A surreal fantasy novel from the Crawford Award finalist author of Night Roll.
“Dazzling, intense, and surreal … The Jaguar Mask is an arresting novel.” – Foreword Reviews
“A superbly humane take on being a living myth inside a world whose preferences lean toward violent lies. DeLuca lets a story become what it needs to become, and that’s a welcome rarity.” – Zig Zag Claybourne, author of The Brothers Jetstream: Leviathan
“A new novel for the solarpunk revolution! DeLuca’s THE JAGUAR MASK is a page-turner that takes off on page one and doesn’t slow down.” – Justine Norton-Kertson, editor-in-chief of Android Press and Solarpunk Magazine
“Through fast-paced, yet sumptuous prose, steeped in the colours, sounds and scents of Guatemala – weaving a veritable shape-shifting tapestry, The Jaguar Mask calls out for climate justice and in the same breath provides readers with one thrill of a ride!” Shikhandin, Indian author and poet
“Beautifully written and passionately felt, The Jaguar Mask is a chiaroscuro of art, magic, and street-level politics. Its characters’ rich roots in place and family give the novel depth and drive that doesn’t let up from the first page to the last. Guaranteed to be one of my favorite novels of the year.” – Marissa Lingen
About the Book
Felipe K’icab doesn’t know who he is. He only knows he was born different than his human family, and he can’t relax unless he’s blasting reggaeton in his cab weaving through the streets of Guatemala City. The jaguar mask and his other human faces keep him safe–until El Bufo, a corrupt ex-cop, commandeers his cab and drags Felipe into a murder conspiracy investigation, trying to expose the foreign-backed regime’s ecocidal and genocidal past.
Cristina Ramos knows who her mother’s killers are. After witnessing the murder in a vision, she struggles to keep her grieving family from falling apart. When El Bufo’s relentless vendetta throws Felipe into her life amid increasing civil unrest, Felipe and Cristina must overcome generations of institutionalized silence, uncover the secrets of their powers, and forge a path to justice, or else be swept away by another wave of violence.
About the Author
Michael J. DeLuca’s novella Night Roll was a finalist for the Crawford Award in 2020. He is the publisher of Reckoning, a journal of creative writing on environmental justice. He also runs the indie ebook site Weightless Books, and his short fiction has been appearing since 2005 in places such as Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Apex, Mythic Delirium, Fusion Fragment, and Three-Lobed Burning Eye. He lives in suburbified post-industrial woodlands north of Detroit with partner, kid, cats, and microbes.
Cover art and design by Julia Louise Pereira.