Liar, Dreamer, Thief

"Liar, Dreamer, Thief is a surreal thriller that blurs the line between daydream and nightmare. It leaves you with the creeping certainty that there is a different world lurking just under the surface of our own, filled with technicolor lies and terrible truths."―Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling and Hugo-award winning author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January

"Clever, urgent, and deeply compassionate. This novel hooked its claws into me and didn't let go—a brilliant, brutal debut that's also deeply thoughtful in its examination of family, mental health, and diaspora. Absolutely stunning."―Grace D. Li, New York Times bestselling author of Portrait of a Thief

"Mesmerizing . . . This nuanced depiction of a woman’s struggles with isolation and mental health rings entirely true. Fans of sharp, inventive fiction will be eager for Dong’s next." ―Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"Both a twisty psychological thriller and a nuanced exploration of mental illness . . . The extremely satisfying conclusion will leave you gobsmacked. I gobbled this one up in an evening, and I highly recommend it for the cold nights ahead."―CrimeReads/Lit Hub

"As a reader, it’s a rare and glorious experience to encounter a story that feels like it was written for you, one that speaks so distinctly to your own view of the world, or yourself, that it almost seems to have come from within. Liar, Dreamer, Thief encompasses many often-unshared points of view; perhaps this book, as others did for Katrina Kim and for Dong herself, will provide that chance to both see and to feel seen."―Shondaland

"The meat of this mystery is genuinely surprising, full of twists and turns and shocking revelations. But the most interesting part of Dong's novel is the candid and tender way she approaches Katrina's mental health. This is one of those rare books where it feels as if the character wrote the story of her own life. Katrina's messiness, burdens, and toxic traits feel so real, and her ability to completely lose herself in a fictional world—she's obsessed with a Korean childhood storybook—is only too relatable for any book lover. A suspenseful and stunning debut."―Buzzfeed

Maria Dong
Maria Dong's fiction, articles, and poetry have been published in over a dozen venues, including Apex, Apparition Literary Magazine, Augur, Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, Fantasy Magazine, Fusion Fragment, Kaleidotrope, Khoreo, and Nightmare, among others. Her short story “In the Beginning of Me, I Was a Bird,” for Lightspeed magazine, was a finalist for the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award. Currently a computer programmer, she has had a diverse career as a property manager, English teacher, and occupational therapist. She lives with her partner in southwest Michigan, in a centenarian saltbox house that is almost certainly haunted, and loves watching K-Dramas and drinking Bell's beer.