And now, presenting the cover reveal for my 2025 horror/thriller/sci-fi novel, Atacama!
Look how gorgeous! I’ll get into what Atacama is about, who the cover artist is, and how we worked together on the design for this book.
About ATACAMA by Jendia Gammon
ATACAMA is my horror/thriller/science fiction novel publishing May 2025 via Sley House Publishing. I previously wrote about the book deal news here on my blog. Now, I have jacket text for the description:
A missing research team is found dead in the Atacama Desert under mysterious circumstances. Far away in East Tennessee, Appalachian researcher Fiona Hawthorne reels from the death of her best friend, Alva, among the Atacama team. When Fiona's university professor Dr. Bingham is visited by members of a shadowy corporation, she begins to suspect not everything is as it seems. Enlisting her intense coworker Lafe Lambert, the two dig deep looking for answers around Alva's death...too deep. Fiona soon realizes that she not only faces sinister corporate agents, but also a monster hiding in plain sight.
Atacama marks my first official foray into thriller writing, and there are speculative elements of horror and science fiction. This book takes place in a real-world setting in the near future.
About the Atacama Cover Art
With a book full of striking visuals and unsettling scenes, I knew I wanted the cover of Atacama to stand out. I was thrilled when Sley House Publishing hired artist and author Chris Panatier to illustrate the cover! As I adore Art Nouveau, and knew that Chris could gorgeously capture people and surreality, I was confident he would pull this off.
The process was great fun. I sent Chris my own sketches and ideas, including the idea for having the Appalachian Mountains upside down on the top, with the Atacama Desert right side up on the bottom. That represents Fiona’s world being turned upside down, and also provides an opposite mirror for humid East Tennessee juxtaposed against the extraordinarily arid Atacama Desert. I wanted Fiona Hawthorne, the main character, and Dr. Jack Cordeiro on the front cover.
Chris took these ideas and ran, adding his fabulously unique touches, and I absolutely love the result, down to the details of making an Art Nouveau abstract greenhouse design behind Fiona and Jack, to the copper edging of the stained glass effects on the geometric shapes. Note that the triangles are night scenes of both regions! The back cover shows stars and the sun as well. And there is a creepy element of a biological organism around the periphery. Many thanks to Chris for making this perfect cover!
Be sure to visit Chris Panatier’s website to see more of his stunning work. We may be working together again on something super secret in the near future also...
Interior Illustrations by Me!
For the first time, I will have illustrations by me in a published book. I made 36 pieces of black and white art using marker and watercolor and ink, and those will be in each chapter header. I’m very pleased that Sley House Publishing let me do this. Some of the pieces are abstract, others more realistic. Each is themed to the individual chapter without spoiling the contents. I will not be sharing those illustrations yet, though I suspect a preview will be available once general preorders become available.
I will be making prints of these pieces of art for sale and as swag! Stay tuned.
Review Blurbs for Atacama
What are others saying about Atacama? I’ve pulled a few blurb quotes for the graphic above. And here’s a longer quote from Southern author Mallory Pearson that thrilled me:
“Jendia Gammon’s Atacama masterfully weaves a gripping sci-fi mystery that blurs the line between reality and nightmare. With lyrical prose, Gammon builds an atmosphere thick with tension and dread as she takes you on a heart-pounding race for answers. What begins as a twisted mystery quickly spirals into a cosmic nightmare, unearthing surreal horrors lurking beneath the surface that will haunt you long after the final page. A mind-bending exploration of grief, love, and the unknown, Atacama is as unnerving as it is hopeful, and left me clawing for more as it pulled me deeper into its eerie world.”
— Mallory Pearson, author of Voice Like a Hyacinth and We Ate the Dark
Preorder Atacama!
Atacama will be available in trader paperback, hardback, ebook, and audio. I will update links as they appear.
Preorder Links:
Amazon US (hardback)
Amazon UK (hardback)
Apple (eBook)
Barnes & Noble (hardback)
Barnes & Noble Nook (eBook)
Bookshop.org (hardback)
Booktopia (Australia, hardback)
Kobo (eBook)
More preorder links from other sellers forthcoming!
You can also preorder the hardback edition of Atacama directly from Sley House Publishing here.
I’m completely thrilled to share Atacama with you, and I think you’ll find it to be a riveting read. I will also share more of the review blurbs we’ve received in the near future.