Manhunt

by Gretchen Felker-Martin Narrated by Katherine Pucciariello

Overview

STARRED Reviews in Library Journal and Booklist!
A Most-Anticipated Title in CrimeReads, BookRiot, Tor.com, Electric Lit, and more.
Featured in Autostraddle, Apartment Therapy, Goodreads, and more.

Gretchen Felker-Martin's Manhunt is an explosive post-apocalyptic novel that follows trans women and men on a grotesque journey of survival.

“A modern horror masterpiece.” -Carmen Maria Machado, bestselling author of In the Dream House

“Keeps up a relentless velocity while just being plain fun as hell.”-Torrey Peters, author of Detransition, Baby

Beth and Fran spend their days traveling the ravaged New England coast, hunting feral men and harvesting their organs in a gruesome effort to ensure they'll never face the same fate.

Robbie lives by his gun and one hard-learned motto: other people aren't safe.

After a brutal accident entwines the three of them, this found family of survivors must navigate murderous TERFs, a sociopathic billionaire bunker brat, and awkward relationship dynamics-all while outrunning packs of feral men, and their own demons.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Nightfire.

Editorial Reviews

MARCH 2022 - AudioFile

Narrator Katherine Pucciariello delivers an imposing performance in this postapocalyptic story in which the entire male population has turned feral. Beth and Fran, both trans women, hunt men down and harvest their organs. They team up with Robbie, a trans man, in order to survive and avoid the murderous impulses of trans-exclusionary radical feminists. Pucciariello adopts some accents to capture the story’s New England setting but doesn’t always consistently differentiate voices. There are also a few noticeable edits in the production. However, Pucciariello’s strongly delivers scenes of graphic violence and erotic passion. Briskly paced, this audiobook demands one’s attention from the very first minute. A.K.R. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

11/22/2021

Felker-Martin’s daring debut imagines a world in which a plague turns men into violent cannibals and those left alive must do whatever they can do survive, including—in the case of trans women like Beth and Fran—harvesting men’s genitals to keep the disease at bay themselves. The two meet up with Robbie, a gunslinging trans man bearing his own trauma, and together the three seek safety, facing waves of feral men, heavily armed TERFs (trans-exclusionary radical feminists) hell-bent on bringing about the extinction of trans women, and the labyrinthine dynamics of their own relationships as they process their brutal histories. Felker-Martin’s horror chops are top-notch, with gut-churning prose zoomed in on the strangeness of human bodies and on the characters’ squeamish relationships with the physical realm, and her exploration of mental illness, trauma, and dysphoria excellently complement the grimy atmosphere. The plot, however, doesn’t quite coalesce, with much of the narrative feeling like a series of vignettes lashed together, and it can be frustrating to process all the small-scale emotional beats without the clear vision of where the story might be heading. Still, this swings for the fences admirably. Fans of Poppy Z. Brite and Clive Barker should give this, well, ballsy postapocalyptic tale a shot. (Feb.)

From the Publisher

Manhunt is sublime horror – gory, impeccably written, a condemnation and a celebration with a cast of incredibly flawed, deeply interesting characters.... By far the best book I've read this year. You should read it and share it with all your friends and enemies.” —Roxane Gay

“Disgustingly rendered and brilliantly imagined…. A fresh, stomach-turning take on gendered apocalypse.” —NPR

"A filthy, furious delight; within its tense, gruesome premise live roundly human characters, with big, unwieldy emotions. It’s a shockingly tender exploration of genders and bodies, of violence as a part of nature, of the way love is a tool of survival." —The New Yorker

"It’s a book that almost no one will finish without finding something that shocks, appalls, or angers them, but anyone with the balls to tackle a truly transgressive horror novel will find much to savor."—Esquire

"The book is timely, visceral, grotesque, unflinching, and unexpectedly fun, full of sex and gore and messy, beautiful humanity."—Vulture

“A grisly, gory, glorious work of splatterpunk social horror — and the perfect introduction to both subgenres.” —Bustle

"The most unique perspective on one of the most well-trodden genres of the past several years, Manhunt takes no prisoners in its twisted tale of transgender and non-binary people in a post-apocalyptic wasteland."—Buzzfeed

"A masterful genre-bending horror novel, Manhunt is a must read."—Observer

“Felker-Martin’s horror chops are top-notch.... A ballsy postapocalyptic tale.” —Publishers Weekly

“A sensual, tender, honest, and inspirational story of imperfect but well-meaning people banding together in an attempt to not only survive but thrive.” —Library Journal, STARRED review

“An audacious dystopian story ... destined to be one of the year’s most talked-about novels.” —Electric Lit

“Highly recommended for those looking for particularly upsetting or disturbing horror fiction.” —Booklist, STARRED review

“Reading this book was like tonguing a live wire; I loved every moment and I still haven’t recovered. As erotic as it is devastating, as brilliant as it is visceral, Manhunt is a modern horror masterpiece.” —Carmen Maria Machado, bestselling author of In the Dream House

“It’s beautifully written, a barbed hook that will dig deep and split you open.” —Cassandra Khaw, USA Today bestselling author of author of Nothing But Blackened Teeth

“An iconic masterpiece of modern fiction. Dark and vicious. Visceral and uniquely devastating....I loved every second of it.” —Eric LaRocca, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since Last We Spoke

“Felker-Martin can write: Manhunt expertly drops one political target after another, breaks your heart with nearly every character, and keeps up a relentless velocity— all while just being plain fun as hell.” —Torrey Peters, author of Detransition, Baby

“Manhunt is a celebration of trans people and a literary blitzkrieg against TERFocracy. Timely and necessary, this is extreme horror that says something. Listen to it.” —Gabino Iglesias, author of The Devil Takes You Home

“A unique, brain-searing nightmare that's full-on teeth and claws, and all heart too.” —Hailey Piper, author of Queen of Teeth

“Taut, visceral, terrifying. A gripping tale of trans survival, rendered in Felker-Martin’s exquisite, uncompromising prose. You can’t turn the pages fast enough.” —David Demchuk, author of Red X

“Every ten years or so, a horror novel comes along that pushes the genre to terrifying new heights. Manhunt is such a novel. An emotional buzzsaw of a book that left me shaken.” —Brian Keene, bestselling author of The Rising and End of the Road

“Manhunt is a razor-sharp novel, and Felker-Martin is here to raise the bar for post-apocalyptic fiction. Prepare to take a bite that will stain your jaws red.” —Meg Elison, author of The Book of the Unnamed Midwife

“Equal parts terrifying and transgressive, every page of this thrilling novel drips with blood, ichor, and other bodily fluids. Manhunt will grab you by the throat on page one and won't let go until the end.” —Lincoln Michel, author of The Body Scout

“A must-read for fans of post-apocalyptic horror. Felker-Martin's prose is stellar, her characters are compelling, and her novel's pace is tremendous.” —Lucy A. Snyder, Bram Stoker-Award winning author

"Thrilling, gory, disgusting, and wonderfully cathartic, Manhunt is a manifesto against every gender apocalypse stereotype, creating space for trans and nonbinary people in the biology of transhumanism by eating the competition whole."—Gizmodo

"Manhunt is also the rare case of a book that absolutely lives up to the tremendous hype and infamy surrounding it."—Paste Magazine

"Manhunt is as gruesome and violent as it is empathetic and complex; a vital reimagining of how these narratives are constructed and produced, complete with an all-out war against militant TERFs and moments of yearning that are deeply painful." —The Mary Sue

"Manhunt is the sexiest, angriest, most deeply felt, and most urgent take on the zombie apocalypse I've ever read. It's a breathless wonder."—Emily V Gordon

“The feel-bad classic of the decade. A pitiless, nerve-shredding descent into Hell; as ruthless as it is perceptive ... Felker-Martin writes the best queer horror on the market.” —April Daniels, author of the Nemesis trilogy

“What a refresher it is to read Manhunt, where trans characters don't just take center stage, but are imperfect and complex, and the horror around them and their reactions feel realistic and urgent. Manhunt is brutal and empathetic. This book is dripping with visceral imagery and vulnerability.” —Archie Bongiovanni, author of A Quick & Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns

“I hope that as many people as humanly possible read Manhunt. It gives you a deep gift of human understanding and empathy through nearly indescribable body horror and mortal terror.” —Felix Biederman, New York Times bestselling author of The Chapo Guide to Revolution

“Out of the exuberantly gory splatterfest emerges a tender celebration of women and women’s bodies, no matter how reviled and monsterized, in all their capacity for pleasure, resistance, and life.” —Maya Deane, author of Wrath Goddess Sing

“Humane and pissed off and funny and real and acerbic and tragic. It does everything a book can do, but still has time to be a full-on horror novel with some of the most grueling sequences I've ever read, ever.” —Adam Cesare, author of Clown in a Cornfield and Video Night

“Manhunt is a vital, angry re-evaluation of the zombie apocalypse narrative, putting the spotlight on characters usually left behind and shamefully ignored. Vicious and charming, absolutely not to be missed.” —Trevor Henderson

“Manhunt is an intense, pulse-pounding thriller that is equal parts sapphic, sophisticated, and stylish. Felker-Martin's prose is volcanic and visceral.” —David Gallaher, author of High Moon and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon

“A raw horror-filled mouthful that will stretch your jaws to aching while you struggle feverishly to take yet another bite, and another, and another…A must-read, PERIOD.” —Jordan Shiveley, author of Hot Singles In Your Area

"This is a debut that literally throws open the door and announces its arrival by making sure the room knows its intentions to stay. Manhunt is what the future of this genre looks like. Take note." —Grimdark Magazine

“A violent, blood-drenched corrective to a rash of ill-considered gender plague novels by cis authors.” —Apartment Therapy

“I dub this the great TERF-pocalypse novel....I cannot underscore enough how much I love this novel.” —CrimeReads

Library Journal

★ 01/01/2022

DEBUT Beth and Fran are in the woods, on the run from monsters—some created by a virus that turns any human with enough testosterone into a zombie-like creature; others from an organized group of women ruled by a violent brand of anti-trans hate. Beth and Fran are not helpless, however. They are skilled hunters, seeking the valuable, estrogen-rich testicles of the infected men to bring back to their friend Indi, a doctor who is distilling E for medicinal purposes. So begins this compelling, fast-paced, and tense postapocalyptic tale of a band of survivors fighting off villains and struggling to find safety, featuring stellar worldbuilding and complex, fully developed characters. The original frame, a testosterone-driven plague, opens the door for Felker-Martin to probe the popular zombie trope while simultaneously centering the experience of trans men and women. The result is a sensual, tender, honest, and inspirational story of imperfect but well-meaning people banding together in an attempt to not only survive but thrive. VERDICT This novel confidently plants a flag declaring its place among the greatest band-of-survivor zombie tales, right beside thought-provoking, action-packed classics such as The Rising, by Brian Keene, Zone One, by Colson Whitehead, and Mira Grant's "Newsflesh" series.

MARCH 2022 - AudioFile

Narrator Katherine Pucciariello delivers an imposing performance in this postapocalyptic story in which the entire male population has turned feral. Beth and Fran, both trans women, hunt men down and harvest their organs. They team up with Robbie, a trans man, in order to survive and avoid the murderous impulses of trans-exclusionary radical feminists. Pucciariello adopts some accents to capture the story’s New England setting but doesn’t always consistently differentiate voices. There are also a few noticeable edits in the production. However, Pucciariello’s strongly delivers scenes of graphic violence and erotic passion. Briskly paced, this audiobook demands one’s attention from the very first minute. A.K.R. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940176284300
Publisher:	Macmillan Audio
Publication date:	02/22/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	970,987

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