Author D. Stokes has announced the release of his chilling debut novel, Blood Orchid: The City That Bleeds. He was inspired to write after growing up in a broken family and learning to escape the harshness of reality through art. Stokes hopes that his work will pave the way for other Black male artists to break into the dystopian horror genre.
Blood Orchid is more than just an ordinary zombie story. In Stokes’s world, monsters are faster, stronger, and smarter than ever before. They have the ability to think and feel emotion, which distinguishes them from the mindless undead commonly seen in other works of fiction. Blood Orchid follows Israel, Trinity, Black, Rosemary, and Breeze, five unlikely friends who struggle to survive in a city ravaged by an uncontrollable infection. As blood runs freely in the streets and the quintet slowly loses the will to fight, they begin to learn the hard lesson that not everything can be taken at face value.
Fans of Stephen King and Guillermo del Toro will enjoy Stokes’s gritty take on the zombie sub-genre. With a new breed of undead and complex worldbuilding, Blood Orchid is a refreshing debut that isn’t afraid to challenge common tropes. Instead of depicting zombies as one-dimensional monsters, Stokes explores their emotional side and the role of belongingness as the mutating infection continues to spread around the world.
Early reviewers praise Stokes’s wit, creative skill, and willingness to serve as a pioneer into the horror genre for other Black writers. Stokes draws upon his own life experiences to imbue Blood Orchid with realistic emotions, difficult choices, and themes of personal strength. Readers from a diverse range of backgrounds and interests will find something to appreciate in this stunning debut.
Denzell Stokes is an author, husband, and father of three. After growing up in poverty and working hard to find his way out, he is proud to be an author who can inspire others to follow their childhood dreams.
Blood Orchid: The City That Bleeds is available for purchase on Amazon.com and other major retailers.
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