Dance Of Knives

Vancouver in the twenty-second century is a city of stark contrasts, divided between its prospering Guild citizens and the starving descendants of American refugees who fled ecological catastrophe and political chaos decades ago.

Newcomer Klale Renhardt is struggling to survive on the half drowned, ungoverned island of Downtown, where every type of trade is controlled by tongs or gangs. When she finds a job through Toni, the tough, beautiful American bartender at the famous KlonDyke nightclub, Klale finally allows herself to feel safe--until she hears that Toni may have been a torturer for the tongs.

Even more disturbing is Toni's strange connection with Blade, the giant, bio-altered slave of Downtown's most feared blackmailer. Klale fears the rage that simmers behind the giant's eyes, but when she attracts the vengeful attention of a hidden enemy, Blade may be the only person who can save her.

Blade's psyche has been so profoundly twisted by neural implants that he doesn't even realize he's human. If Klale can't find a way to help him discover his own soul, she may not survive either her murderous enemy or the looming tong war.

"I always enjoy discovering a new writer who gets everything right the first time out. Donna McMahon doesn't just show promise with Dance of Knives, she delivers the real goods from the first page through to the last. This is a wonderful debut."--Charles de Lint, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction

"[The] crisp narrative moves along at a cracking pace. McMahon has fashioned quite an attention-grabber."--The Vancouver Sun

"An ambitious first novel. Together with Toni's more knowledgeable meddling, [Klale's] attempts to get inside Blade's head trigger a redemption process that forms the most satisfying thread of this complex narrative-a technologically aware and emotionally wrenching twist on the old tale of Beauty and the Beast."--The New York Times Book Review

Vancouver in the 22nd century is a vibrant seaport despite the global economic collapse and massive sea level rise that have transformed the Pacific Northwest. The city is divided between its prospering Guild citizens and the starving descendents of American refugees.

New to Vancouver, young Klale Renhardt, once a member of the powerful Fishers Guild, has already made too many enemies on the half-drowned, ungoverned island of Downtown.

Even working at the famous and well-connected KlonDyke nightclub isn't enough protection. Klale is a target, and the only people who might be able to help her are Blade, the apparently mindless slave of Downtown's most feared blackmailer, and Toni, the KlonDyke's beautiful bartender, whose tough image conceals secrets not even her lovers may know.

Donna McMahon is a native of Vancouver, British Columbia, where she currently works for the biotech firm QLT PhotoTherapeutics. In her 25 years in science fiction in the Pacific Northwest, McMahon has been a fan, a convention organizer, and a book reviewer for Tomorrow SF. She has written for the Vancouver Sun. McMahon holds a degree in history, and worked for nine years in public relations. Dance of Knives is her first novel.