Briarpatch

Tim Pratt

Apr 2012 · ChiZine

About this ebook

Darrin's life has been going downhill ever since his girlfriend Bridget walked out on him without a word of explanation six months ago. Soon after losing her, he lost his job, and his car, and eventually his enthusiasm for life. He can't imagine things getting worse—until he sees Bridget again, for the first time since she walked out, just moments before she leaps to her death from a bridge. In his quest to find out why Bridget took her own life, he encounters a depressive (and possibly immortal) cult leader; a man with a car that can drive out of this world and into others; a beautiful psychotic with a chrome shotgun; and a bridge that, maybe, leads to heaven. Darrin's journey leads him into a place called the Briarpatch, which is either the crawlspace of the universe, or a series of ambitious building projects abandoned by God, or a tangle of alternative universes, depending on who you ask. Somewhere in that disorderly snarl of worlds, he hopes to find Bridget again. Or at least a reason to live without her.

About the author

Tim Pratt's fiction has won a Hugo Award, and he's been a finalist for Sturgeon, Stoker, World Fantasy, Mythopoeic, and Nebula Awards. His other books include two short story collections; a volume of poems; a contemporary fantasy novel called The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl; and, as T. A. Pratt, six books (and counting) about sorcerer Marla Mason. He works as a senior editor for Locus Magazine, and lives in Berkeley, CA with his wife, Heather Shaw, and their son, River. Find him online at timpratt.org.