Run Away with the Circus in Masqueraded: Act One (Act Two available for pre-order)
A YA Paranormal Thriller and Dark Fantasy Novel
To run away with the circus or to be killed by it? Typically, the latter doesn’t follow up the former, but it does when regarding Cirque Arcana. However, that couldn’t be a real concern. After all, that circus was nothing more than a rogue dream…
Masqueraded is a suspenseful and dark psychological thriller that’s the first chapter of an emotionally charged dark fantasy series that features spirited seventeen-year-old Estela Sinclair.
She is looking for answers to her difficult past, while discovering new depths of deviant magic that fuels three maniacal entertainment powerhouses–the haunting Cirque Arcana, zany carnival The Midway, and the troublesome Parlour Lane Park.
Join Estela, as she explores a hidden magical world of teleportation, scrying, and telekinesis.
Background on the Series
Masqueraded is born from an idea I had in 2014 and that grew overtime until I knew it was going to be a fully fledged saga.
If you like macabre circuses, creepy carnivals, or disturbing amusement parks then Masqueraded is for you. Likewise, if you like stories that are dark fantasy, urban thrillers, mildly Gothic and mildly humorous then Masqueraded is for you too.
It’s a balancing act that takes you away from our reality while not being so far off that it can’t relate to our reality. Furthermore, it’s a threshold between the two, so you’ll find plights and fancies you can and can’t relate to.
And, that’s the magic of it. Because, nothing is more magical than Cirque Arcana. What’s not to love about a circus haunted by the souls of folks who couldn’t find their way out? Truly, they’re just a necessary sacrifice. After all, the show must go on. Always.
Themes
Anything you look at from the outside in usually seems normal at least or “perfect.” But most of the time, looking from the outside in you’re simply seeing a masquerade. A manicured facade that covered whatever was underneath. Thusly, it’s not until the masquerade is removed that the truth, the reality is exposed.
But what if it’s still not the truth, the reality hidden underneath the masquerade? And, who exactly is looking at the masquerade? Nothing is real and nothing is fake.
Those are the more overarching concepts that inspired the title, Masqueraded.
The more overt tale and themes within introduce a brazen, soon to be eighteen-year-old who’s looking to escape her abusive adoptive family. Unbeknownst to her, a far more dangerous threat looms overhead.
Overcoming abuse, gaining independence, unveiling deceptions, and simply trying to survive dark magic is a balancing act in of itself. And, it’s an act that doesn’t fade away to black, happily ever after. Or does it? That depends on who you’re rooting for.
About the Author
I, one Alexis Dees, am a lifelong creative writer who fancies stories that combine the magical, the morbid, and the unconventional. I’ve worked in the theme park industry as an entertainer for a decade, ran away with the circus several times and counting, and fancy the Brothers Grimm when I’m not looking to explore abandoned amusement parks like my heartbeat Chippewa Lake Park. As such, you’ll notice all of which are usually a focal point in my stories.
Act One
Official Book Description
“Being haunted by a sinister circus, ghosts and scary clowns wasn’t unusual for the spunky 17-year-old girl, Estela Nannette Sinclair. Neither was the physical and emotional abuse that she faced from her adoptive parents.
But, one was just a dream and the other would resolve itself in two weeks upon her eighteenth birthday… or so she mistakenly presumed. Her life was a complex façade of lies that hid how deeply she was entangled with three powerhouses of dark magic. Had she been that ignorant of the masquerade before her? An ignorance that wasn’t bliss. And an ignorance that meant her corpse would likely decorate an amusement attraction in a mere two weeks’ time.”
Book Stats
Genre: Dark Fantasy/Urban Thriller
Length: circa 50,000 words or 260 pages
Author: Alexis Dees
Illustrator: Romi Lindenberg
Photographer: Laurie Wood
Release Date: September 18th, 2020
Price: Ebook $9.99, Paperback $13.99, Hardback $15.99
ISBN: 978-0-578-72099-9 and 978-0-578-72100-2
Availability
Masqueraded: Act One released in Ebook format, Paperback, and Hardback on September 18th. Additionally, it is available here on www.carouselofchaos.com, Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, and other outlets.
Masqueraded: Act One is currently available on:
Amazon (ebook & paperback)
Barnes & Nobles (ebook, paperback, & hardback)
Google (ebook)
Kobo (ebook)
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Contact
Any questions, comments, concerns or queries can be submitted to alexis@carouselofchaos.com.
A new, creative dark YA paranormal series, circus books for young adults, and fantasy books for women. In this YA paranormal series, anyone seeking circus books for young adults or fantasy books for women will find their home here. Masqueraded is a circus books for young adults and fantasy books for women.