The Playbook for Settling Scores

by Lorna Tedder

The Payback Archives #4 in The Secret Lives of Librarians Universe

High‑Concept Tagline

Think The Magicians meets Veronica Mars meets Panic Room in a magical siege thriller where emotional betrayals are deadlier than spellcraft.

Description

When your ex-boyfriend holds the keys to the most dangerous library in the world, workplace drama takes on a whole new meaning.

Lilah Burns thought her biggest problem was avoiding her backstabbing ex-Charlie during her shifts at the Special Collections Library. That was before investigators showed up with warrants, containment teams, and far too much knowledge about the library’s classified magical systems.

Now she’s trapped in lockdown with a compromised vault, a collection of cursed books that could change reality, and a rising sense that someone she trusts has been lying for a very long time. Lilah is about to discover the library isn’t the only thing with hidden defenses.

Genre

Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Suspense, Supernatural Thriller, Dark Academia, Library Fantasy

Tone

Psychologically tense, Emotionally perceptive,  Intimate and suspenseful, Quietly vengeful,  Subversively empowering

Tropes

• Emergency lockdown 
• Ex-lovers forced to work together 
• Dangerous books, deadly knowledge 
• Hidden agendas in high-security vaults 
• Magic-sabotaged relationships
• Empath heroine with hidden abilities 
• Academic bureaucracy meets supernatural chaos 
• Trapped with a magical threat

Why You’ll Love It

The Playbook for Settling Scores delivers quiet revenge, layered truths, and the slow unraveling of liars in high places. It’s for readers who don’t need explosions—just a locked door, a shifting reality, and the sharp click of justice sliding into place.

Trigger / Sensitivity Warnings

Magical coercion, Emotional manipulation, Betrayal by trusted figures, Institutional gaslighting, Magical identity distortion, Descriptions of fear and confinement