A.M. Muffaz - Finches

Ghani is a devout retiree, content to mind his garden and await the birth of his latest child. But when his firstborn son returns from abroad with a mysterious stranger in tow, the well-ordered reality Ghani knew begins to unravel. As his fruits rot on the vine and his hens turn feral, Quranic dogma and Darwinian idealism come to a head, sowing chaos that sets root in every member of his family.

Finches is a dark fantasy set in contemporary Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia—a period marked by the increasingly more menacing public influence of Islamists and a clampdown on civil and GLBT rights. The novella is told in five vignettes, each from the perspective of either Ghani or his family members, and touches on how different generations contend with this social context.

My first published book, Finches, is out from Vernacular Books. It is currently available in print or as Kindle and NOOK versions.

What people are saying about Finches:

"Beautiful prose that the efficient story takes on a timeless feel, moving effortlessly between magic and horror. Woven with a fine silk, this is a story that begs to be reread." - Publishers Weekly

"A surprising and insightful horor tale." - Kirkus

“This lushly described Malaysian ghost story shocks like a sudden arctic breeze in the middle of a Kuala Lumpur summer. There were times, as I read this, when my blood ran cold. A.M. Muffaz’s exquisitely portrayed characters will continue to haunt you long after their story is over.” — Loren Rhoads, author of Unsafe Words

"Step over the threshold of Grandmother Jah’s home and meet the ghosts of a murder so gruesome it violates both souls and soil. But those are not the only ghosts that haunt her and her family in this harrowing novella by A.M. Muffaz. Set in Malaysia where polygamy is still practiced, the story reveals the modern struggles of women and LGBTQ folk in the stranglehold of a religious patriarchal society. I love Afi’s blend of chilling yet heartrending imagery as she creates the old home, the family members both living and dead, and the trauma caused by their father and culture. Bravo, Afi! This novella is incredibly special." - Maria Alexander, multiple Bram Stoker Award®-winning author of The Bloodline of Yule Trilogy

"Finches is a sublime story filled with ghosts and a haunted family, all of which make for an intricate tale that is simultaneously surreal and gut-wrenching." — T. Frohock, author of The Los Nefilim series

The Finches' Guide to Malaysia is here!

Finches' Guide to Malaysia by A.M. Muffaz cover

The Finches' Guide to Malaysia is my free mini introduction to the setting and elements that appear in Finches. There's a little bit about local food culture, wildlife, the supernatural and by reader request, my recipe for pickled cabbage!