“THERE ARE CERTAIN SHIBBOLETHS TO OUR CONDITION.”

At the end of the first book of The Twelve-Fingered Boy Trilogy, Jack and Shreve are incarcerado—physically locked up. Shreve’s back in the custody of the state of Arkansas, and Jack’s somewhere in the clutches of Mr. Quincrux—both problems Shreve aims to rectify.

“YOU VENTURE FORTH AT NIGHT INTO THE VOID. I DO NOT NEED TO BE TOLD THIS; I HAVE FELT YOUR PASSING, SENSED YOU MOVING ON THE ETHERIC HEIGHTS TOWARD YOUR FRIENDS, YOUR FAMILY.”

Cages might hold Shreve’s body, but the power that’s been growing since his encounter with Quincrux has reached a pinnacle. Nothing can prevent his mind from scaling the etheric heights. Freed from his body, Shreve discovers the magnitude of the evil that’s stirring in the east. The wave of insomnia that’s paralyzed the nation is only the beginning.

“IT STIRS! IT RISES IN THE EAST! THE ELDER AWAKENS!”

To save Jack—and maybe all of the humanity he no longer feels part of—Shreve has no choice but to join Quincrux and the Society of Extranaturals.

“ALL POST-HUMANS WORK TOGETHER!”

PRAISE FOR THE TWELVE-FINGERED BOY AND THE SHIBBOLETH
BOOK ONE IN THE TWELVE-FINGERED BOY TRILOGY

“The Twelve-Fingered Boy is John Hornor Jacobs’s debut young adult novel and it’s amazing…part Huck Finn, part X-Men. The scary stuff in this book — and there’s some really scary stuff here — goes beyond the usual scares of kids’ horror, and is truly the stuff of nightmares. This is a book that mesmerizes like a venomous snake…I’ll be on the watch for the next two volumes. ” – Cory Doctorow, on BoingBoing.net

“John Hornor Jacobs’s The Twelve-Fingered Boy is a thrill ride. With candy. And polydactyl, reluctantly heroic kids who go up against all odds in a world of uncontrollable superpowers and unrelenting bad guys. Exciting, suspenseful, creepy, and fun—The Twelve-Fingered Boyis a terrific, fast-paced read!”  —Andrew Smith, award-winning author of The Marbury Lensand Stick

 “Jacobs’ storytelling has the effortless velocity of early Dean Koontz, and his prose is textured with hard-boiled grit… An expertly spiced stew of attitude, humor, horror, and grief.” –starred, Booklist

 “A fast-paced, ferocious nightmare of a story—gritty, magical, and surprisingly tender.” –Brenna Yovanoff, New York Times Bestselling author of The Replacement

“The Shibboleth elevates the events of The Twelve Fingered Boy into grand, dark conspiracy, depicting a world where the very fabric of society is slowly unraveling. But what’s most satisfying is Shreve’s reaction to it: with indifferent, implacable determination. It is an absolute joy to see Shreve burst through walls other protagonists would limply flail at.” – Robert Jackson Bennett, multiple award-winning author of City of Stairs, American Elsewhere, The Troupe, and The Company Man

 “John Hornor Jacobs conjures dark magic with The Twelve-Fingered Boy. A powerful new voice whispering out of the dark. A brilliant first YA novel!” —Jonathan Maberry, author of the acclaimed Rot and Ruin, New York Times bestselling author of The King of Plagues and Patient Zero

 “It’s a little bit Shawshank Redemption, a little bit X-Men, as adult author Jacobs (This Dark Earth) launches a promising trilogy about superhuman teens… [T]he premise is sound, Shreve’s hard-edged narrative voice is strong, and Jacobs skillfully builds tension and mystery throughout.” —Publishers Weekly

“Shreve is an admirable, wise protagonist…. Fans of Alexander Gordon Smith’s ‘Escape from Furnace’ series (Farrar) will enjoy the fast-paced paranormal twists this novel offers, and the ending will leave them wanting more.” —School Library Journal

 “Readers will enjoy this trilogy debut, a wild and riveting tale full of allusions to fairy tales, movies, and comic book heroes…Polydactyl heroes are rare in children’s literature, and so are novels like this that make the fantastical utterly believable.” —The Horn Book Magazine