The Quiet Librarian
Coming February 18, 2025
After the murder of her best friend, a librarian’s search for answers leads back to her own dark secrets in this sweeping novel about a woman transformed by war, family, vengeance, and love, from award-winning writer Allen Eskens.
Hana Babic is a quiet, middle-aged librarian in Minnesota who wants nothing more than to be left alone. But when a detective arrives with the news that her best friend has been murdered, Hana knows that something evil has come for her, a dark remnant of the past she and her friend had shared.
Thirty years before, Hana was someone else: Nura Divjak, a teenager growing up in the mountains of war-torn Bosnia—until Serbian soldiers arrived to slaughter her entire family before her eyes. The events of that day thrust Nura into the war, leading her to join a band of militia fighters, where she became not only a fierce warrior but a legend—the deadly Night Mora. But a shattering final act forced Nura to flee to the United States with a bounty on her head.
Now, someone is hunting Hana, and her friend has paid the price, leaving her eight-year-old grandson in Hana’s care. To protect the child without revealing her secret, Hana must again become the Night Mora—and hope she can find the killer before the past comes for them, too.
Full Praise
REVIEWS
“The Quiet Librarian will make readers contemplate their definition of justice and the decisions humans make when trapped in terrible situations. This book is perfect for fans of intense, bleak mysteries and those who like fiction featuring real-life history.”
―Booklist (starred review)
PRAISE FROM OTHER AUTHORS
“This book will stay with me for a long, long time. From the very first lines, I knew I was in the hands of a master storyteller. … The Quiet Librarian is exquisitely written, profoundly affecting, and is undoubtedly one of the best books I will read this year.”
―Louise Fein, author of The London Bookshop Affair
“In The Quiet Librarian, Allen Eskens brings readers a suspenseful, heartrending story of friendship, strength, and endurance, set against a history too rarely explored in fiction. This is a truly breathtaking read from a masterful storyteller and one I cannot recommend highly enough.”
―Kelly Rimmer, New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Daughter
“A searing novel of one woman’s ferocious courage during a bloody conflict the world has tried to forget; a story of enduring friendship between two women, sacrifice and secrets held for decades, and one final, desperate act to save an innocent child.”
―Kathleen Kent, author of Black Wolf
“Hana Babic is a ghost in every sense of the word until she hears news that threatens her solitary existence and for her past to bleed into her present. The Quiet Librarian is a beautifully written, harrowing account of the lengths one will go to keep a secret and the horrors that await when the shadows come to light.”
―David Swinson, author of Sweet Thing and the Frank Marr Trilogy
“THE QUIET LIBARARIAN is a devastating and engrossing novel, a breathtaking thriller that gets to the complex heart of grief, regret, and re-invention. Hana Babic is an absolutely unforgettable main character.”
―Lou Berney, USA Today bestselling author of Dark Ride
‘A searing and timely story of regret, retribution, and reinvention, set against a powerfully drawn backdrop of war and suffused with the reminder that we always have within us the power to light the way to a better tomorrow.”
―Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Daughter
“This book has it all—a fast-paced, spellbinding mystery, a terrifying war tale, a truly fascinating, heroic protagonist that confronts her past trauma and sets it right. Just terrific.”
―Christina Kovacv, author of The Cutaway
“Rich in detail and perfectly paced, Allen Esken’s The Quiet Librarian immerses readers in an often forgotten war, but also takes us on an emotional journey with a gutsy protagonist who is suddenly forced to step out of the shadows to settle an old score when her past unexpectedly comes calling. Mystery, history, and a kick-ass female lead—what’s not to love!?”
―Barbara Davis, bestselling author of The Echo of Old Books
“Eskens renders a searing suspense of wartime that chronicles the loss of homeland and family, with an utterly unforgettable heroine and her heartbreaking journey for retribution. Potent and exquisitely written, The Quiet Librarian comes to life in brutal war-torn Bosnia and present-day Minnesota with a shocking conclusion that will leave you breathless.”
―Kim Michele Richardson, New York Times bestselling author of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek series
All Books
My books are not a series, but rather character arcs that revolve around a small community.
Click on the names below to see who appears in each novel.
