Synopses & Reviews
A Choir of Ill Children tells the story of Kingdom Come a decaying, lust-filled swampy backwater of a southern town. Piccirilli's lyrical, atmospheric tale of murder and redemption is a startling, breakout novel in the southern gothic tradition pioneered by the likes of William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor.
Since his mother's mysterious death and his father's suicide, Thomas has been force to take care of his three brothers, Jonah, Cole, and Sebastian, conjoined triplets who have 3 bodies but share a single brain. In addition to the care of his three brothers, Thomas has inherited Kingom Come's only industry and source of jobs, The Mill.
Because of this position of wealth and power, he is at once feared and respected by the backwards, superstitious townsfolk. The walls that have grown up between Thomas and his fellow residents of Kingdom Come are high, and hide many strange, unexpected things.
The town's "Granny witches" cast their spells, and read their auguries, trying to win influence over Thomas, while his childhood sweetheart Maggie must decide what, if any, kind of relationship they will have. When Thomas's best friend, Drabs Bibbler (a reverend who suffers from the power of tongues), tries to pass on a warning of impending danger to Thomas, he is overcome by his "gift." All Thomas learns is "The carnival is coming."
With the help of Maggie, the Granny Witches, and pieces of his past that he thought lost, Thomas must face the strange forces that are swirling towards the people and town that he loves.
Review
"[A] compelling Southern Gothic...searing....Piccirilli masterfully increases the tension by playing with stereotypes and manipulating the flaws of his subjects' characters, creating a world where what happens on the outside is a pale reflection of what goes on inside." Publishers Weekly
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"You'll want to know where the brothers' lost mother is and it'll remind you of 'A Rose for Emily.' Lyrical, ghastly, first-class horror." Kirkus Reviews
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"[A] narrative puzzle as intellectually challenging as it is slap-your-knee entertaining....There is as much poet as popular entertainer in Piccirilli's approach. Get it, read it, wallow in it!" Cemetery Dance
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"In A Choir of Ill Children, Tom Piccirilli takes us for a walk on the real wild side...an eerie turbulent book that pushes at the boundaries of reality and horror fiction alike. This has the same paranoid energy as Philip K. Dick at his best." Ed Gorman, author of The Dark Fantastic
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"A Choir of Ill Children is spellbinding. Piccirilli writes like lightning, illuminating a dark landscape of wonders." Douglas Clegg, author of The Infinite and Naomi
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"Tom Piccirilli writes with a razor for his pen. A Choir of Ill Children is both deeply disturbing and completely compelling." Christopher Golden, author of Strangewood and The Ferryman
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"Piccirilli courageously walks a dangerous line, telling his story in a fast-paced stream of consciousness narrative that drops the reader into fascinating circumstances with the very first sentence. A Choir of Ill Children does not disappoint. You won't be able to stop reading." David B. Silva, editor of Hellnotes and author of Through Shattered Glass
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"Piccirilli's brand of horror fiction is always something deep, daring, and stunningly original with story concepts that few other authors would attempt. A Choir of Ill Children is brilliantly grotesque, beautifully written and yet shockingly morbid, pulsing with blood that seems a little too real for fiction. This is not just another genre novel, it's a macabre work of art." Edward Lee, author of City Infernal and Monstrosity
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"Tom Piccirilli's A Choir of Ill Children is rich with poetry, his characters are vivid and sharp, and his writing peels away layers of everyday reality. Like all the best authors, he leads readers into the strange and dark places inside themselves." Gerard Houarner, author of The Beast That Was Max
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"The hypnotic power of Piccirilli's writing draws you into a world you might otherwise run from. It's easy to believe that this man won a Bram Stoker Award for his poetry because his narrative is infused with a lyrical voice. I can't imagine who else's mind A Choir of Ill Children might have sprang from." Robert Randisi, author of Blood On the Arch
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"A resonant title for a resonant, powerful, lyrical and disturbing piece of work. I enjoyed A Choir of Ill Children enormously." Simon Clark, author of Darkness Demands and Darker
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"Tom Piccirilli is one of the best stylists working today not simply in the horror genre but in fiction in general. His characters are quirky and fascinating, and his imagination is a scary, amazing thing." T.M. Wright, author of Sleepeasy and The Last Vampire
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"Piccirilli has crafted what must be his strangest and yet most compelling novel. Whoever said that jet-black humor and horror make perfect bedfellows could use A Choir of Ill Children as a definitive case in point: I didn't know whether to laugh, cry or try to find Jesus!" Tim Lebbon, author of The Nature of Balance