An Academy for Liars

Lennon Carter’s life is falling apart.

Until she gets a mysterious phone call inviting her to sit the entrance exam for somewhere few have heard of – Drayton College, a school of magic hidden in a secret pocket of Savannah.

Lennon doesn’t know it yet, but she is special. She possesses the innate gift of persuasion: the ability to wield her will like a weapon, controlling others, and even matter itself. But this is a devastating power than Lennon must learn how to master.

While persuasion takes a heavy toll on her body and her mind, she is captivated by all that surrounds her – her studies, Drayton’s lush campus and, most of all, Dante – the charismatic adviser who both intimidates and enamours her.

But the longer that Lennon spends at Drayton, learning to wield her uncanny abilities, the more she uncovers about Drayton’s unsettling history, and Dante’s tragic and violent past.

For it seems that the ultimate test is to embrace absolute power without succumbing to corruption and darkness . . . and it’s a test she’s terrified she is going to fail.

Review

This darkly gorgeous story is a lavish feast for fans of gothic horror. One of my top reads of the year! -- SUNYI DEAN, author of The Book Eaters

The perfect blend of gothic horror and dark academia. It grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go until long after its final pages. Lennon’s is a vicious and gloriously unsettling tale of power, betrayal, and the bloody price of ambition. -- FRANCESCA MAY, author of Wild and Wicked Things

Alexis Henderson turns her incredible eye for the upsetting to academia, and delivers a campus novel saturated with violence, desire, and power. It's a book with blood on its lips, and I loved it completely. -- ALIX E. HARROW, author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January

A modern-day Anne Rice, Henderson has a gift for creating a world engorged with desire and death. ― THE NEW YORK TIMES

An Academy for Liars is propulsive, thought provoking, and sexy - Alexis Henderson is in a class of her own. -- HANNAH WHITTEN, author of The Foxglove King

Dark academia stunner infused with Henderson's signature style – it's lush, atmospheric, imaginative and impossible to put down. -- RACHEL HARRISON, author of Cackle

Perfect for the darker nights, this atmospheric novel is one for lovers of dark academia. ― HEAT magazine

About the Author

Alexis Henderson is a speculative fiction writer with a penchant for dark fantasy, witchcraft and cosmic horror. Growing up in one of America’s most haunted cities, Savannah, Georgia, instilled in her a life-long love of ghost stories. When she doesn’t have her nose buried in a book, you can find her painting or watching horror movies with her feline familiar. Her acclaimed adult books include The Year of the Witching, House of Hunger and An Academy for Liars. Her debut YA novel, When I Was Death, publishes in March 2026.