A Drop of Night

Modern-day teenagers meet a palace of terrors locked up since the French Revolution in this surprising and haunting thriller from Stefan Bachmann, the internationally bestselling author of The Peculiar and The Whatnot. A Drop of Night will thrill fans of Neal Shusterman and Jessica Khoury.

Seventeen-year-old Anouk has finally caught the break she’s been looking for—she’s been chosen to participate in an exclusive program that includes an all-expense-paid trip to France and a chance to explore the hidden underground Palais des Papillons, or Palace of Butterflies. Along with four other gifted teenagers, Anouk will be one of the first people to set foot in the palace in more than two hundred years. Bachmann’s masterful scene-building alternates between Anouk’s flight through the palace and the struggles of Aurelie, who escaped the French Revolution by fleeing into the Palais des Papillons in 1792.

Dear Candidate:

You are cordially invited to apply for a spot on a carefully selected team of gifted young people. After extensive background checks and recommendations from your mentors and professors, we have found you to be superbly qualified.

A subterranean palace dating from the time of the French Revolution has been discovered outside of Paris. The details of this unique archaeological site are strictly confidential. However, if you are interested in further information, please return the enclosed application, together with the completed questionnaire, to our offices. We will be glad to guide you from there.

In anticipation, The Sapani Corporation Patient and strong / In time, the cure (This invitation is nontransferable and is to be handled with the utmost discretion. Do not copy or forward.) Qualification Questionnaire (please answer honestly)

Do you become nervous during tense or uncertain situations?
No

Are you afraid of the dark?
No

Do you have a history of heart problems?
No

Do you love working with new people and have a happy, open personality?
HA! No

Have you ever had the ambition to do something no one has done before?
. . . yes

“Anouk’s and Aurélie’s stories skillfully mirror each other and are engaging…it is certain to please those who demand constant action blended with their historical fiction.” - Booklist

“The sadistic house of horrors is fantastically drawn…readers looking for a scare for scare’s sake will revel in the grotesqueness and cheer when Anouk and company take down their captors for a satisfying end.” - Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“Bachmann’s writing is as polished as in his earlier books—the violence is fittingly gruesome, the decadent and mazelike palace is gorgeously described, and Anouk has an engagingly snarky narrative voice.” - Publishers Weekly

“Bachmann keeps the pages turning with this thriller…The peculiar circumstances add to the strange atmosphere and also to the suspense, lending the book an appealing, unworldly quality. When the explanation finally arrives, it fits quite well with the odd atmosphere. Bizarre and hugely suspenseful.” - Kirkus Reviews