The Devouring by A. M. Shilling

Jason and Ayana’s lives as a married couple have always run parallel but never entwined. It’s the perfect arrangement: he’s free to pursue his dangerous yet lucrative career as an elite assassin, and she can focus on conducting autopsies for the city’s forensic center. But after Jason spares a witness to his latest murder, he becomes the prime suspect in his own brother’s homicide. While he hunts for the real killer, Ayana discovers an impossible illness in one of her cadavers. The couple quickly identify an unsettling connection between the two events—one steeped in religious fanaticism and occult conspiracy. Jason and Ayana must learn to work together, using their wits, lies, and criminal connections to uncover the truth behind a mysterious cult and exact revenge. But human enemies are the least of their concern. Beyond the boundary of their world exists a cosmic threat of apocalyptic proportions, and it is trying to break through.

Adult • Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense/Supernatural and Paranormal • Horror/Supernatural and Occult

Length: 87,000 words (about 249 pages)

Content Warning: murder, violence, gore, body horror, sexual content, animal cruelty, abuse