Skip to main content
book cover for The Death and Birth of Iliana Marek

The Death and Birth of Iliana Marek

You must sign in to see if this title is available for request. Sign In or Register Now

Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app


1

To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.

2

Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.

Pub Date Oct 13 2026 | Archive Date Oct 13 2026


Talking about this book? Use #TheDeathandBirthofIlianaMarek #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!


Description

A young man with a terrible past finds his unlikely protector: the oddly-altered enforcer of a backwater Florida town. Edgar Award-winner David Liss (The Peculiarities)'s latest novel reads like Hiaasen meets Crichton—a razor-sharp allegory pulled straight from today’s headlines.

Who is Iliana Marek? Is she the bully who alongside her foster father police chief Bryce Hillard, controls and terrorizes Tylor, Florida? Or is she the reborn guardian angel of Dan Gibson, a social pariah responsible for the suicide of Faye Kristic, a death which he cannot remember ten years later.

Dan’s once-promising future is in tatters. He lives in an apartment on his estranged parents’ property, works at a convenience store with a terrible boss, and is addicted to prescription drugs. But ten years after Faye’s death, Iliana suddenly takes Dan’s side, and a lot of bad people start dying fast.

As Dan becomes entangled in the ensuing chaos, he needs to finally discover what part he played in the death of Faye Kristic, and why the changes to Iliana make her no longer entirely human.
A young man with a terrible past finds his unlikely protector: the oddly-altered enforcer of a backwater Florida town. Edgar Award-winner David Liss (The Peculiarities)'s latest novel reads like...

A Note From the Publisher

David Liss is the author of fourteen novels, most recently The Peculiarities. His previous books include A Conspiracy of Paper, which was named a New York Times Notable Book and won the 2001 Barry, MacAvity and Edgar Awards. The Coffee Trader was also named a New York Times Notable Book and was selected by the New York Public Library as one of the year’s 25 Books to Remember. He has worked on numerous comics projects, including Black Panther and Mystery Men for Marvel, The Spider and Green Hornet for Dynamite, and Angelica Tomorrow. Liss lives in San Antonio, Texas.

David Liss is the author of fourteen novels, most recently The Peculiarities. His previous books include A Conspiracy of Paper, which was named a New York Times Notable Book and won the 2001 Barry...


Advance Praise

Praise for David Liss

On The Peculiarities

“David Liss masterfully blends rich historical fiction with terrifying supernatural body horror. He stands with Robert Louis Stevenson and Bram Stoker.”
—Jonathan Maberry, author of V-Wars and Ink

“A fun, horrific, engaging mystery, both for the story and for watching an accomplished writer stepping out into new territory.”
—Jeffrey Ford, author of A Natural History of Hell

“It made me think, and go on thinking as one idea sprang to another, and on, and on. That is the greatest gift a writer can give.”
—Anne Perry, author of the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series

“David Liss turns a new corner, and at the end of it is a splendid, unique and surprising tale.”
—Joe R. Lansdale, author of Hap and Leonard

“Wry, witty, twisty and tricky, The Peculiarities will slowly draw you into Liss’s strange world of magic and monsters.”
—Shana Abé, author of The Second Mrs. Astor

“David Liss leans into early 20th century occult thinking with the same mystical fervor as Crowley, Mathers, and Yeats—the holy trinity of the era.”
—Mark Teppo, author of the Codex of Souls series

Praise for David Liss

On The Peculiarities

“David Liss masterfully blends rich historical fiction with terrifying supernatural body horror. He stands with Robert Louis Stevenson and Bram Stoker.”
...


Marketing Plan

  • Select outreach to leading science fiction and crime print and online reviewers and editors
  • In-person events to include regional East Coast and national U.S. venues
  • Print and digital ARC distribution; giveaways on Goodreads and Storygraph
  • Social media promotion including cover reveal, launch event, ongoing Instagram and BlueSky coverage
  • Select outreach to leading science fiction and crime print and online reviewers and editors
  • In-person events to include regional East Coast and national U.S. venues
  • Print and digital ARC distribution;...

Available Editions

EDITION Paperback
ISBN 9781616964696
PRICE $18.95 (USD)
PAGES 304

Available on NetGalley

NetGalley Reader (EPUB)
NetGalley Shelf App (EPUB)
Send to Kindle (EPUB)
Send to Kobo (EPUB)
Download (EPUB)