Marisha Pessl’s ‘Darkly,’ her first novel in six years, to come out Nov. 12

NEW YORK (AP) — Marisha Pessl’s first novel in six years is a psychological thriller with the kinds of intricate clues and connections she has been known for since her acclaimed debut, “Special Topics in Calamity Physics.”
On Wednesday, Delacorte Press announced that Pessl’s young adult novel, “Darkly,” will be published on Nov. 12. The story is centered around a mysterious game designer, Louisiana Veda, and the terrifying creations that gave her foundation special appeal to young people. The foundation is offering an internship with the tagline: “What would you kill for?”
“’Darkly’ was inspired by rainy boardgame nights and the old-fashioned, windswept mystery novels of my childhood,” Pessl said in a statement. “My wish is that readers are drawn into Louisiana Veda’s lost gaming world and try to discern, along with the characters, where the woman ended, the myth began, and the overgrown garden in-between.”
Pessl was in her late 20s when “Special Topics in Calamity Physics,” for which she received a reported six-figure advance, was published in 2006. One of the most talked about debuts of its time, “Special Topics” was a bestseller that won the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize. She has since written the thriller “Night Film,” released in 2013, and her first young adult novel, “Neverworld Wake,” which came out in 2018.
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The story has been updated to correct that the new novel, ‘Darkly,’ is a young adult book, not an adult novel.