Isabel Burning

Isabel Burning (Grim Grimoire) by Donna Lynch
Artist - Stephen Archer

3rd in the Grim Grimoire Series, but not like the first two - if you have gotten the Grim Grimoires before, please make sure you read the description below as this Grim Grimoire will be different:

As a young woman raised in the soot-covered mediocrity of an English industrial town, Isabel has led a common and directionless life. Secretly she yearns to be the center of something, anything, that is momentous and vital. She dreams of making marks on the world.

Her new job as housekeeper at Grace mansion is hardly exciting but does surround her with the accouterments of aristocratic lineage while allowing her to observe the habits of the enigmatic Dr. Edward Grace. Captivated by his tales of travel to Africa, Isabel is inexorably drawn into a tumultuous relationship which eventually reveals the Grace family's dark heritage and lays bare every secret, even the ones she keeps from herself.

What people are saying about Isabel Burning:
"With ghosts, dark family secrets, growing paranoia at every turn and realistic characters to die for, ISABEL BURNING is one of the best debut novels I've read in quite some time." —Horror Fiction Review

About the Artist:
Steven Archer is an artist and musician living in Baltimore, MD. When not recording, DJing, or producing art, he and his wife, author Donna Lynch, tour with their dark electronic rock band Ego Likeness. He has a BFA from the Corcoran School of Art in Washington DC, and has shown his work at galleries and other venues throughout the east coast, and internationally in the form of album art and magazine illustrations. He is currently involved in a year-long exhibition, 365 Days of Blasphemous Horror, through the Weird Tales website which features a new painting every day. He has written and illustrated a children's book, Luna Maris, which has been publised by Imaginary Books.

The Limited Edition (Grim Grimoire) of Isabel Burning features a hand painted cover by artist Steven Archer. No two covers will be exactly the same. This edition is limited to 150 numbered copies and comes signed by the author and artist. It also has 20+ pages of extra material featuring: the Grace Family tree, entries from Edward Grace's private journal and a preview of the next installment in the series.

Each book will come with an Ego Likeness CD including remixes and spoken word tracks of songs that are about or influenced by the novel.

PLEASE NOTE: There has been concern expressed on some boards regarding the artwork on the cover, so I e-mailed the publisher with the following concern:

We received our copies of Isabel Burning and they all have smudges (like they were stacked on top of each other before the front covers were allowed to completely dry) or the front looks like it was repainted in places and there appears to have been an attempt to put a lacquer finish on the front cover that is not even and I just wanted to check in with you to see if the rest of the run was like the ones that we got. I have shipped a few copies out and been getting back negative feedback and cancellations as the negative remarks are being posted on newsgroups and people are backing out as they are not wanting to put $95.00 into a book that they feel they will not want based on what they are reading.

Following is their response:
“The books you received are representative of the whole batch. It is part of the artist's style that things should seem primitive and rough, it is intentionally blurry and smudged. He always covers his work with lacquer. The uneven quality is also intentional, it gives texture and depth to the work. Steven Archer is a well-respected painter who has had many gallery shows, he's a graduate of the Corcoran school of art, he teaches painting and there are many people who collect his work.”

We just want to be up front and let everyone know what has been transpiring and I have sent out e-mails to those that pre-ordered copies to let them know what is going on