Length12h 45m
About this audiobook
From award-winning and USA Today bestselling author Kosoko Jackson comes his adult speculative debut, a stand-alone novel blending time travel and globe-hopping adventure, art history, and dark fantasy about magical paintings and the lengths people will go to collect them, destroy them…or be destroyed.
A picture is worth a thousand nightmares.
Art has always been an escape for struggling painter Lewis Dixon. But other than his mom, who has recently passed away, no one has ever praised his work. If he is being honest, there’s really no one in his life. So he is shocked when the British Museum shows an unusual interest in his art. This is his chance to show the world what he’s capable of…he just has no idea that he might also be saving the world at the same time.
As Lewis soon learns, he has not been invited to participate in a curated show, but rather a test: to see if the fugue-like exhilaration he experiences when painting is actually magic, a power that allows him to enter nine very special paintings—paintings made by his great-grandfather. Spread across the globe, these paintings have unbelievable eldritch abilities…and not necessarily beneficial ones. In terms of power, these are the most valuable works of art in the world, and there are those out there who would do anything to possess just one.
And Lewis, upon passing the test, has been asked to destroy them all.
Partnered with an alluring agent in museum’s employ, Noah Rao, Lewis must travel to Japan, Australia, Nigeria—and the past—plunging himself into a world of black markets, gothic magic, ancient history, and cursed objects to save those unlucky enough to call any of the paintings their own—or to free the world from those who would misuse the power of the paintings. In doing so, he will need to discover if he has what it takes to truly be an artist, the confidence to finally open himself up to someone who could give his lonely life meaning, and the strength to enter and navigate a reality where magic is everywhere.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 3.6 (1.5K)
Includes Goodreads, LibraryThing, Amazon
GenreGeneral Fiction, Science Fiction
Length12 hrs 45 mins
Narrated byKevin R. Free
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateSep 9, 2025
LanguageEnglish
More from Kosoko Jackson
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.6 (4.6K)$29 · $0.00
Demon CopperheadBarbara Kingsolver21h 3m4.5 (949.4K)$46 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
Remarkably Bright CreaturesShelby Van Pelt11h 17m4.4 (1.7M)$29 · $0.00
Desperate MeasuresBrenda Jackson8h 59m4.7 (670)$28 · $0.00
This Side of Paradise - The Original 1920 Edition (Annotated)F. Scott Fitzgerald11h 30m4.6 (1.6K)$2 · $0.00
War LordBernard Cornwell13h 21m4.6 (33.1K)$33 · $0.00
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m4.6 (9.3K)$18 · $0.00
Something Like LoveBeverly Jenkins10h 21m4.6 (2.7K)$29 · $0.00
Black History CollectionFrederick Douglass, Harriet Ann Jacobs, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois27h 9m4.6 (2.6K)$18 · $0.00
The Old Man and the Sea (Annotated)Ernest Hemingway4h 27m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
White HotIlona Andrews13h 18m4.5 (136.9K)$5 · $0.00
The Ghost by the Billabong (The Matilda Saga, #5)Jackie French14h 58m4.6 (773)$33 · $0.00
Cast in BloodMichelle Sagara16h 35m4.6 (607)$33 · $0.00
The Captain Blood Trilogy (Annotated)Rafael Sabatini29h 20m4.6 (1K)$3 · $0.00
Ship of the Line (Annotated)Cecil Louis Troughton Smith11h 13m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
The George Orwell CollectionGeorge Orwell24h 46m4.5 (14.4K)$12 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust15h 38m4.5 (9.2K)$2 · $0.00
Driving ForceElle James4h 58m4.6 (407)$20 · $0.00
When God Calls the HeartBrian Bird, Michelle Cox3h 24m4.6 (439)$10 · $0.00
Before the Coffee Gets Cold: A Toshikazu Kawaguchi Book SetToshikazu Kawaguchi18h 55m4.5 (1.4K)$40 · $0.00
PRIMAL 2055 - EscapeJack Silkstone6h 47m4.4 (232)Free
The War of The Worlds (A Sci-Fi Classic)H. G. Wells8h 15m4.5 (11.2K)$1.99 · $0.00
GenesisRick Partlow10h 50m4.5 (2.2K)$20 · $0.00
The Galaxy, and the Ground WithinBecky Chambers9h 56m4.5 (55.2K)$29 · $0.00
TimelessR. A. Salvatore12h 30m4.5 (8K)$33 · $0.00
Thud!Terry Pratchett12h 29m4.4 (108.4K)$8 · $0.00
Anne of Green GablesLucy Maud Montgomery10h 54m4.4 (1.3M)$12 · $0.00
Science Fiction & Fantasy CollectionH. P. Lovecraft16h 32m4.5 (2.7K)$2 · $0.00
The Twilight Zone Companion, Second EditionMarc Scott Zicree16h 46m4.5 (1.8K)$28 · $0.00
Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen (Annotated)H. Beam Piper8h 23m4.5 (1.6K)$2 · $0.00
Philip K. Dick: SF Boxed SetPhilip K. Dick29h 38m4.5 (608)$1 · $0.00
Magician's EndRaymond E. Feist17h 5m4.4 (21.7K)$40 · $0.00
Good OmensNeil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett12h 14m4.4 (1M)$29 · $0.00
The Emperor's FistJay Allan8h 37m4.5 (272)$26 · $0.00
The DispossessedUrsula K. Le Guin13h 26m4.4 (189.3K)$33 · $0.00
1984George Orwell11h 31m4.3 (6.2M)$1.20 · $0.00
Lost ValleyWalt Browning7h 47m4.3 (5.4K)$20 · $0.00
AgincourtBernard Cornwell16h 18m4.3 (41.4K)$40 · $0.00
Frankenstein (The Uncensored 1818 Edition) (Annotated)Mary Shelley9h 25m4.3 (1.7M)$3 · $0.00
You may also like
The Forest Demands Its DueKosoko Jackson11h 26m3.6 (2.5K)$29 · $0.00
The Haunted Man and the Ghost's BargainCharles Dickens3h 29m3.7 (8.8K)Free
A Mad Zombie PartyGena Showalter12h 5m4.3 (11.3K)$29 · $0.00
Amari and the Metalwork MenaceB. B. Alston10h 41m4.4 (1.4K)$5 · $0.00
The Haunted Man and the Ghost's BargainCharles Dickens3h 50m3.7 (9.2K)$1.20 · $0.00
Exquisite ThingsAbdi Nazemian12h 17m4.4 (311)$29 · $0.00
Trailer Park TricksterDavid R. Slayton8h 42m4.3 (11.2K)$23
The Heart of StarsKate Forsyth13h 54m4.2 (2.8K)$23
The Curse of ChalionLois McMaster Bujold18h 42m4.3 (58.1K)$32
The Mortal ImmortalMary Shelley36m3.7 (3.4K)$2.30 · $0.00
The Secret Science Behind MiraclesMax Freedom Long12h 52m4.2 (497)$1.99 · $0.00
Warriors: The Broken Code #5: The Place of No StarsErin Hunter6h 57m4.5 (5.9K)$24 · $0.00
The Tragical History of Doctor FaustusChristopher Marlowe1h 47m4.0 (86.9K)$15
AshbornRafael Medeiros59m$5 · $0.00
The ElixirGeorg Ebers2h 36m$2 · $0.00
The Ledger of Lost RidersJunie Vasquez11h 20m4.3 (17)$5
Vision QuestA.F. Henley, Kelly Wyre7h 3m3.4 (163)$0.00 · $0.00
Bound by the Dragon's VowCeline Ashenbrook7h 5m$5 · $0.00
The Vicious Thorn QueenMorgan Rookwood7h 59m$5
I amAldivan Torres, Vidente11h 38m$4.10 · $0.00