Kingdom of the Wicked

'Kingdom of the Wicked' is the first book in the planned trilogy by Kerri Maniscalco. Scheduled to release on October 27, 2020, this book has already earned a lot of praise and hype.

Synopsis
From the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Stalking Jack the Ripper series comes a new blockbuster series…

Two sisters.

One brutal murder.

A quest for vengeance that will unleash Hell itself…

And an intoxicating romance.

Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria are streghe – witches who live secretly among humans, avoiding notice and persecution. One night, Vittoria misses dinner service at the family’s renowned Sicilian restaurant. Emilia soon finds the body of her beloved twin…desecrated beyond belief. Devastated, Emilia sets out to find her sister’s killer and to seek vengeance at any cost-even if it means using dark magic that’s been long forbidden.

Then Emilia meets Wrath, one of the Wicked-princes of Hell she has been warned against in tales since she was a child. Wrath claims to be on Emilia’s side, tasked by his master with solving the series of women’s murders on the island. But when it comes to the Wicked, nothing is as it seems…

Plot
Emilia helps her Nonna and mother in the kitchen at their family restaurant, Sea and Vine. From the front, Emilia hears Antonio, a member of the brotherhood and her childhood crush, asking about her. Despite her Nonna pleading with her not to go out, she leaves, joining Antonio with a basket of ingredients to prepare dinner for the brotherhood at the Monastery, as she has time and time before.

While Antonio helps Emilia prepare bruschetta in the kitchen, they chat about the trip the monastery sent him on to another village. They are then interrupted by Vittoria, who frightens them by hiding beneath her hood and pretending to be a demon, revealing herself only when she laughs at Antonio's attempt to command the demon away. As Antonio leaves the two sisters, Vittoria teases Emilia about her infatuation with the brother. With the food done, the twins then leave the monastery and head home.

Back in the Di Carlo household, Vittoria prepares a batch of limoncello wine. They sneak the bottle upstairs to their bedroom, not wanting to wake anyone else in the house. There, Emilia asks her sister where she was for the evening, and Vittoria says she was summoning the devil, and that an ancient book spoke to her and now she's going to marry him. Emilia, used to Vittoria's sarcasm, takes it as a joke; she believes Vittoria spent the day with Domenico Nucci Junior. The next day, while preparing for the dinner service at Sea and Vine, Nonna Maria warns the twins that the sky was red as the devil's blood that morning, believing it to be a bad omen. Vittoria doesn't listen, claiming she needs to leave early but not giving any reason.

Later, Emilia returns to the monastery to get the basket she left there the night before. In a room off the hall, she finds a tall, dark-haired man—later learned to be Wrath—standing over Vittoria's body on a stone alter. He turns and flees, and a dagger falls off his person and hits the ground. Distraught, Emilia vows to find whoever murdered her sister, also noting that Vittoria's cornicello is missing. Just after, she hears. a voice hissing, though there's no one there to speak. It says, "Little witch, all alone. Memories, like hearts, can be stolen. He wishes to remember, but he only forgets. He's coming here soon". Emilia returns home and tells her family what happened.

TBC

Dedication
For my grandmother Victoria Marie Nucci and my aunt Caroline Nucci. And for my great grandparents – who immigrated from Sciacca, Sicily to America – whose restaurant inspired much of this story. This may be a fantasy, but the love of family found within its pages is very real. Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo. If I cannot bend the will of Heaven, I shall move Hell. Virgil, Aeneid

Chapters
There are 48 chapters in Kingdom of the Wicked, not including the prologue that opens the work.