Winner of the Hot Key Books Young Writers Prize, Vicious Depths is the first novel in a gripping new fantasy series.

Sixteen-year-old Alex Muir is dead. Dead, and furious.

The afterlife she’s been taught about just doesn’t exist. There are only the brutal caverns of the Depths, deep underground – and the tightly controlled gates that protect the paradise of the Azure.

In return for a life of safety, Alex is forced into the Depths as a spy for the tyrannical Azure leader.

But Alex soon discovers that the Depths isn’t quite the nightmare she anticipated. Among the memory-leeching monsters and decadent all-night parties, she manages to find friends in the chaos. Friends that introduce her to the mysterious Flynn Cooper – right-hand man to the ruler of the Depths.

As her spy mission derails and devastating secrets are revealed, Alex realizes that she needs to pick a side. But she’s no longer sure which one is right – or if a right side exists at all.