BACK JACKET HACK-JOB #25: EDGE OF EVIL

A post by Mary Fan

Hey everyone! Mary here, and it’s my turn to do a Back Jacket Hack Job! And once again, I’ve decided to pick on my own book… mostly because it’s kind of therapeutic to mock my own stuff. Especially since writing back cover copy is such a frustrating nightmare, and so it’s fun to see just how bad I can make it.

My next release, a YA dark fantasy titled FLYNN NIGHTSIDER AND THE EDGE OF EVIL,  has been a long time coming. I wrote the first draft back in 2012. And pretty much ever since then, people have been saying it’s like Harry Potter meets the Hunger Games. So, the Hungry Harry Games. By the way, it's up for preorder, and it'll be 99 cents through the end of March...

And now, without further ado, here’s the Back Jacket Hack Job!

Cover of the Hungry Harry Games

THE HUNGRY HARRY GAMES (a.k.a. EDGE OF EVIL)

It’s just like Harry Potter, except Harry is actually named Flynn, and he doesn’t have any magic. In fact, there are laws keeping non-magical kids like him from even knowing how magic wands work. And Hermione is actually named Aurelia, and she’s more into chopping monsters in half than going to school. And she also doesn’t have any magic.  Hogwarts is actually called the Academy of Supernatural Defense, and yeah, it’s a magic school, but it lets non-magical kids like Flynn attend too. Except they’re not allowed to learn the magic stuff… actually, they’re just there to be servants and clean up the magic students’ messes. Plus, the Ministry of Magic is actually the Triumvirate of North America, except they don’t hide from the non-magical. They’ve used their magic to conquer the nation and set up a caste system where those with magic get all the good stuff, and those without are second-class citizens. And if you say something they don’t like, they’ll make you disappear.

So Harry-Flynn was born into the bottom tier of this whole dystopian system, which makes him basically Katniss. Except a guy. Who sucks at shooting arrows. And who, instead of being thrown into a high-tech arena to kill other kids, has to deal with all the supernatural monsters that prowl the earth. See, a hundred years before the story began, the Lord of the Underworld escaped the monster dimension and unleashed a whole bunch of nasty beasts, and they destroyed pretty much everything. Which the magical folks used to set up their Triumvirate.

I guess that would make Hermione-Aurelia… Peeta? Except good at slaying monsters instead of baking bread? That works, right?

Anyway, Katniss-Harry-Flynn is pretty pissed off at this whole dystopia situation and winds up joining an underground rebellion, where he meets Peeta-Hermione-Aurelia. They’ve got to fight both the Harry Potter dark magic stuff—like supernatural monsters and a mysterious dude who controls giant zombies—and the Hunger Games dystopia stuff—like a government that stomps on freedom and has no qualms about feeding dissenters to monsters.

So there you have it: The Hungry Harry Games! May the magic be ever in your favor!