Books like 'Sleeping in Flame'
Readers who enjoyed Sleeping in Flame by Jonathan Carroll also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
fantasy urban fantasy horror supernatural mystery dark fantasy magical-realism fairy-tale literary-fiction dark
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Lies Ripped Open by Steve McHugh
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsOver a hundred years have passed since a group of violent killers went on the rampage, murdering innocent victims for fun. But even back then, sorcerer Nate Garrett, aka Hellequin, knew there was more to it than simple savage pleasure—souls were being stolen.Nate’s discovery of the souls’ use, and of those supporting the group’s plan, made him question everything he believed... -
![Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun by Guillermo del Toro, Cornelia Funke]()
Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun by Guillermo del Toro, Cornelia Funke
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsFans of dark fairy-tales like The Hazel Wood and The Cruel Prince will relish this atmospheric and absorbing book based on Guillermo del Toro’s critically acclaimed movie...Categorized as:
dark fairy-tale low-fantasy magical-realism retellings action-adventure audiobook book -
![The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories by Jeff VanderMeer, George R.R. Martin]()
The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories by Jeff VanderMeer, George R.R. Martin
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom Lovecraft to Borges to Gaiman, a century of intrepid literary experimentation has created a corpus of dark and strange stories that transcend all known genre boundaries. Together these stories form The Weird, and its practitioners include some of the greatest names in twentieth and twenty-first century literature...Categorized as:
dark literary-fiction magical-realism retellings 21st-century adult anthologies audiobook -
![Lord of the Shadows by Darren Shan]()
Lord of the Shadows by Darren Shan
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsBook 11 of The Saga Of Darren Shan. Darren's going home. Back to where everything started. The town's changed a lot in the years that he's been away -- but then, so has Darren...Categorized as:
dark low-fantasy magical-realism retellings 21st-century action-adventure audiobook book -
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![Memory and Dream by Charles de Lint]()
Memory and Dream by Charles de Lint
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom World Fantasy Award-winning author Charles de Lint, a tale of love, courage, and the transforming power of imagination Isabelle Copley's visionary art frees ancient spirits. As the young student of the cruel, brilliant artist Vincent Rushkin, she discovered she could paint images so vividly real they brought her wildest fantasies to life...Categorized as:
fairy-tale low-fantasy magical-realism retellings action-adventure anthologies audiobook classics -
![Trick or Treat by Derek Landy]()
Trick or Treat by Derek Landy
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsShort story published on Derek Landy's blog; fits in best between Death Bringer and Kingdom of the Wicked... -
![The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction by Neil Gaiman, Marlon James]()
The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction by Neil Gaiman, Marlon James
Rated: 4.49 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAn outstanding array—52 pieces in all—of selected fiction from the multiple-award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman, curated by his readers around the world, and introduced with a foreword by Booker Prize-winning author Marlon JamesSpanning Gaiman’s career to date, The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction is a captivating collection from one of the world’s most beloved... -
![In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire]()
In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsThis fourth entry and prequel tells the story of Lundy, a very serious young girl who would rather study and dream than become a respectable housewife and live up to the expectations of the world around her. As well she should.When she finds a doorway to a world founded on logic and reason, riddles and lies, she thinks she's found her paradise...Categorized as:
dark fairy-tale low-fantasy magical-realism retellings action-adventure audiobook boarding-school -
![Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire]()
Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 49 ratingsTwin sisters Jack and Jill were seventeen when they found their way home and were packed off to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children.This is the story of what happened first…Jacqueline was her mother’s perfect daughter—polite and quiet, always dressed as a princess. If her mother was sometimes a little strict, it’s because crafting the perfect daughter takes discipline...Categorized as:
dark fairy-tale magical-realism retellings action-adventure audiobook book coming-of-age -
![Fairytales for Wilde Girls by Allyse Near]()
Fairytales for Wilde Girls by Allyse Near
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA deliciously dark bubblegum-gothic fairytale from a stunning new Australian talent.‘He's gone the same way as those little birds that bothered me with their awful songs! And you will too, you and your horrible heart-music, because you won't stay out of my woods!'There's a dead girl in a birdcage in the woods. That's not unusual. Isola Wilde sees a lot of things other people don't...Categorized as:
dark fairy-tale magical-realism retellings action-adventure book coming-of-age contemporary -
![The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins]()
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 49 ratingsA missing God.A library with the secrets to the universe. A woman too busy to notice her heart slipping away.Carolyn's not so different from the other people around her. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. Clothes are a bit tricky, but everyone says nice things about her outfit with the Christmas sweater over the gold bicycle shorts...Categorized as:
dark low-fantasy magical-realism retellings 21st-century action-adventure apocalyptic audiobook -
![Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs]()
Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsBefore Miss Peregrine gave them a home, the story of peculiars was written in the Tales. Wealthy cannibals who dine on the discarded limbs of peculiars. A fork-tongued princess. The origins of the first ymbryne...Categorized as:
dark fairy-tale low-fantasy magical-realism retellings 21st-century action-adventure anthologies -
![Long Lost by Jacqueline West]()
Long Lost by Jacqueline West
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsEleven-year-old Fiona has just read a book that doesn’t exist. When Fiona’s family moves to be closer to her older sister’s figure skating club—and far from Fiona’s close-knit group of friends—nobody seems to notice Fiona’s unhappiness. Alone and out of place, Fiona ventures to the town’s library, a rambling mansion donated to the town by the long-dead heiress... -
![A Map of Days by Ransom Riggs]()
A Map of Days by Ransom Riggs
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsThe #1 bestselling series returns with a thrilling new story arc set in America!Vintage photographs reveal the never-before-seen world of peculiar America with a stunning addition—full-color images.Having defeated the monstrous threat that nearly destroyed the peculiar world, Jacob Portman is back where his story began, in Florida...Categorized as:
dark low-fantasy magical-realism 21st-century action-adventure audiobook book children -
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![Weaveworld by Clive Barker]()
Weaveworld by Clive Barker
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsClive Barker has made his mark on modern fiction by exposing all that is surreal and magical in the ordinary world --- and exploring the profound and overwhelming terror that results...Categorized as:
dark low-fantasy magical-realism retellings 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
![House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland]()
House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 63 ratingsSeventeen-year-old Iris Hollow has always been strange. Something happened to her and her two older sisters when they were children, something they can’t quite remember but that left each of them with an identical half-moon scar at the base of their throats. Iris has spent most of her teenage years trying to avoid the weirdness that sticks to her like tar... -
![Ballistic Kiss: A Sandman Slim Novel by Richard Kadrey]()
Ballistic Kiss: A Sandman Slim Novel by Richard Kadrey
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 25 ratings"I loved where Kadrey started with this series, but I love where he's going even more."-- NYT Bestselling author Cory DoctorowSandman Slim is back in Los Angeles and kicking more supernatural ass in this inventive, high-octane page-turner—the next to last volume in the popular and acclaimed fantasy adventure series from New York Times bestselling author Richard Kadrey...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure adult audiobook book dark-fantasy fiction -
![Twilight Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko]()
Twilight Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsThe third book in the bestselling Russian trilogy that is part fantasy, part vampire story, and part detective story, tells of an ancient race of humans who have supernatural powers and swear allegiance to either the Dark or the Light. In Twilight Watch, they face their greatest threat yet... -
![Never Have I Ever by Isabel Yap]()
Never Have I Ever by Isabel Yap
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratings“Am I dead?”Mebuyen sighs. She was hoping the girl would not ask.Spells and stories, urban legends and immigrant tales: the magic in Isabel Yap’s debut collection jumps right off the page, from the joy in her new novella, 'A Spell for Foolish Hearts' to the terrifying tension of the urban legend 'Have You Heard the One About Anamaria Marquez'...Categorized as:
dark literary-fiction magical-realism retellings adult anthologies contemporary dark-fantasy -
![Chapel of Ease by Alex Bledsoe]()
Chapel of Ease by Alex Bledsoe
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe latest installment in Alex Bledsoe's critically-acclaimed Tufa series that Kirkus Reviews calls "powerful, character-driven drama...a sheer delight." (starred review)When Matt Johanssen, a young New York actor, auditions for "Chapel of Ease," an off-Broadway musical, he is instantly charmed by Ray Parrish, the show's writer and composer... -
![I’m Glad You’re Dead by Hunter Blain]()
I’m Glad You’re Dead by Hunter Blain
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAfter helplessly witnessing the execution of his family, John is approached by a strange man that promises the power of revenge, for a price; his life for the ability to walk the mortal plane for eternity. Fast forward several hundred years where John finds himself with an unlikely ally, Father Thomes Philseep... -
![Jilo by J.D. Horn]()
Jilo by J.D. Horn
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAged Mother Jilo is wise in the ways of magic…but once upon a time, she was just a girl.1950s Georgia: King Cotton has fallen. Savannah is known as the “beautiful woman with a dirty face,” its stately elegance faded by neglect, its soul withering from racial injustice and political corruption... -
![The Midnight Mayor by Kate Griffin]()
The Midnight Mayor by Kate Griffin
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIt's said that if the ravens ever leave the Tower of London, then the Tower will crumble and the kingdom will fall. Resurrected sorcerer Matthew Swift is about to discover that this isn't so far from the truth...One by one, the protective magical wards that guard the city are falling: the London Wall defiled with cryptic graffiti, the ravens found dead at the Tower, the London Stone destroyed... -
![The Fear Institute by Jonathan L. Howard]()
The Fear Institute by Jonathan L. Howard
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsJohannes Cabal and his rather inexact powers of necromancy are back once more. This time, his talents are purchased by The Fear Institute as they hunt for the Phobic Animus - the embodiment of fear...Categorized as:
dark low-fantasy magical-realism retellings action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook -
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![Slither by Joseph Delaney]()
Slither by Joseph Delaney
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 19 ratings"My name is Slither, and before my tale is finished you'll find out why."The dark is full of terrifying creatures. And Tom Ward—the seventh son of a seventh son, and the Spook's last apprentice—hasn't seen all of them. Far from the county, one named Slither has lived for hundreds of years, hunting blood.But a dying father binds the monster to a bargain... -
![Tales From the Hinterland by Melissa Albert]()
Tales From the Hinterland by Melissa Albert
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA gorgeously illustrated collection of twelve fairy tales by the author of The Hazel Wood and The Night Country!Journey into the Hinterland, a brutal and beautiful world where a young woman spends a night with Death, brides are wed to a mysterious house in the trees, and an enchantress is killed twice―and still lives...Categorized as:
dark fairy-tale low-fantasy magical-realism retellings action-adventure anthologies audiobook -
![Demon Road by Derek Landy]()
Demon Road by Derek Landy
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe mind-blowing new supernatural thriller from bestselling author DEREK LANDY, creator of international sensation Skulduggery Pleasant.Full of Landy’s trademark wit, action and razor-sharp dialogue, DEMON ROAD kicks off with a shocking opener and never lets up the pace in an epic road-trip across the supernatural landscape of America...Categorized as:
dark low-fantasy magical-realism retellings action-adventure audiobook book children -
![Last Call by Tim Powers]()
Last Call by Tim Powers
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsTwenty years ago Scott Crane abandoned his career as a professional poker player and went into hiding, after a weird high-stakes game played with Tarot cards. But now the cards - and the supernatural powers behind them - have found him again.Crane's father killed gangster Bugsy Siegel in 1948 to become the Fisher King, and to keep that power he is determined to kill his son...Categorized as:
dark low-fantasy magical-realism retellings 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history -
![North American Lake Monsters by Nathan Ballingrud]()
North American Lake Monsters by Nathan Ballingrud
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsNathan Ballingrud's Shirley Jackson Award winning debut collection is a shattering and luminous experience not to be missed by those who love to explore the darker parts of the human psyche. Monsters, real and imagined, external and internal, are the subject. They are us and we are them and Ballingrud's intense focus makes these stories incredibly intense and irresistible.These are love stories...Categorized as:
dark literary-fiction magical-realism retellings 21st-century adult angels anthologies -
![The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron]()
The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe title story of this collection - a devilishly ironic riff on H. P. Lovecraft's "Pickman's model" - was nominated for a World Fantasy Award, while "Proboscis" was nominated for an International Horror Guild award and reprinted in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 19. In addition to his previously published work, this collection contains an original story...Categorized as:
dark literary-fiction retellings 21st-century action-adventure adult anthologies audiobook -
![The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday by Saad Z. Hossain]()
The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday by Saad Z. Hossain
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsWhen the djinn king Melek Ahmar wakes up after millennia of imprisoned slumber, he finds a world vastly different from what he remembers. Arrogant and bombastic, he comes down the mountain expecting an easy conquest: the wealthy, spectacular city state of Kathmandu, ruled by the all-knowing, all-seeing tyrant AI Karma... -
![Silver Birch, Blood Moon by Ellen Datlow, Garry Kilworth]()
Silver Birch, Blood Moon by Ellen Datlow, Garry Kilworth
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe four previous volumes in Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling's anthology series of fairly tales retold with a distinctively modern edge have been hailded by reviewers as "brilliant," "provocative," and "disturbing... -
![The Book of the Beast by Tanith Lee]()
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![Dark Awakened by H.D. Smith]()
Dark Awakened by H.D. Smith
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsLast spring Claire’s seemingly normal—if not totally screwed up—life was tossed on its head. For five years she’d been one of the damned—a human that knows the truth about the otherworldly among us. She’d worked for The Boss—the Demon King himself—as his administrative assistant, handling everything from early retirements, to Maintenance’s incessant requests for dental.No one gets dental...Categorized as:
dark low-fantasy magical-realism retellings action-adventure alpha-mc alternate-universe audiobook -
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![Dark Ladies: Conjure Wife/Our Lady of Darkness by Fritz Leiber]()
Dark Ladies: Conjure Wife/Our Lady of Darkness by Fritz Leiber
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsConjure WifeWitchcraft. Norman Saylor considered it nothing but superstition, until he learned that his own wife was a practicing sorceress. Even still, he refuses to accept the truth that every woman knows...that in the secret occult warfare that governs our lives, witchcraft is a matter of life and death...Categorized as:
dark low-fantasy magical-realism adult anthologies classics contemporary dark-fantasy -
![The Memory Eater by Rebecca Mahoney]()
The Memory Eater by Rebecca Mahoney
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA teenage girl must save her town from a memory-devouring monster in this piercing exploration of grief, trauma, and memory, from the author of The Valley and the Flood.For generations, a monster called the Memory Eater has lived in the caves of Whistler Beach, Maine, surviving off the unhappy memories of those who want to forget... -
![High Moor by Graeme Reynolds]()
High Moor by Graeme Reynolds
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsWhen John Simpson hears of a bizarre animal attack in his old home town of High Moor, it stirs memories of a long forgotten horror. John knows the truth. A werewolf stalks the town once more, and on the night of the next full moon, the killing will begin again. He should know. He survived a werewolf attack in 1986, during the worst year of his life... -
![The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly]()
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
Rated: 3.98 of 5 stars · 60 ratingsHigh in his attic bedroom, twelve-year-old David mourns the death of his mother, with only the books on his shelf for company. But those books have begun to whisper to him in the darkness. Angry and alone, he takes refuge in his imagination and soon finds that reality and fantasy have begun to meld...Categorized as:
dark fairy-tale low-fantasy magical-realism retellings action-adventure audiobook book -
![The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke]()
The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsTwo sisters go missing on a remote Scottish island. Twenty years later, one is found--but she's still the same age as when she disappeared. The secrets of witches have reached across the centuries in this chilling Gothic thriller from the author of the acclaimed The Nesting... -
![Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge]()
Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen Triss wakes up after an accident, she knows something is very wrong. She is insatiably hungry, her sister seems scared of her, and her parents whisper behind closed doors. She looks through her diary to try to remember, but the pages have been ripped out...Categorized as:
dark fairy-tale low-fantasy magical-realism retellings action-adventure audiobook book -
![Red Knight Falling by Craig Schaefer]()
Red Knight Falling by Craig Schaefer
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFresh from their victory over the Bogeyman, FBI agent Harmony Black and her team, Vigilant Lock, face a new type of threat: one from beyond the stars.They’d always heard the Red Knight was an urban legend: in 1954, three years before Sputnik launched, a mysterious satellite was sighted circling Earth, though no power on the planet had such technology...Categorized as:
dark literary-fiction low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure adult alpha-mc audiobook -
![Wildwood Whispers by Willa Reece]()
Wildwood Whispers by Willa Reece
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA heartwarming novel of hope, fate, and folk magic unfolds when a young woman travels to a sleepy southern town in the Appalachian Mountains to bury her best friend. Mel Smith has always known life isn’t easy. After all, she was abandoned as an infant and raised in foster care...Categorized as:
dark literary-fiction magical-realism adult audiobook book contemporary dark-fantasy -
![Vigil by Angela Slatter]()
Vigil by Angela Slatter
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsVerity Fassbinder has her feet in two worlds. The daughter of one human and one Weyrd parent, she has very little power herself, but does claim unusual strength - and the ability to walk between us and the other - as a couple of her talents. As such a rarity, she is charged with keeping the peace between both races, and ensuring the Weyrd remain hidden from us... -
![Vault of Glass by Candace Robinson]()
Vault of Glass by Candace Robinson
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSome see it... Some don't...People in the town of Deer Park, Texas are vanishing. There is a strange museum, known as Quinsey Wolfe's Glass Vault, that appears overnight. Perrie Madeline's best friend and ex-boyfriend are among the missing. Perrie, along with her friend August, go on a pursuit to search for them in the mysterious museum... -
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![Indexing by Seanan McGuire]()
Indexing by Seanan McGuire
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 30 ratings“Never underestimate the power of a good story.”Good advice...especially when a story can kill you.For most people, the story of their lives is just that: the accumulation of time, encounters, and actions into a cohesive whole...Categorized as:
dark fairy-tale magical-realism retellings action-adventure adult alpha-mc audiobook -
![The Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll]()
The Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsHave you ever loved a magical book above all others? Have you ever wished the magic were real? Welcome to The Land of Laughs. A novel about how terrifying that would be.Schoolteacher Thomas Abbey, unsure son of a film star, doesn't know who he is or what he wants--in life, in love, or in his relationship with the strange and intense Saxony Gardner...Categorized as:
dark literary-fiction low-fantasy magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book -
![Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron by Jonathan Strahan, Diana Peterfreund]()
Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron by Jonathan Strahan, Diana Peterfreund
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBroomsticks.Black Cats.Pointy Hats.They can mean only one thing - somewhere nearby, there must be a witch. From fairy tales to fims to fiction, witches cast their spells and capture our imaginations.Now the biggest names in fantasy and young adult literature have come together to make a little magic of their own. Neil Gaiman, Holly Black, Diana Peterfreund, Margo Lanagan, Peter S...Categorized as:
dark fairy-tale low-fantasy magical-realism retellings action-adventure animals anthologies -
![The Hike by Drew Magary]()
The Hike by Drew Magary
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsFrom the author of The Postmortal, a fantasy saga unlike any you’ve read before, weaving elements of folk tale and video game into a riveting, unforgettable adventure of what a man will endure to return to his family When Ben, a suburban family man, takes a business trip to rural Pennsylvania, he decides to spend the afternoon before his dinner meeting on a short hike...Categorized as:
dark literary-fiction low-fantasy magical-realism 21st-century action-adventure adult animals -
![The Blue Blazes by Chuck Wendig]()
The Blue Blazes by Chuck Wendig
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsMeet Mookie Pearl.Criminal underworld? He runs it.Supernatural underworld? He hunts in it.Nothing stops Mookie when he’s on the job...Categorized as:
dark low-fantasy magical-realism retellings action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook -
![Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman]()
Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 54 ratingsMultiple award winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman returns to dazzle, captivate, haunt, and entertain with this third collection of short fiction following Smoke and Mirrors and Fragile Things--which includes a never-before published American Gods story, "Black Dog," written exclusively for this volume...
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