has gone viral in so short a span of time.
#THINGS HAVE GOTTEN WORSE SINCE WE LAST SPOKE AUDIOBOOK FREE SERIES#
It depicts a series of interactions which take place between the two central characters of the story, Agnes Petrella and Zoe Cross, and their choices in life which ultimately lead to the most surprising conclusion. Eric LaRocca’s Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke is an epistolary novella, written in the form of emails and Instant Messages instead of letters. I’m not kidding, this is literally what the blurb says on the back of the book. If you like historical mysteries, sweet romance, and clever heroines, then you'll love Cecilia Dominic's Aether Psychics series.Sadomasochism. Where one wrong step could condemn them both to everlasting heartache-and unleash an unimaginably powerful force that could destroy their world.Īether Rising is the fourth book in the Aether Psychics, a thrilling steampunk series with puzzling mysteries and elements of romance, and can be read as a standalone novel. If he fails to recreate it for Cobb, his closest friends’ happiness will be at risk.īack in Boston, as Patrick stalls for time and Louisa uncovers secrets of her tragic past, the two of them engage in a treacherous dance on the edge of love and danger. He’s invented a device to stabilize and direct the mysterious Eros Element. Patrick knows exactly why he’s been captured, why he’s struggling to lie into Louisa’s sky-blue eyes. Should she betray her stepfather to set Patrick free, she’ll be cut off without a penny to her name.

Her target is Patrick O’Connell, an Irish tinkerer and scoundrel who stole a kiss-and her heart-years ago. But when Parnaby Cobb presents her with her latest mark, she realizes he’s testing her loyalty. Magic her stepfather has no compunction about using to gain the upper hand in business. The only place to hide could be behind the truth. Weaving together disparate storylines and tapping into the realms of body horror, urban dystopia, and ecofiction, The Marigold explores the precarity of community and the fragile designs that bind us together. Stanley Marigold, the struggling son of the legendary developer behind this project, decides he must tap into a hidden reserve of old power to make his dream a reality - one with a human cost. On the outskirts of downtown, 13-year-old Henrietta Brakes chases a friend deep underground after he’s snatched into a sinkhole by a creature from below.Īll the while, construction of the city’s newest luxury tower, Marigold II, has stalled.

Public health inspector Cathy Jin investigates this toxic mold as it infests the city’s infrastructure, rotting it from within, while Sam “Soda” Dalipagic stumbles on a dangerous cache of data while cruising the streets in his Camry, waiting for his next rideshare alert. The Marigold, a gleaming Toronto condo tower, sits a half-empty promise: a stack of scuffed rental suites and undelivered amenities that crumbles around its residents as a mysterious sludge spreads slowly through it. In a near-future Toronto buffeted by environmental chaos and unfettered development, an unsettling new lifeform begins to grow beneath the surface, feeding off the past. “A bold dystopian novel that captivates with its dread and depth. The Marigold is unhinged literary horror that goes right to the source of decay.” - Iain Reid, award-winning author of I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Foe, and We Spread “A gripping tour-de-force torn from tomorrow’s headlines.” - David Demchuk, author of Red X and The Bone Mother “This impressively bleak vision of the near future is as grotesquely amusing as it is grim.” - Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW
