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Title details for What Kind of Mother by Clay McLeod Chapman - Wait list

What Kind of Mother

A Novel

by Clay McLeod Chapman
ebook
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A New York Times Book Review Best Horror of 2023 selection.

“Packed with profoundly unsettling scenes that’ll slither under your skin and stay there long after you turn the last page.”—Gabino Iglesias, author of The Devil Takes You Home
After striking out on her own as a teen mom, Madi Price is forced to return to her hometown of Brandywine, Virginia, with her seventeen-year-old daughter. With nothing to her name, she scrapes together a living as a palm reader at the local farmers market.  
It’s there that she connects with old high school flame Henry McCabe, now a reclusive local fisherman whose infant son, Skyler, went missing five years ago. Everyone in town is sure Skyler is dead, but when Madi reads Henry’s palm, she’s haunted by strange and disturbing visions that suggest otherwise. As she follows the thread of these visions, Madi discovers a terrifying nightmare waiting at the center of the labyrinth—and it’s coming for everyone she holds dear.
Combining supernatural horror with domestic suspense into a visceral exploration of parental grief, What Kind of Mother cements Clay McLeod Chapman's reputation as a “star” (Vulture) and “the twenty-first century’s Richard Matheson” (Richard Chizmar, Chasing the Boogeyman.)

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    September 12, 2023

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781683693819

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781683693819
      • File size: 4407 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      June 1, 2023

      Having fled her hometown of Brandywine, VA, as a pregnant teenager, palm reader Madi returns years later so that her teenage daughter can connect with her birth father. When Madi encounters her high school boyfriend Henry, a fisherman who's been searching for his kidnapped son and mourning his dead wife, she reads his palm and experiences disturbing images of the water and the boy, visions that have physical manifestations. Chapman immediately introduces suspense, hooking readers with Madi's engaging but increasingly unstable narration, confidently and deliberately steering the tone from uneasy to weird to terrifying with a twist that readers won't see coming. A disorienting, immersive, and thought-provoking contemplation of hope, grief, and guilt that traps its audience in a net of visceral and palpable horror. VERDICT Chapman (Ghost Eaters) is becoming a not-to-miss horror novelist. Suggest this one to a varied audience of fans who enjoy intense psychological tales like Paul Tremblay's The Pallbearers Club, body horror like Ahmed Saadawi's Frankenstein in Baghdad, and parental horror like Zoje Stage's Baby Teeth; don't forget fans of the pulp classic "Clickers" series, originated by J.F. Gonzalez.

      Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Booklist

      August 1, 2023
      Madi Price is back in her hometown with her daughter, scraping by telling fortunes out of her hotel room. When she runs into Henry McCabe, there's enough of a spark that she wonders if they might rekindle their teenage romance; it's a setup perfect for a Hallmark movie. Then Henry asks her to use her abilities to help him find his son, Skyler, who disappeared six years earlier. Madi is resistant--not least because she doesn't believe she's actually psychic--but then starts having visions related to Skyler and Henry's late wife, Grace. The Chesapeake Bay setting is fully realized, and the book is perfectly paced, tricking readers into believing it's one kind of story before slowly morphing into one that's much weirder and scarier. At its heart, this is a book about parenthood and the horrors inherent in losing oneself in the all-consuming love for one's children, and the sometimes-terrifying lengths parents will go to protect their kids. Recommend to readers who enjoyed Victor LaValle's The Changeling (2017), Zoje Stage's Baby Teeth (2018), or Laurel Hightower's Crossroads (2020).

      COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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