Daniel José Older is the New York Times bestselling author of the young adult series The Shadowshaper Cypher, named as one of Esquire’s 80 Books Every Person Should Read; the Bone Street Rumba urban fantasy series, the middle-grade historical fantasy series Dactyl Hill Squad, and Star Wars: Last Shot. You can find his thoughts on writing, read dispatches from his decade-long career as an NYC paramedic, and hear his music on his website, YouTube and on Twitter. His novel The Book of Lost Saints (Imprint) is an evocative multigenerational Cuban-American family story of revolution, loss, and family bonds. It tells the story of Marisol, who vanished during the Cuban Revolution, disappearing with hardly a trace. Now, shaped by atrocities long-forgotten, her foul-mouthed spirit visits her nephew, Ramón, in modern day New Jersey with the hope that her presence will prompt him to unearth their painful family history. Ramón does launch a haphazard investigation into the story of his ancestor, unaware of the forces driving him on his search. Along the way, he falls in love, faces a run-in with a murderous gangster, and uncovers the lives of the lost saints who helped Marisol during her imprisonment. The Book of Lost Saints is a haunting meditation on family, forgiveness, and the violent struggle to be free. The reviewer at NPR.org praised Older´s writing noting “The more of Older’s books I read, the more I come to grips with how many ways there are to tell a story—and just how many stories there are to be told.”
