Maria Dahvana Headley‘s novel, Queen of Kings, the first book in a trilogy, hit stores yesterday, and is listed as one of USA TODAY’s 10 books not to miss in May!

Here’s a description:

Once there was a queen of Egypt…a queen who became through magic something else…

The year is 30 BC. Octavian Caesar and his massed legions are poised to enter Alexandria. A messenger informs Queen Cleopatra that her beloved Mark Antony has died by his own hand. Desperate to save her kingdom and resurrect her husband, Cleopatra turns to the gods for help. Ignoring the warnings of those around her, she summons Sekhmet, goddess of death and destruction, and strikes a mortal bargain. But not even the wisest of Egypt’s scholars could have predicted what would follow…

In exchange for Antony’s soul, Sekhmet demands something in return: Cleopatra herself. Egypt’s queen is possessed, transformed into a vampiric creature of mythical proportions, an immortal shapeshifter with superhuman strength—at once ferocious and seductive. Fighting to preserve something of her humanity, Cleopatra pursues Octavian back to Rome: she desires revenge, she yearns for her children…and she craves human blood.

Clashing against witches and monsters, gods and warriors, Cleopatra journeys from the tombs of the Pharaohs to the great amphitheaters of imperial Rome to the ancient underworld—where she will meet her love once again, and where the battle between man and beast will determine the fate of the world.

Blending history, mythology and the darkest of fantasy, Queen of Kings brings the timeless story of Cleopatra to life like never before in this stunningly original and spellbinding debut.