Dead Silence (preorder)

(preorder—to be published in October)

Note: Please do not share any information about Dead Silence online or off until the general preorder email is sent on Friday, June 26, 2027.

Dust jacket and interior illustrations by Vincent Chong.

Published by Lividian Publications.

A Best Book of 2022 by the New York Public Library

One of the Best SFF Books of 2022 (Gizmodo)

One of the Best SF Mysteries of 2022 (CrimeReads)

A GoodReads Choice Award finalist for Best Science Fiction

Titanic meets Event Horizon in this SF horror novel in which a woman and her crew board a decades-lost luxury cruiser and find the wreckage of a nightmare that hasn’t yet ended. 

“The richly realized world that S.A. Barnes creates draws us in, and the relatable characters charm us. The dread mounts to a powerful conclusion.”
― David Wellington, author of The Last Astronaut 

“At the intersection of science fiction and horror, Dead Silence is the ultimate haunted house story, in space.”
― Alma Katsu, author of The Deep and The Hunger 

“Barnes is giving you Titanic but make it scary, she’s giving you Event Horizon, she’s giving you Ghost Ship; for real, this book will make your skin crawl.”
― BookRiot

About the Book:

Claire Kovalik is days away from being unemployed—made obsolete—when her beacon repair crew picks up a strange distress signal. With nothing to lose and no desire to return to Earth, Claire and her team decide to investigate.

What they find is shocking: the Aurora, a famous luxury spaceliner that vanished on its maiden tour of the solar system more than twenty years ago. A salvage claim like this could set Claire and her crew up for life. But a quick search of the ship reveals something isn’t right.

Whispers in the dark. Flickers of movement. Messages scrawled in blood. Claire must fight to hold on to her sanity and find out what really happened on the Aurora before she and her crew meet the same ghastly fate.

Lividian Publications is pleased to announce our signed and slipcased Limited Edition of Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes. Featuring a stunning full-color dust jacket and eight black and white interiors by Vincent Chong, along with two very special bonus features: an original foreword by Chloe Gong and the very first draft of the original prologue, which has never been published before. This elegantly crafted hardcover edition is housed in a custom-made slipcase stamped with hot foil artwork and featuring a unique die-cut window.

Special Features:

• Full-color wrap-around artwork by Vincent Chong
• Eight interior illustrations by Vincent Chong
• Foreword to “Dead Silence” by Chloe Gong
• First draft of the original (and very different) prologue
• Includes a collectible bookmark

Deluxe Production Features:

• Offset printed on an acid-free archival quality paper stock
• A fine cloth binding
• Hot foil stamping on the front cover and spine
• Smyth-sewn to create a more durable binding
• Twine head and tail bands
• High-quality endpapers
• Sewn-in satin ribbon page marker
• Custom-made slipcase stamped with hot foil and featuring a unique die-cut window
• Signed by S.A. Barnes and Vincent Chong
• Limited to 600 signed copies

Reviews and Praise:

“I ate this book in one sitting because I was in the mood to be freaked out and it delivered tremendously. Truly un-put-downable in its purest sense.”
― Chloe Gong, #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights

“At the intersection of science fiction and horror, Dead Silence is the ultimate haunted house story, in space.”
― Alma Katsu, author of The Deep and The Hunger

“This is great, immersive, atmospheric space horror that shows Barnes is a talented storyteller and proves that, despite rumors to the contrary, horror belongs in space.”
― Locus 

“Dead Silence mixes horror, mystery and sci-fi into a thrill ride sure to shock you out of your reading rut. This is one of those time-warp books―the ones where you look away from the clock, then look back and it’s suddenly way past your bedtime.”
― BookPage, Starred Review

“With a compelling haunted-house-in-space frame, excellent worldbuilding, vivid imagery, biting social commentary, sustained tension, and a storytelling style that seamlessly moves between the mortal danger of the present and Kovalik’s unsettling past, this sf-horror blend will resonate loudly with readers.”
― Library Journal

“Barnes is giving you Titanic but make it scary, she’s giving you Event Horizon, she’s giving you Ghost Ship; for real, this book will make your skin crawl.”
― BookRiot

“This story slides and slithers from creepy and atmospheric to skin-crawling, edge-of-your-seat terror.”
― T. Kingfisher, author of What Moves the Dead

“Dead Silence is a proper ghost story, complete with a narrator who’s trying desperately to shake off her own unreliability.”
― Tor.com

“Dead Silence gives you the suffocating claustrophobia of 2001: A Space Odyssey mixed with the horrors of Alien. I couldn’t stop reading.”
― Mur Lafferty, Hugo Award-Winning author of Six Wakes

“Barnes ably conjures the kind of haunting setting and atmosphere required for this Event Horizon-esque novel... Recommended for fans of claustrophobic space horror.”
― Booklist

“Barnes plays nicely on human fears of both madness and of ghosts, carefully blurring the line between science fiction and horror... Those with a taste for blending genres will enjoy this combo.”
― Publishers Weekly

“Creepy and satisfying; I’ll be checking under my bed tonight.”
― Sarah Pinsker, author of the Nebula Award winning A Song for a New Day

“Dead Silence will keep you awake at night....Expertly paced, this novel is full of old ghosts in every way possible, and will haunt you long after the last page.”
― Laurie Faria Stolarz, author of Jane Anonymous

“I was turning pages long into the night, and the bags under my eyes are well worth it!”
― Rachel Vincent, New York Times bestselling author of Red Wolf

“Compulsive reading at its best. A sci-fi horror so expertly delivered you’ll be peeking through your fingers until the last page!”
― Melissa Landers, author of the Alienated and Starflight series

“The richly realized world that S.A. Barnes creates draws us in, and the relatable characters charm us. The dread mounts to a powerful conclusion.”
― David Wellington, author of The Last Astronaut

“The book strikes a good balance hitting different kinds of horror without overstaying any, be it gore, claustrophobia, or body horror. From the moment the crew sets foot on the ship, the slow-burning dread keeps building through the climax.... A story as much about survivor’s guilt as it is survival, and about overcoming trauma as it is about facing horrors lurking in the dark. Toss in a chilling mystery set aboard a haunted starship guaranteed to set you on edge, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.”
― Analog

About the Author:

S.A. Barnes works in a high school library by day, recommending reads, talking with students, and removing the occasional forgotten cheese stick as bookmark. She is the author of Goodreads Choice finalist Dead Silence, Ghost Station, and Cold Eternity, and she has published numerous novels across different genres. Barnes lives in Illinois with more dogs and books than is advisable and a very patient spouse.