Trouble the Saints
#8343.35 adjusted 3.55 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 2020 Reading commitment Low Alaya Dawn Johnson Last reviewed 2026-08-18
Overview
Trouble the Saints is a 2020 standalone noir fantasy by Alaya Dawn Johnson, set in New York City on the eve of the Second World War. Phyllis Green, a light-skinned Black woman passing as white, works as an assassin for a Harlem-based crime boss, using an uncanny, inherited gift in her hands that lets her sense a target's intentions in the instant before she strikes. As Phyllis tries to leave that violence behind for a quieter life with her partner Dev, the city's simmering racial and political tensions, and the toll of her own past killings, converge to make a clean exit impossible. Johnson tells the story from multiple viewpoints, including Phyllis's and Dev's, to explore how racial passing, organized crime, and inherited magic intersect with the specific historical pressures of Depression-era and prewar Harlem. Trouble the Saints won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 2021.
Dark fantasy, Historical fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
Trouble the Saints Alaya Dawn Johnson
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Trouble the Saints | 2020 | 1 | core | 3.35 (2,055 ratings) |
Standalone novel; a 1930s New York noir blending gangster politics with a mystical, uncanny gift for violence passed down through hands. Alaya Dawn Johnson's first universe in this canon.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Trouble the Saints? Trouble the Saints's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is Trouble the Saints finished? Complete (2020).
- How much reading does Trouble the Saints take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book · ~352 pages).
- How is Trouble the Saints ranked? #834 in this site's official ranking, based on 2,055 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #834?
Ranked #834 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.35 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (2,055 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- 0.16 behind #833, Magic or Madness.
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
- A single standalone novel: ranked on that one book alone.
Why explore this universe?
Modestly rated · 1 book · Complete · 2k ratings · Ranks #834 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment dark fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- World Fantasy Award (Best Novel), 2021: won: Trouble the Saints
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.35 across 2,055 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Trouble the Saints admitted accepted 2026-08-18
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-08-18
Rule: Core = the single standalone novel; no sequel or prequel exists in this continuity.