The Cold Eye
Book 2 in the Devil’s West
East of the Mississippi, in the civilized world, dime store novels and gossips claim that the territory to the west is home to monsters and magic, wild Indians and disreputable whites. They claim that in order to survive, any who live there must make a deal with the Devil.
Some of this is true.
Winner of the 2018 Endeavour Award!
Isobel is now the Left Hand of the Master of the Territory, also known as the devil. Along with her mentor, Gabriel, she travels the Road, upholding the centuries-old agreement her boss made with the people – Native and settlers alike – to protect them. After the events of SILVER ON THE ROAD, Isobel thinks she understands her role, thinks she’s got it under control.
Isobel looked down at her hands, curling her fingers over the black sigil on her left palm, the circle and infinitas that told anyone with sense that the thing so marked belonged to the devil…. She would become the cold eye and the quick knife, the final decision-maker in the isolated expanses of the Territory when then devil himself could not be.
But there’s a power deep in the bones of the Territory, and it is neither understandable, nor controllable. And when what seems like a natural disaster reveals a terrible new magic, Isobel and Gabriel are left isolated and under attack.
To stop this new threat, to protect the Territory, to save herself, Isobel must fully embrace the devil’s Bargain she has made…
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Praise for THE COLD EYE
” [THE COLD EYE is] a fabulous coming-of-age tale of magic and power, set in a conflict-ridden alternative Wild West so vividly evoked that readers will be saddling up to ride along. ”
– Library Journal (
starred review! )
“The Cold Eye is a captivating read… smooth and absorbing. From page one I was sucked in, thrilled to be stepping back into the Devil’s West.” – B&N SF/F Blog
“The detail of the writing and steady pace of the story will keep readers intrigued with this tale of the Devil, unskilled magic and the newly formed government in Washington, DC. …Gilman is a master storyteller.” (4 stars)
– RT Reviews
“Gilman cuts no corners and offers no mercy to her characters. [The Cold Eye] feels less like make-believe and more like walking in the wilderness of half-forgotten American legends. With just a midnight whisper of violent truth.”
– NPR Arts
“(In The Cold Eye), Gilman crafts a fascinating vision of a magic-infested continent, set in
an unsettled and unpredictable time.” – Publishers Weekly
“With The Cold Eye, Laura Anne Gilman magnificently continues to forge her own version of a Western, American myth of the very early days of a West that wasn’t, but, perhaps reading both Silver on the Road, and The Cold Eye, I wish it might have been.” – Skiffy and Fanty Reviews
˜Intriguingly different, compelling reading.” – Locus (February’s “New and Notables” list!)