Stone of Blood

A showboat of death...

The cause of Sarah Shreck's tragedy has been a mystery for over a century. The Indian chieftain's daughter, callously betrayed by her husband, was found dead near the place where her present-day namesake, the showboat Indian Princess, lay at anchor.

When Lyssa du Champ is hired as new star singer on the extravagant boat, she is relieved to have left Chicago and a failed relationship behind her.

But when she arrives at Linder's Landing she is troubled by a strange presence and cannot ignore the peculiar atmosphere between her new colleagues. Violent lovers, affairs and a young child who is frequently abandoned to face her seizures make Lyssa question whether this is the right place for her...

The death of Sarah is regarded as local legend and time has failed to unlock the riddle of her disappearance. Yet it has also failed to banish her presence from the boat. Lonely ghost-like moans filter up from the lower decks and there is an outbreak of unexplained accidents. Items go missing, warnings are received and a lethal dog breaks free of his chain.

Is there someone else who can hear Sarah? And what is the message she is trying to send?

When a suicide prompts the revelation of ghastly secrets and unleashes dangerous rivalries, Lyssa discovers the terrifying truth about her predecessor's apparent suicide.

Stone of Blood is a gripping supernatural horror set in the Deep South from Juanita Coulson, bestselling author of the Children of the Stars series.

Praise for Juanita Coulson:

"... A richly detailed construction... " C J Cherryh

"Coulson works on an enormous canvas - sometimes almost overwhelming. The characters are always memorable." Marion Zimmer Bradley

Juanita Coulson is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. She is also widely known in filk music circles since the 1950s for her singing and songwriting; she has won several Pegasus Awards for her filking. For thirty-three years, she co-edited the science fiction fanzine Yandro with her husband "Buck" (Robert Coulson). Yandro was nominated for a Hugo Award every year from 1958-1967; it won the award in 1965, thus marking Coulson as one of the very first women to be so honored.


Genre: Horror