Gwendy's Magic Feather

Gwendy's Magic Feather
A Brand New Castle Rock Novel
by Richard Chizmar
Foreword by Stephen King
A Cemetery Dance Publications Exclusive Trade Hardcover!
Limited ONE TIME Hardcover Printing! NO Second Printing!
No eBook or Paperback Planned Until 2020!

Gwendy's Magic Feather: A Novel
by Richard Chizmar

Featuring a foreword by Stephen King discussing this first novel ever set in Castle Rock written by another author!

Full-color cover artwork by Ben Baldwin
Interior artwork by Keith Minnion

Trade Hardcover World's 1st Edition From Cemetery Dance Publications! No eBook or Paperback Planned Until 2020! Richard Chizmar Will Be Signing Preorders of the Trade Hardcover for A Limited Time Only! One Time Printing, No Second Printings Ever!

About the Book:
Something evil has swept into the small western Maine town of Castle Rock on the heels of the latest winter storm. Sheriff Norris Ridgewick and his team are desperately searching for two missing girls, but time is running out to bring them home alive.

In Washington D.C., thirty-seven-year-old Gwendy Peterson couldn't be more different from the self-conscious teenaged girl who once spent a summer running up Castle Rock's Suicide Stairs. That same summer, she was entrusted—or some might say cursed—with the extraordinary button box by Richard Farris, the mysterious stranger in the black suit. The seductive and powerful box offered Gwendy small gifts in exchange for its care and feeding until Farris eventually returned, promising Gwendy she'd never see the box again.

One day, though, the button box shows up without warning—and without Richard Farris to explain why, or what she's supposed to do with it. The mysterious reappearance of the box, along with the troubling disappearances in Castle Rock, leads Gwendy home again...where she just might be able to help rescue the missing girls and stop a madman before he does something ghastly.

From New York Times bestseller Richard Chizmar comes Gwendy's Magic Feather, a breathtaking novel that asks whether our lives are controlled by fate or the choices we make—and what price we might have to pay for those choices when we reach for the things we most desire. Prepare to return again to Stephen King's Castle Rock, the sleepy little town built on a bedrock of deep, dark secrets, which is about to awaken from its quiet slumber once more.

To be published as a Trade Hardcover Edition:
• Printed on 60# acid-free paper
• Bound in cloth with colored head and tail bands
• Featuring hot foil stamping on the front boards and spine
• Wrapped in a full-color dust jacket
• World's 1st Printing, 1st Edition!
• Retail price just $25

For information about the Limited Edition and Lettered Edition, please visit this page.

Reviews and Praise for Gwendy's Button Box by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar:
"Man, I love this story! The whole thing just races and feels so right-sized and so scarily and sadly relevant. Loved the characters... and the sense of one little girl's connection to the whole world through this weird device. It all just sang."
— JJ Abrams

"This absorbing novella by horror giants King (End of Watch) and Chizmar (A Long December) revisits one of King's most popular locales. It's 1974 when 12-year-old Gwendy Peterson is offered a magic box by a man named Richard Farris, whom she meets at the top of one of the cliffside Suicide Stairs in Castle Rock, Maine. Farris wears a "small neat black hat" and seems to know just who Gwendy is and what she wants. Eight buttons grace the mahogany box he offers to Gwendy, and a lever dispenses silver dollars and intricate chocolates that Farris claims will help Gwendy lose weight and escape being called "Goodyear" by her classmates. Lose weight she does, but that's not all. Wonderful things keep happening in Gwendy's life, and she's happier than she's ever been. But when she decides to press one of the buttons, the consequences are horrendous. The novella follows Gwendy through high school and beyond, capturing the golden-hued joy of childhood and the wonder of friendship and first love, all under the shadow of temptation. This bite-size gem of a story packs quite a punch, and the only complaint readers will likely have is that it isn't longer."
— Publishers Weekly

"Castle Rock, Maine, is known for the strange things that always seem to happen there. It has been a while since King let his imagination wander back to this beloved location, but with the help of award-winning author Chizmar, Castle Rock reveals one of its best secrets yet. Readers meet Gwendy in the summer of 1974, as she climbs the 305 Suicide Steps to the top of Castle View to find a man in a dark suit and hat waiting for her on a bench. He has something to give her, something beautiful but sinister: the button box. It dispenses valuable coins and amazing chocolate treats, but it can also be used to cause worldwide devastation—and Gwendy is charged with keeping the box safe for the foreseeable future. This coming-of-age novella is told in a tone that is both sweet and ominous. As she grows from a plump 12-year-old to a college graduate, Gwendy's time as the steward of the box is filled with its share of utter happiness and crushing sorrow. Where the story shines is in the universal questions it asks: how much of any of our lives is our own doing versus a result of intervention from an unseen force? And how much power do any of us have to save the world—or destroy it? Readers will eagerly devour this thought-provoking, satisfying tale, even as it leaves them unsettled."
— Booklist

PLEASE NOTE: These three editions will be shipping separately, so shipping charges are based on postage for multiple shipments if you order multiple editions.

Richard Chizmar is a New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Amazon, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author.

He is the co-author (with Stephen King) of the bestselling novella, Gwendy's Button Box and the founder/publisher of Cemetery Dance magazine and the Cemetery Dance Publications book imprint. He has edited more than 35 anthologies and his short fiction has appeared in dozens of publications, including multiple editions of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories. He has won two World Fantasy awards, four International Horror Guild awards, and the HWA's Board of Trustee's award.

Chizmar (in collaboration with Johnathon Schaech) has also written screenplays and teleplays for United Artists, Sony Screen Gems, Lions Gate, Showtime, NBC, and many other companies. He has adapted the works of many bestselling authors including Stephen King, Peter Straub, and Bentley Little.

Chizmar is also the creator/writer of Stephen King Revisited, and his fourth short story collection, The Long Way Home, was published in 2019. With Brian James Freeman, Chizmar is co-editor of the acclaimed Dark Screams horror anthology series published by Random House imprint, Hydra.

His latest book, Widow's Point, a chilling tale about a haunted lighthouse written with his son, Billy Chizmar, was recently adapted into a feature film. His next book, The Girl on the Porch, will be published in August by Subterranean Press.

Chizmar's work has been translated into more than fifteen languages throughout the world, and he has appeared at numerous conferences as a writing instructor, guest speaker, panelist, and guest of honor.

Please visit the author's website at: RichardChizmar.com

Young girls are being kidnapped, her mom is recovering from cancer, and a paranoid Gwendy cannot stop looking over her shoulder. The story is told in classic supernatural thriller mode with all of the unsettling, creeping dread of horror but none of the gore. The compelling crime plot moves the story along quickly, but ultimately, this is the story of Gwendy finding her own power to shake the demons of the box. An easy choice to hand off to fans of King's Castle Rock mythos (who will love all of the
"easter eggs" here), Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas books, and Charlaine Harris' supernatural series.
— Booklist

"Chizmar returns to Castle Rock, Maine, after the 2017 novella Gwendy’s Button Box, co-written with Stephen King, in this appealing chiller. Now 37 years old, Gwendy Peterson is shocked when the button box, a mysterious mahogany device that dispensed intricate gifts in exchange for acts of service and derailed Gwendy’s childhood, reappears in her Washington, D.C., office in 1999. Gwendy has always wondered if the presence of the strange box during her formative years had something to do with the charmed life she’s lived since, including a loving marriage, a stint as a bestselling author, and now a chance to shape her country as a congresswoman. During a holiday visit with her parents in Castle Rock, the return of her mother’s cancer and the mysterious disappearances of several young local girls move Gwendy to give herself over once again to the dark temptation of using the button box, hoping that she can wield its power for good. Short, punchy chapters keep the pages turning, but the mystery of the missing girls lacks the urgency of the first book in the series. Still, the charming protagonist and thrill of temptation will enthrall fans and new readers alike."
— Publishers Weekly

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