Berserker

A Norse teen and her family are forced to flee to the American West to escape the effects of an ancestral Viking curse in this jaw-dropping historical paranormal romance from the author of Monument 14.

"Berserker is a triumph, introducing a wholly-new breed of Viking superhero. It's a completely winning, romantic, and heart-wrenching historical fantasy. Your pulse will race from page one of this rich, rugged adventure of a book." --Alyson Noël, New York Times-bestselling author of The Immortals series

Are Hanne's powers a gift from the old Norse gods, or a curse?

Her brother Stieg swears their powers are a gift from the old gods, but Hanne Hemstad knows she is truly cursed. It's not Stieg’s fault that their father is dead, their mother has left, and their brother Knut has been accused of a crime he didn’t commit.

No, the fault lies with Hanne and her inability to control her murderous “gift”—she is a Berserker. When someone she loves is threatened, she flies into a killing state. The siblings must leave Norway for the American frontier or risk being brought to justice.

Aided by a young cowboy who agrees to be their guide, Hanne and her siblings use their powers to survive the perilous trail, where blizzards, wild animals, and vicious bounty hunters await.

Will they be able to reach their uncle, the one man Hanne believes may be able to teach her how to control her drive to kill? With Berserker, Emmy Laybourne, the author of Monument 14, presents her vision of an American west studded with Viking glory.

By Emmy Laybourne:

The Monument 14 Trilogy
Monument 14 (Book 1)
Monument 14: Sky on Fire (Book 2)
Monument 14: Savage Drift (Book 3)

Sweet

The Berserker series
Berserker (Book 1)
Ransacker (Book 2)

Praise for Berserker:

"Berserker is a triumph, introducing a wholly-new breed of Viking superhero. It's a completely winning, romantic, and heart-wrenching historical fantasy. Your pulse will race from page one of this rich, rugged adventure of a book." --Alyson Noël, New York Times-bestselling author of The Immortals series

"Emmy Laybourne deftly melds Viking lore with the American West and creates something wholly new, a journey filled with heart-pounding suspense and surprising tenderness. Loved!" --Danielle Paige, New York Times-bestselling author the Dorothy Must Die series

"Berserker combines the magic of Norse mythology with the thrill of the American West with staggering results. Startlingly original, unputdownable, and electrifying." --Kass Morgan, author of New York Times bestseller The 100

"Berserker embraces the beautiful brutality of both Viking lore and Frontier tales, and it does so without resorting to tired tropes or toxic masculinity. This is a brilliantly unexpected fusion of cowboys and old gods--intense and gritty and yet surprisingly tender--but the real strength of Emmy Laybourne's writing is that, for all their superhuman abilities, her characters are so very human." --William Ritter, author of the New York Times-bestselling Jackaby series

"[Hanne's] internal struggle with her brutal nature as a berserker is intensely real and will resonate with readers who feel beset by forces outside of their control. A bloody and fast-paced genre mash-up." --Publishers Weekly

"Rich in description and compulsively readable." --Booklist

"Laybourne has blended the fantasy of Norse gods with the American West with ease to create a coming-of-age story that is full of intrigue, adventure, budding romance, and self-discovery. . . .The blend of historical fiction and mythology is well done and the teenage protagonists are wholly relatable." --School Library Journal