Bladestay

A 2024 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award Gold Medal Winner

"A brutal, suspenseful, and surprising read with an unforgettable protagonist." --School Library Journal, Starred Review

"Utterly riveting from beginning to end." --Demetra Brodsky, ITW and Black-Eyed Susan Award-nominated author of Last Girls

Be Careful Who You Root For

When a violent, decades-long feud between two powerful men comes to a head in the small settlement of Bladestay, Colorado, cunning resident Theo Creed must use her wits to stay alive. Disguising herself as a young boy, seventeen-year-old Theo bluffs her way into the inner circle of August Gains, the magnetic leader of the ruthless gang that has descended on her town. But the deeper Theo gets into the con, the more she starts to question her loyalties. Complicating her subterfuge is a mysterious outlaw whose small moments of kindness contradict the blood he has on his hands, making Theo wonder who, exactly, is conning who. To save her town, Theo must parse fa?ade from reality and choose between the barefaced malevolence she's infiltrated and an evil she didn't know lurked at home.

For readers who enjoy No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy and Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee.

Jackie Johnson is a San Diego born poet and novelist. Her background as a journalist, BA in history, and education in armed defense gives her a uniquely authentic voice within the historical genre. She's been riding horses for over twenty years and had her own real-life cowboy love story when she fell in love with and married a horse trainer. Together, they established a ranch in Southern California where she spends her days writing, riding, and chasing after their dreams, their two children, four horses, six cats, and two dogs. Bladestay is her first novel.