I stumbled on Chandler J. Birch’s debut fantasy novel in the New Arrivals section at Barnes & Noble last month. The description on the back immediately made me think of a fantasy version of Charles Dickens… a clever and resourceful pickpocket in the employ of the greedy Mr. Ragged plies his trade in a monster-infested slum, until the day he crosses Ragged once too often and is forced to flee. Soon enough he falls in with a crew of talented rogues planning an ambitious heist, led by the brilliant and mysterious Candlestick Jack.

I’m not the only one to make the comparison to Dickens. Brent Weeks says, “It takes a special writer to blend Dickens, Sanderson, and Lynch — and yet make it totally his own. Chandler Birch succeeds beautifully. A wonderful debut!” I was hoping to point you to an online excerpt so you could try it out, but so far I’ve been unable to track one down. If that changes, I’ll let you know!

The Facefaker’s Game was published by Simon & Schuster/ Simon451 on November 1, 2016. It is 444 pages, priced at $15.99 in trade paperback and $4.99 for the digital edition. The cover was designed by Tal Goretsky. Click the images above for bigger versions.