The Diplomacy of the Knife by C.M. Caplan

Petre Mercy’s had a rough time since he rode home on a cyborg horse. He’s lost a hand that’s been replaced with a mess of steel and piano string, broke his thyroid-powered sword, and helped ignite a civil war that’s engulfed the countryside.

His sister, The Queen, has ordered him to root out any traitors in Mercy House. But Petre can hardly ferret out the truth from his siblings, let alone a vast network of spies with counterplots. And every day more turncoats move against him.

If he has any hope of putting down this uprising, he’ll have to work with a sister he’s still learning to trust. But his enemies are one step ahead of him at all times. And they’re hiding in the last place he’d think to look.

“It’s bigger, better, darker, filthier, more complex, more gut wrenching, more deliciously deranged, and it just bleeds with a manic ‘WHAT THE FUCK?’ energy.”
– Esmay Rosalyne, Grimdark Magazine

“Caplan is the most imaginative writer I have ever read and has the demented genius associated with painters like Dali or Breugel.”
– Sue Bavey, author of Lucky Jack

“This book sucked me in and chewed on me and then spit me out. Its intrigue and brutality and inventiveness is a visceral high.”
– E.M. Hamill, author of Dalí

“One of the most weird, original, and disgusting worlds I’ve ever read about in a book. That’s just the way I like it.”
– Travis Riddle, author of On Lavender Tides

“Unbound, unpredictable, undefinable, and unbelievably addictive.”
– Craig Bookwyrm