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“Summer Sons is a southern summer in book form: hot and hungry and haunting. I couldn't put it down.” —Alix E. Harrow
“Truly intense: you can smell the blood, the sweat, and the petrol. It absolutely rips.” —Tamsyn Muir
“At once a raw, beautifully written gothic and an adrenaline-fueled debut, Summer Sons heralds a rich new voice in speculative fiction. Lee Mandelo is for real.” —Andy Davidson
“Intense, sweaty, and literally haunting, Summer Sons is the Southern gothic tale of race cars and graduate school I didn't know I needed. Come for the slow-burn relationships, and stay for the scalding hot twists.” —Annalee Newitz
“Mandelo’s visceral writing tugs at readers’ hearts as well as their amygdalas. Alternating between discussions of identity and sexuality, the horror of grief and an actual haunting, it is part The Fast and the Furious, part The Shining and part Ninth House.” —BookPage starred review
“Full of angst and lingering spirits, Mandelo’s debut is like Tennessee molasses—dense, dark, slow-moving, and with a distinct Southern flavor.” —Publishers Weekly
“Hooks you hard and fast from the start, then drags you kicking and screaming and loving it on a twisted backroad nightmare full of bad boys and badder revenants.” —Sam J. Miller
“A gripping, gasoline-drenched story of ghosts, friendships, and things left unspoken.” —Sarah Pinsker
“So visceral that you can feel the clammy sweat of fear and secrets, and it's full of the ugly rubbing edges of masculine frustration that's both the desire for violence, and desire itself.” —Shelley Parker-Chan
“By turns scary, sexy, and irreverent, Summer Sons is packed with a youthful intensity that frequently dives aside into strange and wistful sadness.” —The Chicago Review of Books
“Part nefarious ghost story, part academic thriller, with a Fast & Furious vibe, this compelling tale of mortal danger and dark supernatural power also thoughtfully grapples with notions of masculinity.” —Library Journal
“Summer Sons blends an academic setting with a healthy dose of body horror and powerful themes of redemption and queer yearning in a narrative that starts slowly and speeds over the finish line.” —Booklist
05/24/2021
Mandelo brings a queer goth aesthetic to the Southern gothic in their slow-building, brooding contemporary fantasy debut—with drag-racing, drug-use, and plenty of ghosts to boot. When Eddie Fulton dies of an apparent suicide, his best friend Andrew Blur inherits his fortune, house, roommate, research topic at Vanderbilt’s graduate program—and frightening sensitivity to ghosts. Andrew is convinced that Eddie didn’t kill himself, and as he delves into the mystery of Eddie’s death, no one is above suspicion and investigation, especially not Eddie’s handsome, charismatic, and reckless friend Sam Halse. Torn between the bright halls and shady academics of Vanderbilt and the dark streets and drug-fueled parties of Sam and his gang, Andrew must confront his past with Eddie in order to avenge his friend and conquer his own demons, both psychological and paranormal. Despite the high-speed car races that wind through the novel, the first half drags at a snail’s pace. Things pick up considerably in the second half, gaining urgency and narrative complexity, but the central mystery provides few interesting twists. Instead, the novel shines in the tortured love triangle between Andrew, an intriguing stranger, and the ghost that haunts him. Full of angst and lingering spirits, Mandelo’s debut is like Tennessee molasses—dense, dark, slow-moving, and with a distinct Southern flavor. (Sept.)
06/01/2021
DEBUT Eddie and Andrew have been best friends for years; they grew even closer after the accident that stranded them in a cavern as teens. Then Eddie kills himself at Vanderbilt; Andrew can't believe it, mostly because the "malevolent haunts" who have followed Andrew since the accident won't let him forget the past. Andrew visits Nashville to grapple with Eddie's death, sort out his inheritance, and try to figure out who really killed him and why—even if answering those questions means diving deeper into the supernatural curse that plagues him. The result is a satisfying, menacing, character-centered slow burn where every detail matters. Part nefarious ghost story, part academic thriller, with a Fast & Furious vibe, this compelling tale of mortal danger and dark supernatural power also thoughtfully grapples with notions of masculinity. VERDICT A great choice for readers who enjoy thought-provoking and engaging horror that asks its protagonists to come to terms with the monsters—both literal and metaphorical—in their past (such as Sam J. Miller's The Blade Between or Cynthia Pelayo's Children of Chicago). Also a good option for fans of dark academic thrillers, like Donna Tartt's The Secret History.
Will Damron narrates this Southern Gothic audiobook with flair. Andrew and Eddie have done everything together since boyhood. That includes the disastrous visit to a cavern that they swore never to mention again. When Eddie dies of an apparent suicide shortly after a solo move to Nashville, Andrew feels compelled to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death. Damron’s Southern drawl is perfect for a slow-burn story that mixes cutthroat academic intrigue, occult activity, and Appalachian street racing. He projects subtle menace onto various potential suspects implicated in Eddie’s gruesome death while clearly portraying the confusion and anger that have overtaken the grief-stricken Andrew. When supernatural horror elements enter the story, Damron’s raspy tones will send shivers down the listener’s spine. N.M. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Will Damron narrates this Southern Gothic audiobook with flair. Andrew and Eddie have done everything together since boyhood. That includes the disastrous visit to a cavern that they swore never to mention again. When Eddie dies of an apparent suicide shortly after a solo move to Nashville, Andrew feels compelled to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death. Damron’s Southern drawl is perfect for a slow-burn story that mixes cutthroat academic intrigue, occult activity, and Appalachian street racing. He projects subtle menace onto various potential suspects implicated in Eddie’s gruesome death while clearly portraying the confusion and anger that have overtaken the grief-stricken Andrew. When supernatural horror elements enter the story, Damron’s raspy tones will send shivers down the listener’s spine. N.M. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine