Edgar Payne

By David Ben David

The carnival came to Saltmarrow by rail, bringing electric lights, painted faces, and creatures that had no business being alive.

At its center stood Cicero Voretelli, a gentleman of impeccable manners who had made a fortune showing the world things it was never meant to see.

Seventeen-year-old Edgar Payne had troubles of his own. His father was crippled, the Dominion was collecting debts his family could not pay, and his little sister Emily depended on promises he was becoming less certain he could keep.

Then everything was taken from him.

Far from Saltmarrow, behind the iron bars of a traveling menagerie, Edgar discovers what Cicero's audiences never suspect. The wonders they applaud are prisoners. The painted performers are something worse. And the carnival's greatest attraction is a thing Edgar is beginning to know far too well.

The crowds come for the impossible.

Cicero gives them exactly what they paid for.

But there are things even Cicero cannot entirely control, and somewhere beneath the spectacle, a boy who should have been forgotten is still trying to find his way home.

EDGAR PAYNE

A dark fantasy novel about captivity, cruelty, and what remains of a person when everything else has been taken.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0HNFB72RM
• ISBN13: 9798163190751
• Release Date: October 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 354 Pages
• Weight: 1.04 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"