#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway #29: Children of Chicago

The #HorrorForLibraries Giveaway is back after a holiday hiatus, and I have a great month of giveaways planned beginning with a title I gave a STAR review in the January issue of Library Journal.But first, a refresher on the basic rules to enter:

1. You need to be affiliated with an American public library. My rationale behind that is that I will be encouraging you to read these books and share them with patrons. While many of them are advanced reader copies that you cannot add to your collections, if you get the chance to read them, my hope is that you will consider ordering a copy for your library and give away the ARC away as a prize or pass it on to a fellow staff member.
2. If you are interested in being included in any giveaway at any time, you must email me at zombiegrl75 [at] gmail [dot] com with the subject line "#HorrorForLibraries." In the body of the email all you have to say is that you want to be entered and the name of your library.
3. Each entry will be considered for EVERY giveaway. I will randomly draw a winner on Fridays sometime after 5pm central. But only entries received by 5pm each week will be considered for that  week.
4. If you win, you are ineligible to win again for 4 weeks; you will have to re-enter after that time to be considered [I have a list of who has won, when, and what title]. However, if you do not win, you carry over into the next week. There is NO NEED to reenter.

Click here to see giveaway #28. Our winner was Lisa from the Allegany County [MD] Library System.

Now on to this week's giveaway, a title: Children of Chicago by Cynthia Pelayo. From my STAR review: 

Three Words That Describe This Book: strong world building, relentless place, harrowing

Lauren Medina is new to the rank of Detective in the Chicago Police Department but her roots run deep as the daughter of a CPD legend. Dealing with her Dad’s recent death, the dissolution of her marriage, and a history of trauma involving the death of her mother and sister, Medina immerses herself in her work trying to stop the epidemic of violence against Chicago’s children. But there is a dark force stronger than any gang, and powered by Grimm’s Fairy Tales, stalking its young victims, and Medina unfortunately knows the Pied Piper, his strength, and the great cost of weidling his power. Pelayo, a lifelong Chicagoan presents a well researched modern fairy tale, peppered with nuggets of fascinating information that inform the story without sacrificing the pace or atmosphere. Even more remarkable is how she works the unreliable narrator trope, expertly from the first page to the final shocking twist. Verdict: With superior world building, a relentless pace, a complex heroine, and a harrowing story that preys off of current events as much as its well developed monster, this is a stellar horror novel that fires on all cylinders from the first page through to its horrible conclusion. For fans of dark fantasy based on fairy tales such as MaGuire’s Wayward Children series or novels by Helen Oyeyemi with just the right touch of Paretsky’s VI Warshawski. 

This is an advanced reader copy sent to me for review by the publisher. I am very excited about other people getting to read this book. It has wide appeal. Also, look for news coming soon from the Chicago Public Library and the Chicago Chapter of the Horror Writers Association about a virtual event with Pelayo this March. 

Good luck.