Red City

Marie Lu's adult debut, 'Red City,' is a sweeping contemporary fantasy set in a vibrant, yet dangerous, alternate Los Angeles. The story centers on Sam and Ari, childhood friends now entangled in a deadly conflict between two powerful crime syndicates, Grand Central and Lumines. These syndicates control alchemy, a magic used to create 'sand,' a drug that enhances individuals. As Sam strives to rise in Grand Central and Ari becomes a star in Lumines, their paths collide, forcing them to confront their past connection amidst escalating warfare, shifting loyalties, and the pursuit of perfection. This book explores mature themes of ambition, power, moral compromise, and the high cost of survival, making it suitable for mature young adult readers, likely 16 and up. Parents should be aware of prominent themes of violence, crime, and drug references.

The Godfather meets The Magicians in the sweeping adult debut from #1 New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu. Perfect for fans of V.E. Schwab, Red City is a dark and deadly contemporary fantasy of magical warfare, star-crossed ambition, and the pursuit of perfection at any cost, set in a glittering alternate Los Angeles. Alchemy is the hidden art of transformation. An exclusive power wielded by crime syndicates that market it to the world’s elites in the form of sand, a drug that enhances those who take it into a more perfect version of themselves: more beautiful, more charismatic, simply more. Among the gleaming skyscrapers and rolling foothills of Angel City, alchemy is controlled by two rival syndicates. For years, Grand Central and Lumines have been balanced on a razor’s edge between polite negotiation and outright violence. But when two childhood friends step into that delicate equation, the city—and the paths of their lives—will be irrevocably transformed. The daughter of a poor single mother, Sam would do anything to claw her way into the ranks of Grand Central in search of a better life. Plucked away from his family as a boy to become a Lumines apprentice, Ari is one of the syndicates' brightest rising stars. Once, they might have loved each other. But as the two alchemists face off across opposite sides of an ever-escalating conflict, ambition becomes power, loyalty becomes lies, and no transformation may be perfect enough for them both to survive the coming war. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.