Konstantin Duhovny is a haunted man. His father died when he was ten, and ghosts have been hovering around him ever since. Kostya can’t exactly see the ghosts, but he can taste their favorite foods. Flavors of meals he’s never eaten will flood his mouth, a sign that a spirit is present. He’s kept these aftertastes a secret for most of his life, but one night, he decides to act on what he’s tasting. And everything changes.
Kostya discovers that he can reunite people with their departed loved ones—just for one last meal. Convinced that his life’s purpose is to serve closure to grieving strangers, he sets out to open a restaurant by entering a particularly fiery ring of Hell: the New York culinary scene. But as his kitchen skills catch up with his ambitions, he’s too blind to see the catastrophe looming in the Afterlife. And the one person who knows Kostya must be stopped also happens to be falling in love with him.
Set in the bustling world of New York restaurants and teeming with mouthwatering food writing, Aftertaste is a whirlwind romance, a heart-wrenching look at love and loss, and a ghost story about all the ways we hunger—and how far we’d go to find satisfaction.
PRAISE FOR AFTERTASTE
On the Menu
PART 1
Mouthfeels
PART 2
Bitters & Heat
PART 3
Sweet & Vicious
PART 4
Acids & Trips
PART 5
Salt & Earth
LAST BITES
Petits Fours
Konstantin: The Chef
“Now Kostya kept his secrets, his aftertastes, in the unremarkable present. In a bland, haunted loop. He’d stay that way awhile. But not forever.”
Kostya is a grieving kid when he develops the ability to taste the food of the Dead, and a failed thirty-something when he finally decides to act on these aftertastes. That decision leads him on an astonishing journey—through the New York culinary scene, and into the depths of his own desires.
Maura: The Psychic
“Grief shows up in a lot of complicated ways, and mine was denial…I started chasing thrills. Ecstasy, adrenaline, spark—they beat the hell out of hurting.”
Maura wasn’t supposed to be a psychic. She wasn’t supposed to get stuck in her grief. She really wasn’t supposed to mess with the Afterlife. (She wasn’t supposed to do a lot of things.) And she definitely wasn’t supposed to fall for the one person who could fix everything—and also blow it to smithereens.
Frankie: The Tour Guide
“My name’s Frankie, but I’ll answer to Kosh, Shaun, Shaunessey, Key, Shy, and, of course, Tall, Dark, and Handsome—I see you, ladies!—and I’ll be your guide today.”
Effortlessly cool, the life of every party, and a James Beard nominated chef to boot, Frankie is Kostya’s best friend and roommate. He’s also one of the only people who knows what Konstantin is capable of, and willing to push him to share it with the world.
Everleigh: The Ghost
“Sooner or later, most spirits get to board the glittering trains departing the Food Hall and move On. But some of us don’t. Some of us can’t feel full no matter what we eat.”
Everleigh is stuck. Like, really stuck. In the Afterlife, in a situation that doesn’t end well, unless she can find a way to finally feel satisfaction. And then she hears about this chef…
Viktor: The Investor
“While his accent was goofy, all Rocky and Bullwinkle, Boris and Natasha in fedoras and furs…Viktor Musizchka (muted) was a force. The kind of man you’d want to do business with.”
Viktor gets things done, no matter the means necessary. He welcomes Kostya into his inner circle to open a high concept restaurant serving spirits, but someone like Viktor isn’t about charity. He’s about opportunity.
Vera: The Widow
“Vera Duhovny was the most superstitious person he had ever met. She had talismans and taboos and countless compulsions that she employed to navigate around and over and through life’s many wrong turns.”
When Vera loses her beloved Sergei, a part of her dies, too. She can barely care for herself, let alone for Konstantin. And when he reveals a strange secret—a haunting in his mouth—she makes a decision she regrets for the rest of her days.
Aftertaste Tour
May 19
McNally Jackson
(Southstreet Seaport)
New York, NY
May 20
Little City Books
Hoboken, NJ
May 28
Books and Books
Coral Gables, FL
May 29
Politics and Prose
Washington, D.C.
June 1
Bookends
Ridgewood, NJ
MORE DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED