Run Away With The Circus In Masqueraded: Act One

A YA Paranormal Thriller and Dark Fantasy Novel

(Act Two coming 2024)

To run away with the circus or to be killed by it? Typically, the latter doesn’t follow up the former, but it does when regarding Cirque Arcana. But that circus couldn’t be a real concern, right? After all, Cirque Arcana was nothing more than a rogue dream…

Masqueraded is a suspenseful, dark psychological thriller and the first chapter of an emotionally-charged YA paranormal series that features a strong female lead character who is looking for answers to her troubled past. All the while, she is discovering new depths of deviant dark magic lurking underneath the surface of the carnival where she escaped the domestic abuse of her youth. Join Estela, as she explores a hidden magical world of teleportation, scrying, and telekinesis.

Themes

Anything you look at from the outside usually seems normal or “perfect.” But most of the time, when you’re looking from the outside, you’re simply seeing a masquerade. A manicured facade that covers whatever was underneath. Thusly, it’s not until the masquerade is removed that the truth, the reality is exposed.

But what if it’s still not the truth, the reality hidden underneath the masquerade? And, who exactly is looking at the masquerade? Nothing is real and nothing is fake.

Those are the more overarching concepts that inspired the title, Masqueraded.

The more overt tale and themes within Masqueraded introduce a brazen, soon to be eighteen-year-old looking to escape her abusive adoptive family. Unbeknownst to her, a far more dangerous threat looms overhead. Overcoming abuse, gaining independence, unveiling deceptions, and simply trying to survive dark magic is a balancing act in of itself. And, it’s an act that doesn’t fade away to black, happily ever after. Or does it? That depends on who you’re rooting for.

About the Author

I, one Alexis Dees, am a lifelong creative writer who fancies stories that combine the magical, the morbid, and the unconventional. I’ve worked in the theme park industry as an entertainer for nearly a decade, ran away with the circus several times & counting, and fancy the Brothers Grimm when I’m not looking to explore abandoned amusement parks like my heartbeat Chippewa Lake Park. As such, you’ll notice a common theme between my endeavors and my stories.

Background on the Book

Masqueraded is born from an idea I had in 2014 and grew overtime until I recognized it was going to be a fully fledged saga. If you like macabre circuses, creepy carnivals, or disturbing amusement parks then Act One is for you. Likewise, if you like stories that are dark fantasy, urban thrillers, mildly Gothic and mildly humorous then Act One is for you too. It’s a balancing act that takes you away from our reality but isn’t so farfetched that it can’t relate to our reality too. You’ll find plights and fancies you can and can’t relate to.

And, that’s the magic of it. Because, nothing is more magical than Cirque Arcana. What’s not to love about a circus haunted by the souls of folks who couldn’t escape? They’re just a necessary sacrifice. After all, the show must go on. Always.

Official Book Description

“Being haunted by a sinister circus, ghosts and scary clowns wasn’t unusual for the spunky 18-year-old girl, Estela Nannette Sinclair. Neither was the physical and emotional abuse that she faced from her adoptive parents.

But, one was just a dream and the other would resolve itself in two weeks upon her eighteenth birthday… or so she mistakenly presumed. Her life was a complex façade of lies that hid how deeply she was entangled with three powerhouses of dark magic. Had she been that ignorant of the masquerade before her? An ignorance that wasn’t bliss. And an ignorance that meant her corpse would likely decorate an amusement attraction in a mere two weeks’ time.”

Book Stats

Genre: Dark Fantasy/Urban Thriller
Length: circa 50,000 words or 260 pages
Author: Alexis Dees
Illustrator: Romi Lindenberg
Photographer: Laurie Wood
Release Date: September 18th, 2020
Price: Ebook $9.99, Paperback $13.99, Hardback $15.99
ISBN: 978-0-578-72099-9 and 978-0-578-72100-2

Availability

Masqueraded: Act One released in Ebook format, Paperback, and Hardback on September 18th, 2020. Additionally, it is available here on www.carouselofchaos.com, Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, and other outlets.

Masqueraded: Act One is currently available on:

Amazon (ebook & paperback)
Barnes & Nobles (ebook, paperback, & hardback)
Google (ebook)
Kobo (ebook)

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Contact

Any questions, comments, concerns or queries can be submitted through here. I’ll get back to you within a day or two.