The Starving Saints: A Novel

Written by Caitlin Starling

Narrated by Barrie Kreinik

USA Today Bestseller!

“As brilliant as it is bizarre. From the very first page you know you are in the hands of an author at the height of their abilities. . . . This is the unhinged cannibal book of my dreams—and my nightmares.” —Ava Reid, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning

“Enthralling, weird, and brilliant. A medieval pseudo-historical horror tale that explores what happens when our prayers are answered but we’re not sure what has answered them, or what it will demand of us in return. There’s no other story like this, and I mean that in the best possible way.” —Christopher Buehlman, bestselling author of Between Two Fires

From the nationally bestselling author of The Luminous Dead and The Death of Jane Lawrence, a transfixing fever dream of medieval horror following three women in a besieged castle that descends ravenously into madness under the spell of mysterious, godlike visitors.

Aymar Castle has been under siege for six months. Food is running low and there has been no sign of rescue. But just as the survivors consider deliberately thinning their number, the castle stores are replenished. The sick are healed. And the divine figures of the Constant Lady and her Saints have arrived, despite the barricaded gates, offering succor in return for adoration.

Soon, the entire castle is under the sway of their saviors, partaking in intoxicating feasts of terrible origin. The war hero Ser Voyne gives her allegiance to the Constant Lady. Phosyne, a disorganized, paranoid nun-turned-sorceress, races to unravel the mystery of these new visitors and exonerate her experiments as their source. And in the bowels of the castle, a serving girl, Treila, is torn between her thirst for a secret vengeance against Voyne and the desperate need to escape from the horrors that are unfolding within Aymar’s walls.

As the castle descends into bacchanalian madness—forgetting the massed army beyond its walls in favor of hedonistic ecstasy—these three women are the only ones to still see their situation for what it is. But they are not immune from the temptations of the castle’s new masters… or each other; and their shifting alliances and entangled pasts bring violence to the surface. To save the castle, and themselves, will take a reimagining of who they are, and a reorganization of the very world itself. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: May 20, 2025
• ISBN: 9780063418844

Caitlin Starling

Caitlin Starling is the nationally bestselling author of The Death of Jane Lawrence and the Bram Stoker-nominated The Luminous Dead. Her newest novels, The Starving Saints and The Graceview Patient, epitomize her love of genre-hopping horror; her bibliography spans besieged castles, alien caves, and haunted hospitals. Her short fiction has been published by GrimDark Magazine and Neon Hemlock, and her nonfiction has appeared in Nightmare, Uncanny, and Nightfire. Caitlin also works in narrative design, and has been paid to invent body parts. She’s always on the lookout for new ways to inflict insomnia.

[Van Allen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Absolutely incredible. The author, in this title, has truly perfected their craft. The perfect levels of everything: unsettling, creepy, occult themes, religious- trauma, queerness, powerful women/femme characters. I couldn't get through this fast enough and was BEGGING for more when it was over. The ending was everything I wanted it to be. Highly recommend this one!