The Butcher
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Shirley Jackson meets Never Let Me Go with the wild west setting of Westworld in this suspenseful small-town horror novel of oppression, heartbreak, and buried anguish.
“Immersive, original, and unflinching . . . A satisfying, blood-spattered exploration of justice and vengeance.” —Rachel Harrison, author of Cackle and The Return
When Lady Mae turns 18, she’ll inherit her mother’s job as the Butcher: dismembering Settlement Five’s guilty residents as payment for their petty crimes. An index finger taken for spreading salacious gossip, a foot for blasphemy—no one is exempt from punishment.
But one day Winona refuses to butcher a 6-year-old boy. The leaders, known as the Deputies, come to Lady Mae’s house, and, right there in the living room, murder her mother for refusing her duties.
Within 24 hours, now alone in the world, Lady Mae begins her new job. But a chance meeting years later puts her face to face with the Deputy that murdered her mother. Now Lady Mae must choose: will she flee, and start another life in the desolate mountains, forever running? Or will she seek vengeance for her mother’s death even if it kills her?
Perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery and Andrew Michael Hurley’s Devil’s Day, The Butcher is a page-turning horror dystopia infused with melancholy, humanity—and society’s maddening acceptance in the face of horror.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Young's debut disappoints with a harsh world that's never sufficiently explained and a female lead whose lack of agency makes her difficult to root for. Lady Mae Hilvers is preparing to take over her mother's role as Butcher in Settlement Five, dishing out gory punishments for crimes committed by its citizens. After her mother refuses to kill a child, a higher authority, Deputy Iverson, kills her, and Lady Mae inherits her mother's job in the worst way possible. Lady Mae works as the Butcher for five years without incident—until Deputy Iverson returns to Settlement Five, reminding Lady Mae of her mother's death and forcing her to reckon with emotions she's buried. Iverson has an inexplicable vendetta against both Lady Mae and her childhood best friend, Arbuckle Anfield, and turns the wrath of all Settlement Five's Deputies on them. The Deputies' motives for homing in on Lady Mae and Arbuckle are never satisfactorily explained and, though an adult, Lady Mae's naivete and voice mimic that of a young teenager. Plot holes, underdeveloped characters, and an attempt to shoehorn in an incongruous message of forgiveness prevent this from living up to its premise.
