Maria Dong

A young woman's carefully constructed fantasy world implodes in this brilliantly conceived novel that blurs distinctions between right and wrong, comedy and tragedy, imagination and reality: "Surreal . . . leaves you with the creeping certainty that there is a different world lurking just under the surface of our own, filled with technicolor lies and terrible truths" (Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling and Hugo‑award winning author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January). Katrina Kim may be broke, the black sheep of her family, and slightly unhinged, but she isn't a stalker. Her obsession with her co-worker, Kurt, is just one of many coping mechanisms--like her constant shape and number rituals, or the way scenes from her favorite children's book bleed into her vision whenever she feels anxious or stressed. But when Katrina finds a cryptic message from Kurt that implies he's aware of her surveillance, her tenuous hold on a normal life crumbles. Driven by compulsion, she enacts the most powerful ritual she has to reclaim control--a midnight visit to the Cayatoga Bridge--and arrives just in time to witness Kurt's suicide. Before he jumps, he slams her with a devastating accusation: his death is all her fault. Horrified, Katrina combs through the clues she's collected about Kurt over the last three years, but each revelation uncovers a menacing truth: for every moment she was watching him, he was watching her--and the past she thought she'd left behind? It's been following her more closely than she ever could have imagined. A gripping page-turner, as well as a sensitive exploration of mental health, Liar, Dreamer, Thief is an intimate portrayal of life in all its complexities--and the dangers inherent in unveiling people's most closely guarded secrets.

Liar, Dreamer, Thief

A young woman’s carefully constructed fantasy world implodes in this brilliantly conceived novel that blurs distinctions between right and wrong, comedy and tragedy, imagination and reality: "Surreal . . . filled with technicolor lies and terrible truths" (Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling and Hugo‑award winning author). Katrina Kim may be broke, the black sheep of her family, and slightly unhinged, but she isn’t a stalker. Her obsession with her co-worker, Kurt, is just one of many coping mechanisms—like her constant shape and number rituals, or the way scenes from her favorite children’s book bleed into her vision whenever she feels anxious or stressed. But when Katrina finds a cryptic message from Kurt that implies he’s aware of her surveillance, her tenuous hold on a normal life crumbles. Driven by compulsion, she enacts the most powerful ritual she has to reclaim control—a midnight visit to the Cayatoga Bridge—and arrives just in time to witness Kurt’s suicide. Before he jumps, he slams her with a devastating accusation: his death is all her fault. Horrified, Katrina combs through the clues she’s collected about Kurt over the last three years, but each revelation uncovers a menacing truth: for every moment she was watching him, he was watching her. And the past she thought she’d left behind? It’s been following her more closely than she ever could have imagined. A gripping page-turner, as well as a sensitive exploration of mental health, Liar, Dreamer, Thief is an intimate portrayal of life in all its complexities—and the dangers inherent in unveiling people’s most closely guarded secrets.

Tenea D. Johnson

Rachel Swirsky

Ken MacGregor

Jason Sanford

Joelle Wellington

Rose Keating

Maggie Slater

D. Thomas Minton

Jared Millet

Yohanca Delgado

Strange. Beautiful. Shocking. Surreal. APEX MAGAZINE is a digital dark science fiction and fantasy genre zine that features award-winning short fiction, essays, and interviews. Established in 2009, our fiction has won several Hugo and Nebula Awards. We publish every other month. Issue 125 contains the following: EDITORIAL Editorial by Jason Sizemore Words from the Honorary Special Editor by Jeffery Reynolds ORIGINAL FICTION COTTONMOUTH by Joelle Wellington Next to Cleanliness by Rose Keating Discontinuity by Jared Millet Candyland by Maggie Slater Gift for the Cutter Man by D. Thomas Minton Wake Up, I Miss You by Rachel Swirsky CLASSIC FICTION Deep Night by Tenea D. Johnson The Ever-Dreaming Verdict of Plagues by Jason Sanford The Rat by Yohanca Delgado INTERVIEWS Interview with Author Joelle Wellington by Andrea Johnson Interview with Author Rose Keating by Andrea Johnson Interview with Cover Artist Marcela Bolívar by Russell Dickerson NONFICTION Alone? Or, How a Survivalist Reality TV Show Defangs Publishing's Narrow Definition of Agency by Maria Dong Flesh Eggs by Ken MacGregor REVIEWS Review of Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest Review of Malefactor by Robert Repino Words for Thought: Short Fiction Reviews by A.C. Wise

Apex Magazine Issue 125

Maria Dong

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