'[A] pulse-pounding vampire tale... Fans of The Last of Us will be enthralled' Publishers Weekly

'A frenetically-paced read that will equally excite and terrify you' FanfiAddict

'Flat out fun to read... I will 100% pick up anything further Ryan releases in this genre' Grimdark Magazine

Layla has spent her entire life in the Redoubt, one of the last bastions of humanity in a ravaged world. She's never been beyond the Redoubt's walls; only Crossers, with their special training and survival skills, are permitted to venture into the shadow-haunted wastelands.

When Layla's father falls ill, she knows she needs to find a cure. But no such medicine can be found within the Redoubt. Instead, her only chance is to pass a series of gruelling trials to become a Crosser, and then to strike out into the wilderness.

Where the feeders are.

Internationally bestselling fantasy author Anthony Ryan - writing as A. J. Ryan - delivers a nerve-shredding horror novel where humans are no longer top of the food chain.

Praise for A. J. Ryan

'Bursts onto the page like a riveting ride into a monstrous heart of darkness, starting out as a locked-room mystery and steadily stomping the gas to become an edge-of-your seat thriller' Craig DiLouie

'A madly entertaining amalgam of locked-room mystery, heart-racing thriller, and terror-inducing horror show that will keep you up late into the night and darken your dreams long after you turn the last page' Philip Fracassi

'Soaked in terror and shrouded in fog, this book demands to be gulped down in one sitting' Andy Merino

'A frenetically paced, galvanizing read that will equally excite and terrify you' FanFiAddict

• We started tracking this book on August 7, 2025.
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• Literature & FictionHorror
• Whispersync for Voice

• Publication Date: October 14, 2025
• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 305 Pages
• File Size: 23 KB