Wells writer and former Edgecomb Congregational pastor Steve Burt’s Maine thriller, “Protect the Queen,” ended year with a win at the 2023 New England Book Festival. 

“It won Best Adult Novel, which is funny,” the retired pastor said. “Because like the first book, ‘The Bookseller’s Daughter,’ this one is also a regional adult thriller. But it happens to cross over into young adult audiences the way Harry Potter and ‘The Hunger Games’ do." 

Both books are part of Burt’s Allagash Gargouilles series. Set in the modern-day world in 2017, they’re about the remnants of an endangered ancient race of very human-like Maine gargoyles who come to Wells in disguise to ask for the help of a bookseller and her daughter. 

“Bookseller’s Daughter” won the 2019 New York Book Festival Grand Prize of $1,500. This summer, The Hollywood Book Festival named “Protect the Queen” Best Sequel. 

“We got the news about New England the week before Christmas, so I added a note to my Christmas cards, saying my second weird Wells novel had won another major prize,” Burt said. “It’s a Happy New Year, too: on Jan. 5 we learned that a terrific Boston-area actress, Carol Ann Parker, will do the Audible audiobook for Queen this spring.” 

 Both books are available at Sherman's Bookstore outlets.