[QUERY] The Anarchist - Gothic Fantasy, 99k Words
Dear X,
Given your interest in X, X, and X, I thought my debut Gothic Fantasy, THE ANARCHIST, may be a good fit for your list.
Before Anarchy was the order of the day, it was a city in Ruin.
In this city, chaos reigns, and bounty hunter Reiya Falco makes her living hunting fiends; the victims of a mysterious disease that turns people into rabid killers. But when the Marshal of Anarchy offers her a chance at freedom in her most dangerous case yet and enough money to leave the bounty hunting trade forever, she's willing to risk it all.
This problem-addled case has one truly fatal flaw - she must work with her rival, Alec, to solve it. Their decade-long feud has consisted of games of sabotage, psychological warfare, and wounds to pride that never healed right but festered instead; now, they must put their differences aside to solve the case before their six-week deadline is up.
Battling figures from their past, their own bitter history, and a saboteur trying to derail them, their search leads them to the depths of the criminal underworld and a cult-like organisation called The Mysterium, where Reiya and Alec must pose as members to solve the case. But the higher the castle walls, the darker the secrets within; and as the attraction between Reiya and Alec grows and the plot they uncover becomes ever more insidious, Reiya will learn the hard way - all the best traps have the same thing in common. The prey never knows it's a trap, until it's too late.
I am in my twenties and live in London. I am a queer, neurodivergent Irish woman, and work in digital marketing. THE ANARCHIST is a fantasy novel of 98,000 words that blends romance, humour, and elements of gothic horror, with an anti-heroine at the heart. It is comparable to "One Dark Window", with its gothic setting and mysterious disease, and "Ninth House", with its blend of dark fantasy and horror.
Thank you for your consideration,
*** CONTEXT ***
I'm on my querying journey and have done *yikes* close to 100 queries without much progress. I've received 5 full requests, the majority of them early on in the piece which gave me confidence. One passed because it was too close to a WIP from an existing client, one didn't end up having the capacity to take it on, one was an R&R, and two just turned into form rejections.
It feels like the requests are slowing down, and I'm now wanting to review my query package and see how I can strengthen the query letter, or might need to review my opening pages.
Thank you in advance!