Raise your hand if you’re into Greek mythology. Yeah? Me too! 

Even when I was a kid (when it wasn’t exactly “cool” to be interested in such things) I was unapologetically invested in those stories, including the one about Charon ferrying the souls of the dead into the underworld. So when I started coming up with the idea for The Soul Keepers, I knew I wanted to take that same story and blow it up into something massive and modern. There’s no way that a single person could be responsible for collecting and carrying every soul that passes into the afterlife—there needed to be an entire crew. And if there’s a crew… (*waggles eyebrows dramatically*) …then there has to be a SHIP. That’s how the Harbinger was born, and to see it brought to life even more vividly on this super amazing, super metal cover is a dream come true.

Are you ready to see the cover for The Soul Keepers? I hope so... 

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There’s a scene in The Soul Keepers (one of the coolest to write and still one of my favorites in the whole book) where our main character, Rhett, and his new comrade, Basil, are standing on this craggy rock formation in the middle of the ocean, and Rhett catches his first glimpse of the Harbinger. The story, of course, starts on Page One, but for me, this scene was where I finally understood the story I was writing. We’re being introduced to this dark, colossal ship that already holds a thousand mysteries and the chaotic environment in which Rhett sees it doesn’t exactly give him the warm-and-fuzzies. So you can imagine how over-the-top excited I was to see THAT SCENE on this phenomenal cover! 

The image—the concept for which was first conceived by the awesome Rich Deas at Macmillan and then brilliantly brought to life by the wildly talented artist Kevin Tong—is far and away the coolest possible illustration for the cover of this book. It captures the atmospheric vibe of the story, and it shows off just how enormous (and slightly frightening) the Harbinger is supposed to be. As far as covers go, I’m pretty sure I just hit the jackpot.

I can’t wait to share the whole story and welcome you all aboard the Harbinger when The Soul Keepers hits shelves on August 28, 2018!

The Soul Keepers by Devon Taylor

Death is just the beginning.

After dying in a terrible car accident, Rhett awakens in the afterlife and is recruited to join the crew of the Harbinger, a colossal seafaring vessel tasked with ferrying the souls of the dead. To where exactly, no one knows. But the crew must get the souls there, and along the way protect them from vicious soul-eating monsters that will stop at nothing to take the ship and all of its occupants.

Rhett and his new friends have a hard enough time fighting back the monsters that grow bolder and more ferocious every day. But then a new threat emerges, a demon who wants something that Rhett has. And if she gets it, it could mean the end of everything... for both the living and the dead.

Devon Taylor was born in Las Vegas, Nevada and currently lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and two daughters. His day job consists of sneaking around the house with ninja-like stealth to avoid waking up his kids. When not writing, reading, or tediously typing out text messages with all the correct spelling and punctuation, he spends his time with his family. The Soul Keepers is his debut novel.