Dionisios Efkarpidis’s stunning debut novel, Dog Day Sunrise, is told with “top-notch” pacing and storytelling, filled with twisted biohackers, bloodcurdling mutations, a kid with a bad hair day, and even a dash of profound and touching writing. Cosmos Leftezondakidis leads the ordinary underachiever, underdog existence, tending to his parents’ Greek deli in Freedom Basin; a small quaint town built into the depression of a meteor crater, where exotic elements lie beneath its crust, fuel for the madness that terrorizes the town.

“A second flicker illuminated a pair of thick, black, serrated legs that bent over the splintered executioner’s chair at an odd angle, supporting...something massive—its head nearly touching the ten-foot ceiling. Long armored arms hung at its sides, ending in five sickle-shaped talons. The clawed hand snapped out, and the executioner’s head exploded with a crimson pop.… The Butcher was free.”

Engrossing, vivid, and disturbing, Cosmos’ surreal adventure unfolds as the stakes get higher and the setting expands to reveal the secrets of Freedom Basin and Basin’s Vault Prison, and the technological marvel of nearby City of Sol. With his dog Plato and accidental partners Reyansh and her celebrity-influencer brother Deva, this is a modern thriller told in the style of classic horror, studded with morphing monsters, haunted by modern moral questions and sub plots that promise to bloom (or explode) in the two volumes to follow.

Through it all, will Cosmos’ dreams come true?

Listen to the entire series:

• Dog Day Sunrise (Dogs of Creation, Book 1)
• Who Let The Dogs Out (Dogs of Creation, Book 2)
• Every Dog Has Its Day (Dogs of Creation, Book 3)