House of the Patriarch
About this audiobook
No one can talk to the dead ... can they? Freeman of color Benjamin January gets caught up in a strange, spiritual world that might lead to his own demise, as he hunts for a missing teenager in this gripping, atmospheric historical mystery.
New Orleans, 1840. Freshly home from a dangerous journey, the last thing Benjamin January wants to do is leave his wife and young sons again. But when old friends Henri and Chloë Viellard ask for his help tracking down a missing girl in distant New York, he can’t say no.
Three weeks ago, seventeen-year-old Eve Russell boarded a steamboat—and never got off it. Mrs. Russell is adamant that Eve has been kidnapped, but how could someone remove a teenager from a crowded deck in broad daylight? And why would anyone target Eve?
The answer lies in New York, a hotbed of new religions and beliefs, of human circuses and freak shows, and of “blackbirders” who will use any opportunity to kidnap a freeman of color and sell him into slavery. January is determined to uncover the truth, but will he ever be able to return to New Orleans to share it?
About the author
Barbara Hambly has written novels in many genres, from mysteries to science fiction and fantasy. She holds a degree in medieval history from the University of California and teaches at a local college. Her books include The Emancipator’s Wife, a finalist for the Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction, and Fever Season was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.
Ron Butler is a Los Angeles based actor who works regularly as a commercial and animation voiceover artist and an audiobook narrator. A member of the Atlantic Theater Company, he has over a hundred film and television credits to his name and won an Independent Filmmaker Project Award for his work in the HBO film Everyday People.
