Scorpion Deep

Cg Drews

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Book cover for Scorpion Deep
Image for variant 9781250376312
Book cover for Scorpion Deep
Image for variant 9781250376312

Description

CG Drews, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Don't Let the Forest In and Hazelthorn, weaves a disturbing and intoxicating siren-call in Scorpion Deep, about a lonely boy who accidentally awakens an obsessive eldritch sea god.

The only thing Jonathan Covey wants from the gloomy, moldering isle of Kelcarrow is to leave it. Summer is ending, and his friends are looking forward to college on the mainland, unaware that Jonathan was not accepted to join them. He'll be left behind with nothing but the ocean's haunts and a rising dread of being abandoned.

In an act of wild desperation, Jonathan pays a tithe to Scorpion Deep, an eldritch sea god who many of the locals have dismissed as myth. He wants to forget the past, he wants to follow his friends, and most of all he wants to finally escape.

To his shock and horror, the ritual works--Scorpion Deep awakens. And despite his terror, Jonathan can't help but feel drawn toward the ageless entity that seems just as mutually obsessed with him. As scales start growing down his spine and Scorpion Deep's adoration of him turns bloody, Jonathan realizes the only way to end the nightmare is to destroy the monster one way or another.

But once a god has awoken, the only way to be free is to pay a price of blood.

Also by CG Drews
Don't Let the Forest In
Hazelthorn

About the Author

CG Drews is the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Hazelthorn, Don't Let the Forest In, Scorpion Deep, You Did Nothing Wrong, A Thousand Perfect Notes, and The Boy Who Steals Houses. CG's work has been translated into over a dozen languages and won the 2020 CBCA Honour Award. Currently living in Australia, CG never sleeps, and is forever buried under a pile of unread books.

Critical Reviews

Praise for Scorpion Deep:

"A pulsating, brutal novel about survival and abuse that will wind itself inside your bones and heart and never leave. What begins as a tender story about friendship and loss soon layers itself in sea-myth and brine. A book of violence and storms (and not just the ones outside our windows), Scorpion Deep is a beautiful and harrowing book about generational trauma and mental illness." --Kathleen Glasgow, # 1 New York Times-bestselling author of Girl In Pieces and The Glass Girl

"No one does tenderly devastating, twisty horror like CG Drews. Scorpion Deep is a virtuosic, fathoms-deep tale of everyday brutality, legendary monsters, and terrible choices that feels both ancient and so very immediate all at once. I remain haunted by it (in the best way)." --Jamie Pacton, bestselling author of The Absinthe Underground and The Hyacinth Labyrinth

"As enchanting and merciless as the ocean itself, Scorpion Deep embedded its stinger in me and wouldn't let go. CG Drews has done it again with this emotional, brutal and truly unique read". --Frances White, bestselling author of Voyage of the Damned

"A salt-sprayed tapestry of aching nostalgia and bone-chilling scares, Scorpion Deep is oceanic horror at its most gutting. Drews weaves together a tale of friendship and loss that is at once deeply unsettling and emotionally resonant, with magnetic prose that will pull you under the waves and never let go." --De Elizabeth, author of She Haunts Me Still and This Raging Sea

"A monstrous masterpiece exploring the vulnerability and obsession of friendship and the violence of being left behind. With Drews' characteristic wit, stunning prose, and a dark, alluring heart, Scorpion Deep will pull you in and devour you whole." --Kelsea Yu, Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author of It's Only a Game and Demon Song

Praise for Hazelthorn:

★ "Drews' latest starts off as a straightforward whodunit and turns into something that's far more sinister--and delicious. From descriptions of moth-eaten decay to vivid floral imagery, Drews luxuriates in atmospheric prose. ... A uniquely arranged bouquet of terrors, as disturbing as it is beautiful." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ "Deeply unsettling and absolutely perfect for those who understand the vulnerability at the root of every vicious monster." --School Library Journal, starred review

★ "Searingly atmospheric ... Evander, who is neurodivergent, seeks 'normality, ' a goal gorgeously juxtaposed by his fantastically bizarre surroundings, and by the story's 'normal' people intently portrayed as the true monsters. ... This is devourable horror and romance set against a malicious, vine-choked tapestry." --Shelf Awareness, starred review

"Viscerally atmospheric and beautifully eerie--Hazelthorn will take root inside you, drag you into its strange, thorny depths, and make you want to stay there forever. I devoured this book." --Pascale Lacelle, New York Times-bestselling author of Curious Tides

"A beautifully written, modern-yet-gothic murder mystery full of wretched boys, tangled secrets, and a horrifying sentient garden. Devour it, lest it devour you." --Jamie Pacton, bestselling author of The Absinthe Underground

"CG Drews unleashes a gorgeous atmospheric narrative that rots through the boundaries of YA horror and gives the reader a visceral and unsettling tale of murder, mania, loyalty and a garden with much more bite than you would expect. I loved every single second of this haunting book, and the twists absolutely had me screaming. This is the botanical queer horror that readers never knew they needed." --Emily Varga, bestselling author of For She Is Wrath

"In Hazelthorn's darkly gothic gardens, CG Drews conjures up a haunting nightmare dense with botanical horror, and in Evander, a rage-filled boy to root for." --Amy Goldsmith, author of Those We Drown and Predatory Natures

"A lush, gothic tale filled with devastating twists, delicious atmosphere, and toxic family secrets. Drews delivers another obsession-worthy masterpiece in Hazelthorn--one that's as hauntingly beautiful as the eponymous manor." --Kelsea Yu, Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author of It's Only a Game and Bound Feet

"Recalling elements of The Secret Garden, Drews (Don't Let the Forest In) deploys crisp prose to spin a gothic psychological thriller rife with brutal twists and gruesome scenes of botanical body horror." --Publishers Weekly

"The strength of the concept, pacing, and atmosphere make it an excellent introduction to the genre--especially as it combines the current popularity of both gothic mysteries and body horror." --Booklist

Praise for Don't Let the Forest In:

A New York Times Bestseller
An ABA Indies Bestseller
A Publishers Weekly Bestseller
An Indies Next Selection
A B&N Best Book of 2024
A Junior Library Guild Selection
A Goodreads Choice Award finalist

"Drews paints a gruesome narrative with visceral descriptions of monsters and the violence they enact, while with equal vigor, encapsulating the trauma of loss, disordered eating, bullying, and anxiety, all of which is counterbalanced by a gentle touch addressing asexual identity. ... Prepare for the emotional roller coaster of plot twists, unreliable narration, and a divisive conclusion. Sure to please those interested in modern horror mixed with a touch of fairy tale." --Booklist, starred review

"Compulsively readable. Don't Let the Forest In lures you into a lush world full of terrifying monsters and codependent boys trying to survive their obsessive art--and each other." --Trang Thanh Tran, New York Times-bestselling author of She Is a Haunting

"CG Drews has crafted a beautiful, horrific novel out of underbrush and ink stains and blood. Perfect for any reader who has looked into the sharp mouths of disturbing fairy tales and found themself entirely at home." --Andrew Joseph White, New York Times-bestselling author of The Spirit Bares Its Teeth and Hell Followed With Us

"A bloodied tale of toxic romance and botanical horror, this book will ensnare you like the tendrils of a haunted forest." --Lyndall Clipstone, author of Lakesedge and Unholy Terrors

"Genuinely creepy ... Lush, angsty, queer horror." --Kirkus Reviews

"With a lingering terror that will lurk well after you finish, this psychological horror is packed with monsters of fairytale, folklore and so much more. Good luck not getting hooked (and haunted)." --B&N Reads

Publishing Information

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pub date: 2026-10-27
Length: 336 pages

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