Party with Cassowary

A college party in the hills of northern Italy descends into a harrowing and outlandish rite of passage. Like the beguiling bird at its center, Party with Cassowary dares its characters—and its readers—to confront something dangerous, inscrutable, demanding to be touched. “Surprising and spellbinding.” —Vincenzo Latronico, author of Perfection It’s the beginning of summer. Isa M., a second-year lit major, is throwing a party at her family’s lavish villa on the outskirts of Turin. The music is loud, the prosecco is flowing, and the garden is packed with friends—and maybe a few gate-crashers. The only guest who hasn’t arrived yet is Ezio, the boy she’s falling in love with. Then an anonymous gift turns up on the kitchen counter: a bottle of Barbera with a card that reads, Unless someone touches the cassowary before 1am, Ezio dies. At first it seems like a prank. Except Ezio still isn’t answering his phone. And no one’s sure who brought the bottle. Or what, exactly, a cassowary is.