Shake Out the Ghosts

Shake Out the Ghosts

A beautifully funny and deeply moving contemporary queer romance with a magical twist, the perfect next read for fans of TJ Klune and Ashley Poston. A brutal assault nine months ago left eccentric portrait artist Micah with facial scars and PTSD. He’s struggled to leave his apartment ever since, and he can’t let anyone in. Then his only sanctuary is disrupted by signs of a haunting. Between the 80s synth pop and motivation messages scrawled on his bathroom mirror, Micah finds himself more charmed than frightened by who he believes to be Cosmo, the deceased previous resident of his apartment. But when Cosmo’s ghostly visits suddenly stop, Micah is determined to lure him back. Meanwhile, sculpture artist Cosmo – dramatic, unconventional, and very much alive – is mourning his old self. His boyfriend’s a serial cheater, he’s continually passed over for a promotion at work, and he’s lost contact with his best friend. To make matters worse, his apartment is being haunted by the ghost of a bespectacled man with an eye socket of scars. It’s his last straw, and seeking a new start, Cosmo moves out. In a chance meeting, Cosmo and Micah’s paths cross again, and tentative sparks fly. But the phantoms of their pasts still linger. In order to find a future where they can both be happy together, Micah and Cosmo need to confront their trauma once and for all. "A hallmark of Hess's narratives is the grace with which the love story dovetails into the speculative weirdness, and Shake Out the Ghosts does this in spades. The depiction of PTSD is heartbreakingly real, the character work superb, and the romance queer AF. This one kept me up past my bedtime." – Khan Wong , author of Down in the Sea of Angels "Al Hess’s voice is electric. It’s alive. It’s frantic in the best way, like a big broken water fountain shooting out gold." – Champ Rockwell, reviewer and podcaster, on Yours, Celestially "At once harrowing and tender, heart-poundingly twisty and deeply compassionate." – P. H. Low , Ignyte-, Locus-, and Rhysling-nominated author of These Deathless Shores " Shake Out the Ghosts delivers universal themes of acceptance, embracing authenticity, and working to overcome trauma, all of which will resonate with readers." – Booklist Al Hess is author of  World Running Down ,  Key Lime Sky ,  Shake Out the Ghosts , and the award-winning books:  Yours Celestially and Mazarin Blues . When not hunched before a computer screen, Al can be found at his art desk. He does portraits in both pencil and oil paint, and loves drawing fellow authors' characters nearly as much as his own. He writes cozy and uplifting stories with queer, trans, and neurodiverse representation. Al is represented by agent Ren Balcombe at Janklow & Nesbit.