Lacrimosa

***Lacrimosa*** is the first novel in the *Shadows of the Mind* series by Mandi Jourdan. It was originally published on December 2017 by Adelaide Books and will be rereleased in the August 2020 by Brown Chicken Books. The novel centers on the death of robotics mogul Damian Lawrence and the efforts of his family and friends to find his killer and bring him justice. The first season of the *Shadows of the Mind* podcast corresponds with *Lacrimosa.* The novel is followed in the *Shadows of the Mind* series by Veritas.

## Synopsis

Lila has no idea who she is or
how she ended up walking the streets of Manhattan alone in July 2232. She only
knows she’s being hunted by day and haunted through the night by dreams of a
man she can’t remember apart from when her subconscious self holds him at
gunpoint. Still reeling from the death of his brother Damian, Derek wants
justice. When he sees footage incriminating Lila, someone he’s known for over a
decade, Derek can’t believe she’s responsible.

His sister Desi blames herself
for Damian’s death, unable to forget how unkind she was to him at their last
meeting. Struggling with her guilt as well as her feelings for her brothers’
business partner Eddie, Desi hires Ravenna, Damian’s fiancée—and an assassin—to
bring Lila to justice. Derek vows to find Lila first and find the truth, even
if that involves trusting the one woman he shouldn’t.

## Characters

*Lacrimosa* is a polyphonic novel told from alternating perspectives. The following characters narrate sections of the book (in order of the appearance of their narration):

* **Lila**, a young woman with superhuman abilities who can't remember who she is. She has nightmares in which she kills a man she doesn't know, though he addresses her by name.
* **Damian Lawrence**, a world-famous robotics engineer and one of the three heads of Lawrence-Dodson Enterprises. He is planning to announce his engagement to Ravenna when he is murdered on July 25, 2232.
* **Andrew Stark**, an agent for the Division who is stationed at LDE to gather information on Mia.
* **Desdemona "Desi" Lawrence**, a struggling actress and the Lawrence family's black sheep, who is realizing her brothers' business partner means more to her than a one-night stand. She hires Ravenna to track down Lila, who is suspected of killing Damian.
* **Edward "Eddie" Dodson**, the Lawrence brothers' best friend and business partner. He fights to keep LDE running following the chaos of Damian's murder while pursuing Desi, whom he loves.
* **Ravenna Mitchell**, a trained assassin and Damian's fiancée. When she's hired to track down Lila, she is torn between the need to see justice for the man she loved and the desire to avenge him by killing Lila.
* **Derek Lawrence**, one of the three co-founders of LDE and the brother of Damian and Desi. When he learns that Lila is suspected of killing his brother, Derek struggles to believe it due to the feelings he harbors for Lila. He finds her in order to protect her while they search for the truth.
* **Rachel Hartley**, former First Daughter and current head of the Division, a government agency that was created to perfect the use of androids in combat.
* **Mia**, an android commissioned by the Division to serve as a replacement for human soldiers.
* **Kathleen "Kat" Seward**, the head of Blue Team, a unit of Division agents assigned to neutralize Mia.

Other characters introduced in the novel include Division agents Charlie Vela, Casey O'Malley, Lex Knight, and Abigail Knight; President Ethan McNaire and his son Ben; former Division head Clarisse Mitchell; and Division androids Osiris and Hathor.

## In Other Media

*Lacrimosa* was adapted into the first season of the *Shadows of the Mind* Podcast. The version of the text that appears in audio form is an amalgamation of the Brown Chicken Books and Adelaide Books editions of the novel, as the season was produced while *Lacrimosa* was in transition from one publisher to the other.

In May 2018, a theatrical version was staged at The Varsity Center in Carbondale, Illinois.

## Publication History

*Lacrimosa* was originally published on Decemer 7, 2017, by Adelaide Books in New York. It was published in paperback and eventually in ebook format.

After the termination of the publishing contract, *Lacrimosa* was scheduled to be republished by Brown Chicken Books, an imprint of SFK Press, in Atlanta, Georgia. It will be released in August 2020 in paperback and ebook formats.

The Brown Chicken Books edition is updated considerably and includes new scenes as well as a different cover.