The Walls of the Castle

From four-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award, two-time winner of the International Thriller Writers Award and finalist for the 2009 Edgar Allan Poe Award Tom Piccirilli comes an intense and visceral psychological thriller novella, the first title in the Black Labyrinth imprint illustrated by Gothic artist Santiago Caruso.

In the labyrinthian maze of endless corridors, annexes, and wings of the enormous medical complex known as the Castle prowls a grief-stricken man determined to redeem himself and bring justice for those victims incapable of doing it for themselves.

During the four months that his son lay dying, ex-con Kasteel lost his job, his wife, and nearly his mind.  He became a fixture at the Castle, a phantom prowling the halls in the deep night, a shadow of his former self until he faded from sight and was forgotten altogether. 

Now, without any life to return to, he takes it upon himself to become the Castle's guardian.  He lives off the grid hiding among the hundreds of miles of twisting passages, rooms, offices, and underground parking structures.  Despair, confusion, and terror are the natural state and trade of any hospital:  Not only must the patients endure disease and infirmity, but others are victims of physical and sexual abuse from the outside world or from cruel security guards. 

The Castle was originally a colonial Dutch settlement: a village that grew into a town which grew into a city and at last became a hospital.  Kasteel has lost his very identity to this place, taking for himself the original Dutch name for "Castle."  Kasteel sleeps in empty operating theaters, sneaks food from the cafeteria, hacks into computers, and is privy to both staff and patient files.  Using his skills as a burglar he tracks down the attackers, the deceivers, and the killers. 

In the psychiatric wing's day rooms and gardens long-suffering patient Hedgewick is Kasteel's only friend.  Hedgewick sees his father's ghost and claims to fight in a gladiatorial arena while the hospital guards bet on the winners.  Kasteel and Hedge often meet in the Fool's Tower, a ten-story high steeple once used to quarantine yellow fever victims a century ago, overlooking acres of gardens.  A place where family members go to pray for their loved ones, and the distraught often commit suicide.

But a new name is now whispered in the Castle: Abaddon, the ancient name for the angel of death.  A brain-damaged woman has visions and speaks only to Kasteel.  Abaddon is a killer, a man lost to the Castle like Kasteel himself, wandering the corridors searching out victims.  Even as Abaddon hunts the innocent, Kasteel hunts Abaddon, eager for a final showdown that may at last set him free.

An atmospheric yet action-packed, mature psychological thriller that is part examination into the bonds of family and part treatise on the nature of identity, THE WALLS OF THE CASTLE explores the deepest areas of what makes us who we are.   With a noir sensibility and complexity of character, the novella is a hybrid psychological thriller that's part suspense tale, part family saga, and part literate mystery.

The Walls of the Castle by Tom Piccirilli features four interior illustrations by artist Santiago Caruso.  The cover artwork will be featured as a color frontist piece in all hardcover editions.

Limited: 200 Signed and Numbered Limited Hardcover: mint and first edition, hand numbered 1-200, 6''x9'', bound in black leatherette, signed by the author, Smyth sewn, front cover stamped with the Black Labyrinth logo, stamped on the spine with the title and author's name, includes end papers, black book ribbon, black header, 60lb. natural vellum stock.  Only two-hundred copies are ever produced and numbered worldwide.  Features the title novella, all four interior illustrations by Santiago Caruso and the bonus novelette Face Blindness.  Features Santiago Caruso's cover artwork as a color frontist piece and sold out pre-publication

Deluxe Lettered: Premium leather-bound Deluxe Lettered Hardcover w/slipcase: mint and first edition, hand lettered A-Z, 6''x9'', bound in black leather, signature page which is signed by both author and artist, Smyth sewn, front cover stamped with the Black Labyrinth logo, front cover stamped and spine stamped with the title and the author's name, includes end papers, black book ribbon with a black colored header, 60lb. natural vellum stock and a slipcase bound in leatherette.  Only twenty-six copies are ever produced and lettered worldwide.  Features the title novella, all four interior illustrations by Santiago Caruso and the bonus novelette Face Blindness.  Features Santiago Caruso's cover artwork as a color frontist piece and sold out pre-publication

Ultra Deluxe: Specialty Oversized Cowhide-Bound Ultra-Deluxe Numbered Hardcover Tome w/ Special Edition Traycase: mint and first edition, hand numbered 1-13, 8.5''x11'', bound in black cowhide, signature page which is signed by author, artist and editor, Smyth sewn, printed with oil-based ink, includes end papers, black book ribbon with black header, premium Crane's Crest paper, a special edition Black Labyrinth traycase.  Only thirteen copies will ever be produced and numbered worldwide.  Features the title novella, all four interior illustrations by Santiago Caruso, the bonus novelette Face Blindness and the exclusive essay "What I found in my Spinal Fluid This Time" by author Tom Piccirilli.  Features Santiago Caruso's cover artwork as a color frontist piece. (we have 1 copy on consignment)