BOOKS

October 27th, 2026

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Scorpion Deep

CG Drews, New York Times-bestselling author of Don't Let the Forest In and Hazelthorn, weaves a disturbing and intoxicating siren-call in Scorpion Deep, about a lonely boy who accidentally awakens an obsessive eldritch sea god.

The only thing Jonathan Covey wants from the gloomy, moldering isle of Kelcarrow is to leave it. Summer is ending, and his friends are looking forward to college on the mainland, unaware that Jonathan was not accepted to join them. He'll be left behind with nothing but the ocean's haunts and a rising dread of being abandoned.

In an act of wild desperation, Jonathan pays a tithe to Scorpion Deep, an eldritch sea god who many of the locals have dismissed as myth. He wants to forget the past, he wants to follow his friends, and most of all he wants to finally escape.

To his shock and horror, the ritual works—Scorpion Deep awakens. And despite his terror, Jonathan can't help but feel drawn toward the ageless entity that seems just as mutually obsessed with him. As scales start growing down his spine and Scorpion Deep's adoration of him turns bloody, Jonathan realizes the only way to end the nightmare is to destroy the monster one way or another.

But once a god has awoken, the only way to be free is to pay a price of blood.

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Spanish
German
Ukraine

translations to come…

Praise for SCORPION DEEP

“This suspenseful story is a true page-turner with its high stakes, brilliant foreshadowing, shocking revelations, and haunting conclusion that will leave readers wanting more. ”
— KIRKUS STARRED REVIEW
“Fans of Ryan La Sala and Trang Thanh Tran will devour this lyrical, atmospheric tale filled with nautical horrors and poetic prose. A necessary purchase for teen collections.”
— School Library Journal STARRED review
“A pulsating, brutal novel about survival and abuse that will wind itself inside your bones and heart and never leave. What begins as a tender story about friendship and loss soon layers itself in sea-myth and brine. A book of violence and storms (and not just the ones outside our windows), Scorpion Deep is a beautiful and harrowing book about generational trauma and mental illness.”
— Kathleen Glasgow, # 1 NYT Bestselling Author of Girl In Pieces and The Glass Girl
“As enchanting and merciless as the ocean itself, Scorpion Deep embedded its stinger in me and wouldn’t let go. CG Drews has done it again with this emotional, brutal and truly unique read.”
— Frances White, Bestselling author of Voyage of the Damned
“A salt-soaked, intoxicating exploration of friendship, loneliness, lust and (be)longing, Drews has done it again. Monster boys and secret cabals meet family secrets and fracturing friendships, all set against the backdrop of a wind-stripped, desolate island; the world of SCORPION DEEP lures you into the depths of its watery domain with siren song, liquid kiss and seaweed caress.”
— Melinda Salisbury, author of LOCAL GODS
“A monstrous masterpiece exploring the vulnerability and obsession of friendship and the violence of being left behind. With Drews’ characteristic wit, stunning prose, and a dark, alluring heart, Scorpion Deep will pull you in and devour you whole.”
— Kelsea Yu, Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author of It’s Only a Game and Demon Song
“A salt-sprayed tapestry of aching nostalgia and bone-chilling scares, SCORPION DEEP is oceanic horror at its most gutting. Drews weaves together a tale of friendship and loss that is at once deeply unsettling and emotionally resonant, with magnetic prose that will pull you under the waves and never let go.”
— De Elizabeth, author of She Haunts Me Still and This Raging Sea
“No one does tenderly devastating, twisty horror like CG Drews. Scorpion Deep is a virtuosic, fathoms-deep tale of everyday brutality, legendary monsters, and terrible choices that feels both ancient and so very immediate all at once. I remain haunted by it (in the best way).”
— Jamie Pacton, bestselling author of The Absinthe Underground