A Novel by William Sizemore

A Monster of Knowledge

A pile of books is just a pile of books. Until it isn't. Until it becomes more than the sum of its parts — until it meets a needful reader.

Spoiler-Free Synopsis

Everything gets worse when you learn what kind of steward you're meant to be.

Timmy McFarland just wants to be left alone with his books. But a curbside box of impossible paperbacks — and an even more impossible old bookseller named Conroy — pulls him toward a hidden world where knowledge has consequences and stories do not always stay on the page.

At home, Timmy has learned that some dangers are easier to recognize than others. Elsewhere, Detective Anne De Bakey is following a trail of disappearances that keeps circling back toward an old house, a buried history, and people whose stories refuse to fit together.

As those mysteries begin to converge, Timmy discovers that knowing something can be both a weapon and a wound — and that some books may be waiting for exactly the right reader. A Monster of Knowledge is a story about the double edge of knowledge: it can save you, and it can cut you to the bone.

A Monster of Knowledge is a genre-blending novel of domestic horror and dark magical realism, for readers of literary horror unafraid of difficult subject matter.

A note on content: A Monster of Knowledge deals directly with domestic and child abuse alongside its supernatural horror. This site keeps the world, characters, and glossary pages spoiler-free — plot twists, deaths, and endings are reserved for the gated Spoilers page, where you'll also find a full content-warning list.

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Four ways into the story

The Books

A curbside box that shouldn't exist. A book that thrums like a heartbeat. Learn the rules of what happens when a book gets "blooded" — and what it costs.

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The Cast

A bullied kid, an impossible librarian, a detective chasing a case that doesn't add up, and a stepfather who is very much not what he seems.

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The Places

A house that isn't always there. A pink porch with a secret. A neighborhood that looks ordinary — until you know what to look for.

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The Glossary

"Blooded." "Needful reader." "The Chrysalis." Look up the terms the novel invents for itself, spoiler-free.

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Ready to meet the monster?

The story is waiting.

A Monster of Knowledge was published October 13, 2026. Explore the world here — and when you're ready to enter it for real, the book is waiting.

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The full plot synopsis, chapter-by-chapter breakdown, character fates, and thematic notes live behind a warning gate. Nothing past this point is safe if you haven't finished reading.

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