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Babylon Weeping
Set in the gaslit streets of New Orleans, Babylon Weeping is a Southern Gothic novel of survival, seduction, and supernatural intrigue. Lily Marcus, born in a Galveston brothel, escapes to the infamous Storyville district—a place where jazz haunts the night and power is brokered behind velvet curtains. Among gamblers, madams, and politicians, she claws her way to influence, but in a city ruled by secrets and shadow, every promise comes at a cost. As darkness rises—both human and otherworldly—Lily must navigate a world where beauty is a weapon and freedom a lie. Babylon Weeping blends historical fiction, noir, and the occult in a richly atmospheric tale of ambition, betrayal, and the high price of desire.
321 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 1, 2025
5 people are currently reading
1178 people want to read
About the author
Johnny Neil
2 books6 followersJohnny Neil is a Texas-based author specializing in Southern Gothic and Americana Gothic fiction. His work explores the darkness hidden beneath the surface of history, blending lush prose with brutal truths. When he isn’t writing, he’s exploring the quiet roads of the Texas Hill Country with his three children.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 2, 2025
2.5✨ rounded down
Tfw a book synopsis says it’s mainly about one character and her journey to the top, but then you read it, and she’s only like a small percentage of the focus of the whole story…
In Babylon Weeping, we follow the dark undertakings of the people who live and operate their lives and dealings in the belly of New Orleans. The nightlife is always wide awake, with the sounds and the swells of jazz and underground musical talents, never in short supply.
Our supposed main character, Lily was born in a brothel, but later into her adulthood she leaves that life with a gambling man in search of something better.
Her search lands her deep in the trenches of New Orleans, where she just seems to fall into opportunity after opportunity, using her natural beauty to her advantage.
While she is stumbling her way through life, the rest of New Orleans is carrying on. Men who have little business being politicians are running to be elected, trying to make rules surrounding the nightlife that Lily so desperately is clinging to for her own and others well beings.
The synopsis sounded really interesting, and like it had promise, but this was just all over the place, and didn’t quite hit the mark for me. Oh and there was a super random vampire like 1/3 of the way into it…. Just seemed really out of place from the rest of the story.
Tfw a book synopsis says it’s mainly about one character and her journey to the top, but then you read it, and she’s only like a small percentage of the focus of the whole story…
In Babylon Weeping, we follow the dark undertakings of the people who live and operate their lives and dealings in the belly of New Orleans. The nightlife is always wide awake, with the sounds and the swells of jazz and underground musical talents, never in short supply.
Our supposed main character, Lily was born in a brothel, but later into her adulthood she leaves that life with a gambling man in search of something better.
Her search lands her deep in the trenches of New Orleans, where she just seems to fall into opportunity after opportunity, using her natural beauty to her advantage.
While she is stumbling her way through life, the rest of New Orleans is carrying on. Men who have little business being politicians are running to be elected, trying to make rules surrounding the nightlife that Lily so desperately is clinging to for her own and others well beings.
The synopsis sounded really interesting, and like it had promise, but this was just all over the place, and didn’t quite hit the mark for me. Oh and there was a super random vampire like 1/3 of the way into it…. Just seemed really out of place from the rest of the story.
Displaying 1 of 1 review