Grady Hendrix is the author of the novels Horrorstör, about a haunted IKEA, and My Best Friend's Exorcism, which is like Beaches meets The Exorcist, only it's set in the Eighties. He's also the author of We Sold Our Souls, The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, Final Girl Support Group, and How to Sell a Haunted House. You can find him online at gradyhendrix.com.
Patricia Campbell's life has never felt smaller. Her husband is a workaholic, her teenage kids have their own lives, her senile mother-in-law needs constant care, and she's always a step behind on her endless to-do list. The only thing keeping her sane is her book club, a close-knit group of Charleston women united by their love of true crime. Then James Harris walks into her life during the summer of 1993. He makes her feel things she hasn't felt in years, but when children on the other side of town go missing, Patricia wonders if he's connected. Is he a Brad Pitt, a Bundy, or something much worse?
Like I mention above, Hendrix wrote an Introduction that influenced a big portion of how I read the book. I knew from the get-go that he would have plenty of commentary on motherhood, but I was stunned (in a really good way) by everything else that's packed into this 400-page book. I was heartbroken and frustrated for Patricia and the other housewives as we learned about the depth of their husbands' ignorance, arrogance, abuse, and more. Reading the scenes between Patricia and Carter bring their own level of horror; I simply cannot imagine being gaslit by a life partner the way Patricia is. But past that, Hendrix also comments on racial disparity and white privilege. The fact of the matter is, the murder at the beginning of the book occurs in Black communities, and that's why no one is blinking an eye. While Patricia sees it and fears for her own children, she too is blinded by her own privilege, eventually ignoring the sins committed against the Black community because it's not happening to her. Within all of this commentary, there is so much horror, both situational horror (like when the husbands are gaslighting their wives) and your traditional gory horror moments. I was definitely impressed by Hendrix's ability to weave commentary through a historical fiction novel about southern housewives reading books and slaying vampires, and that's part of the reason I absolutely will read more of his work.
I truly didn't want to stop reading this book—once I started, I finished in 24 hours. A lot of what compelled me to keep reading was that gnawing feeling like Patricia had: who is this newcomer to town, and is he dangerous, and will he reveal what he truly is? Once some of these questions start getting answered, more questions start to take their place, and then I truly couldn't put the book down because I needed to know how it all ended. Books that compel their readers forward through the story like this aren't always easy to find. The pacing of the story was natural and organic, but it certainly was fast and engaging. Some POV switches also help readers navigate through some tight spaces that Patricia wouldn't be able to see around, and you end up connected to each of these southern women as they try to keep their families safe.
What's even crazier is that I do have some leftover questions—will the men get the truth about what happened in the '90s? Will James Harris somehow come back? Will Patricia's children be okay? Did Ragtag's diagnosis occur because of something that happened to him, too? And what about James's power to seemingly be in two places at once; will we ever truly get clarity on all the sins he committed in the town?—but their answers don't matter so much to me, in the sense that the read is satisfying even with these unanswered questions. Hendrix is able to craft a story that feels bigger than what's on the page, and the reality that we've left behind when we close the last page still exists. So, I guess anything is possible, and what makes this horror novel even more horrifying to me is that we may never truly know the extent of this one man's crimes. Which, I think, speaks broadly about the crimes committed like serial killers like the fictional one here.
I can't wait to read more from Grady Hendrix. Until then, you can find him online at gradyhendrix.com.
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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