The Lairdbalor

Author Kathleen Kaufman
Narrator Kirby Heyborne
Publisher Blackstone Publishing
Run Time 11 hours and 44 minutes
Format Audio
Genre Children’s / Teenage fiction: Fantasy, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Magical realism.

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What to expect

“I am the stuff of your nightmares…You have been writing my name on the walls of your fear your entire life.”

When seven-year-old Jamie falls down a very long hill, he finds himself trapped in a world of strange creatures, harsh landscapes, and near-perpetual darkness. Lost and confused, Jamie is desperate to get home. The nightmares, fears, and all manner of what-ifs that inhabit this shadow world are unfamiliar to him―all except one: the Lairdbalor, Jamie’s personal nightmare, once relegated to his dreams. In this fantastical land, however, the Lairdbalor and all the fears and nightmares of children are very real.

But Jamie’s nightmare is different. It is the sum total of the anger and anxiety that imprisoned him in his former life, and it threatens to consume and rule the nightmare realm, a place where time passes differently. With each slumber, Jamie finds himself inexorably changed. The farther he travels through this terrifying world, the better he understands the one he left behind.

Crossing genres of folklore, horror, fantasy, and magical realism, The Lairdbalor is a story for anyone who lives with anxiety and fear and has ever wondered, “what if?” It is the story of a child not meant for children and a darkly imaginative meditation on life, death, fear, and the nature of reality.

Critics Review

“Kathleen Kaufman’s debut is a dark, twisted fairy tale of the best kind. The Lairdbalor is haunting, evocative, page-turning. Couldn’t read it fast enough!”
Jennifer Brody, award-winning author of The 13th Continuum
“The Babadook meets The Hobbit in this nightmare-riddled fantasy. Kaufman’s subtle horror will pull readers along with a creeping sense of unease, though the Lairdbalor’s scenes are genuinely chilling.”
Booklist
“Debut author Kaufman conjures terrifying scenarios, from the creepily unsettling to the graphically horrific, with crisp, elegant prose. The narrative remains tightly interior, bound within Jamie’s thoughts and feelings.”
Kirkus Reviews
“A unique, deftly crafted, impressively engaging read from cover to cover, The Lairdbalor showcases author Kathleen Kauman’s extraordinary flair for imaginative and entertaining storytelling. Unreservedly recommended.”
Midwest Book Review
“Mythic, haunting, and imaginative, The Lairdbalor is a beautifully-written nightmare where the tumultuous anxieties and emotions of childhood are given life and then skinned raw.”
Jake Marley, Winner of the 2017 Golden Pen Award
“Sweeping, lyrical, and darkly philosophical, The Lairdbalor succeeds in mapping not only a new world, but also a new voice ready to confront and explore our deepest, darkest fears.”
Bram Stoker Award-winning author John Palisano
“Imagine a harrowing coming-of-age quest in a world that is literally your worst nightmare. Kathleen Kaufman has already imagined it for you. The Lairdbalor is wondrous, strange and horrifying. You won’t want to sleep again after reading it.”
Bill Bridges, author of The Song of Unmaking
“A powerful story of myth, legend, and lore this lyrical nightmare come true is chilling and unsettling, but not without hope and heart.”
Richard Thomas, author of the Thriller Award-nominated Breaker
“With The Lairdbalor, Kathleen Kaufman has written a novel that re-imagines the traditions of Lewis Carroll, J.R.R. Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis for the twenty-first century. In its pages, Kaufman takes us on a journey with Jamie, her young hero, cast from our world into another, fantastic one. There, he must traverse strange landscapes and treat with weird creatures, all in the shadow of the figure he fears the most, the Lairdbalor. Kathleen Kaufman has produced a fine debut, one whose roots in the literature of the fantastic rise into bizarre, memorable fruit.”
John Langan, author of The Fisherman

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The Lairdbalor

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