In a genre crowded with apocalyptic visions, what sets a story apart is often the emotional truth beneath the fantasy. For author Tiffany Hanley, that truth came from watching her own children navigate life after loss.
A farm boy discovers he is both a defender and a target in The First Trumpet, the new novel from Tiffany Hanley that blends supernatural danger with the moral weight of leadership.
When a trumpet blast triggers earthquakes, a transformed sky, and the rising dead, Lucas can no longer stay the quiet young man who shuns attention. He learns that his golden, glowing blood attracts dark forces, placing him at the center of a fight to protect a world on the brink of destruction.
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Fleeing into the mountains, Lucas travels with two siblings whose abilities are equally remarkable: Jesse possesses the strength to bend steel, while Maya can see what lies ahead. Their mother, an angel, died giving birth to them, and their blood now makes them targets. The journey offers no safe harbor. A destination that promised protection and aid falls silent, leaving the three siblings with only a glowing blade and the weight of confronting the catastrophe themselves.
Lucas must also wrestle with whether survival can justify misusing his gift. When Gabriel urges him toward evil, he refuses, aware that his brother and sister look to him for direction. Hanley identifies that moment as the scene that matters most to her. It transforms the question of power into one of responsibility: Lucas’s actions set an example for the family depending on him, not just a path for himself.
The novel weaves together angels, magic, biblical elements, and battles with the pressures of betrayal and pursuit. The siblings’ supernatural abilities set them apart, but their bond gives them a shared stake beyond individual survival. Hanley describes family loyalty as the heart of the adventure, tying the siblings’ efforts to hold one another together to the dangers they must face. The action and the family story are intertwined rather than separate threads.
That emphasis grew from Hanley’s experience after her husband’s death. She watched her children cope with grief, support one another, and make hard choices. Their resilience helped shape the book’s emotional concerns, bringing a personal perspective to a fantasy about young people confronting loss and uncertainty. The imagined catastrophe provides the backdrop; the family experience supplies its emotional core.
Written with young adults in mind, the book speaks to readers approaching decisions that may shape their futures. Hanley also hopes it will reach other age groups, particularly those who recognize the difficulty of finding a way forward after loss. Her intended message is that strength lies in choosing what is right when an easier, darker alternative exists. For her young protagonists, extraordinary gifts do not remove the need to decide who they want to become.
“This book is my way of honoring my children, the man who believed in my writing, and every reader who has had to find their strength after loss.”
— TIFFANY HANLEY
Tiffany Hanley is the author of The First Trumpet, a fantasy novel written with young adults in mind.
Available now. Get your copy here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HPCR8MZP
For review copies, interview requests, or additional information, please contact:
Tiffany Hanley
BrightKey PR
+1 (646) 640-0262
media@brightkeypr.com
Why it matters: Hanley’s novel demonstrates how fantasy can serve as a vehicle for processing real grief, offering young readers a story where extraordinary powers are less important than the ordinary courage of choosing family and integrity. By grounding apocalyptic stakes in a mother’s firsthand experience of loss, the book suggests that the most compelling otherworldly adventures are often rooted in the most human of struggles.
