The Resonance of Ashes

About this book

In the vertical metropolis of Ostrava, built within the fossilized ribcage of an ancient, mountain-sized leviathan, the city's very structure sings with a mystical resonance. This 'Bone Song' maintains the structural integrity of the ribs and suppresses the volatile ash magic dormant in the marrow below. When the Grand Resonator, the spiritual leader responsible for the Song, is found dead—petrified into literal ash—the song falters, and the city begins to tremble. Inspector Kojo Kwesi, a disgraced investigator with a talent for hearing the echoes of the dead, is reluctantly pulled back into service. He is partnered with Zuri Zivzivadze, a brilliant but rigid acoustical engineer who believes only in the math of vibration, not ghosts. Together, they must navigate the stratified society of Ostrava, from the opulent Upper Ribs to the choking, ash-filled Marrow Slums. As tremors worsen and citizens begin to spontaneously combust into piles of soot, Kojo and Zuri uncover a conspiracy that threatens to shatter the fossilized bones holding their world together. They must harmonize their conflicting methods to catch a killer who is using the city's own acoustics as a weapon, all while the leviathan's ancient spirit threatens to wake.