Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Three generations of abused women must navigate their chilling new reality as a mysterious epidemic of violence sweeps the nation in this compelling novel of self-discovery, legacy, and hope. When Chelsea Martin kisses her husband hello at the door of their perfect home, a chilled bottle of beer in hand and dinner on the table, she may look like the ideal wife, mother, and homemaker--but in fact she's following an unwritten rulebook, carefully navigating David's stormy moods in a desperate nightly bid to avoid catastrophe. If family time doesn't go exactly the way David wants, bad things happen--to Chelsea, and to the couple's seventeen-year-old daughter, Ella. Cut off from all support, controlled and manipulated for years, Chelsea has no resources and no one to turn to. Her wealthy, narcissistic mother, Patricia, would rather focus on the dust on her chandelier than acknowledge Chelsea's bruises. After all, Patricia's life looks perfect on the surface, too.
But the fa ade crumbles when a mysterious condition overtakes the nation. Known as the Violence, it causes the infected to experience sudden, explosive bursts of animalistic rage and attack anyone in their path. The ensuing chaos brings opportunity for Chelsea--and inspires a plan to liberate herself and her family once and for all.
Synopsis
How far would you go to be free? Three generations of women forge a new path through an America torn by a mysterious wave of violence in this electrifying, cathartic novel of revenge, liberation, and triumph. "A gorgeously creative and surprisingly gleeful story about the way violence infects every aspect of American life."--Sarah Langan, author of Good Neighbors
"A novel that defines this era."--Stephen Graham Jones, New York Times bestselling author of The Only Good Indians
ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022--CrimeReads
They call it The Violence: a strange epidemic that causes the infected to experience sudden bursts of animalistic rage, with no provocation and no memory of their crimes. While it tears the nation apart, one woman sees something unlikely in the chaos--an opportunity.
Chelsea Martin has been a prisoner in her own home for too long. Her controlling husband has manipulated her for years, cutting her off from all support. Her narcissistic mother is no help, and her teen daughter is realizing she might be falling into the same trap when her once adoring boyfriend shows a dark side.
But when the Violence erupts, Chelsea creates a plan to liberate herself and her daughters once and for all.
What follows is a shocking and thrilling journey as three generations of women navigate a world in which they are finally empowered to fight back. Somewhere along the journey from her magazine-ready Tampa home to the professional wrestling ring, Chelsea becomes her own liberator, an avatar of revenge and hope, and a new heroine for a new world.
Synopsis
How far would you go to be free? Three generations of women forge a new path through an America torn by a mysterious wave of violence in this
"chilling and] dizzyingly effective" (The New York Times Book Review) novel of revenge, liberation, and triumph. "A gorgeously creative and surprisingly gleeful story about the way violence infects every aspect of American life."--Sarah Langan, author of Good Neighbors
"A novel that defines this era."--Stephen Graham Jones, New York Times bestselling author of The Only Good Indians
They call it The Violence: a strange epidemic that causes the infected to experience sudden bursts of animalistic rage, with no provocation and no memory of their crimes. While it tears the nation apart, one woman sees something unlikely in the chaos--an opportunity.
Chelsea Martin has been a prisoner in her own home for too long. Her controlling husband has manipulated her for years, cutting her off from all support. Her narcissistic mother is no help, and her teen daughter is realizing she might be falling into the same trap when her once adoring boyfriend shows a dark side.
But when the Violence erupts, Chelsea creates a plan to liberate herself and her daughters once and for all.
What follows is a shocking and thrilling journey as three generations of women navigate a world in which they are finally empowered to fight back. Somewhere along the journey from her magazine-ready Tampa home to the professional wrestling ring, Chelsea becomes her own liberator, an avatar of revenge and hope, and a new heroine for a new world.