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Welcome to the Chaoskampf
The year that Florida fell into the sea, I killed a man and joined a cult and ran away to Mexico. I ate human flesh for the first time.
It’s another sticky summer in New Orleans and the world is ending. Natural disasters abound, tourists are descending on the Old Town and Marcy’s old wrestling scar has reopened. It’s enough to make any girl want to take her seemingly perfect husband and tedious job and set it all on fire.
So when Marcy meets a crew of degenerate filmmakers who are keen to whisk her away from her ordinary life, she lets herself be swept into their world of filth, arson and debauchery.
For their part, they’re convinced Marcy’s strange scar is a sign she’s the Chosen One they need to lead their community through the end of times. For hers, she’s never been able to resist that kind of flattery.
It’s another sticky summer in New Orleans and the world is ending. Natural disasters abound, tourists are descending on the Old Town and Marcy’s old wrestling scar has reopened. It’s enough to make any girl want to take her seemingly perfect husband and tedious job and set it all on fire.
So when Marcy meets a crew of degenerate filmmakers who are keen to whisk her away from her ordinary life, she lets herself be swept into their world of filth, arson and debauchery.
For their part, they’re convinced Marcy’s strange scar is a sign she’s the Chosen One they need to lead their community through the end of times. For hers, she’s never been able to resist that kind of flattery.
368 pages, Hardcover
Published May 14, 2026
About the author
Jane Flett
13 books103 followersJane Flett is a Scottish writer who lives in Berlin. Her fiction has been commissioned for BBC Radio 4, featured in Electric Literature's Recommended Reading, Highly Commended in the Bridport Prize and performed at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. She is one half of the riot grrrl band Razor Cunts and a founder of Queer Stories Berlin. Freakslaw is her first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 10, 2026
3.5 rounded up.
This was a vibrant, original and suitably chaotic novel packed with cults, cannibals, the apocalypse, lashings of rage, and bucket-fulls of comic book horror.
I was immediately hooked with the narrative style, which fizzes and zips with a swashbuckling energy right from the start. It has swagger, it has panache and I burned through the opening quarter.
Our main character of Marcy is flawed but hugely likeable - a Glaswegian fish out of water in New Orleans who we get to see transform into our rampaging hero. Her arc is really fun to follow as her life becomes increasingly unusual and unstable. Oh, she also thinks her own dog is a prick, which is something I can truly relate to.
Obviously the fun really starts when she meets her new tribe, escapes her seemingly-perfect-but-actually-awful husband and hot foots it to Mexico, where fun for all the senses ensues. Here we also meet the matriarch of Mutti who is suitably charming but also nasty cult leader, and lots of fun.
For all of the preposterous and bonkers elements of this tale, the real star is the driving feminist narrative. Marcy escapes control and becomes empowered to take charge of her own story and it is highly satisfying to read. That, and her - I guess - queer awakening add so much zest and hormones to the book that really does become a romp.
Overall, a really enjoyable ride and perfect if you want something fun with sprinkles of horror, rather than a full-on slice of darkness. I’m definitely keen to check out this author’s other work. Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the review copy.
This was a vibrant, original and suitably chaotic novel packed with cults, cannibals, the apocalypse, lashings of rage, and bucket-fulls of comic book horror.
I was immediately hooked with the narrative style, which fizzes and zips with a swashbuckling energy right from the start. It has swagger, it has panache and I burned through the opening quarter.
Our main character of Marcy is flawed but hugely likeable - a Glaswegian fish out of water in New Orleans who we get to see transform into our rampaging hero. Her arc is really fun to follow as her life becomes increasingly unusual and unstable. Oh, she also thinks her own dog is a prick, which is something I can truly relate to.
Obviously the fun really starts when she meets her new tribe, escapes her seemingly-perfect-but-actually-awful husband and hot foots it to Mexico, where fun for all the senses ensues. Here we also meet the matriarch of Mutti who is suitably charming but also nasty cult leader, and lots of fun.
For all of the preposterous and bonkers elements of this tale, the real star is the driving feminist narrative. Marcy escapes control and becomes empowered to take charge of her own story and it is highly satisfying to read. That, and her - I guess - queer awakening add so much zest and hormones to the book that really does become a romp.
Overall, a really enjoyable ride and perfect if you want something fun with sprinkles of horror, rather than a full-on slice of darkness. I’m definitely keen to check out this author’s other work. Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the review copy.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
So disappointed in this book. I had high hopes from enjoying the author’s previous book and it had traits that I typically enjoy reading about but I honestly should have cut my losses and DNF’d.
I didn’t like nor care for any of the characters - I felt like I needed to know more about each of them for me to be able to feel something towards them. I think you’re supposed to root and care for the main character Marcy but I unfortunately wasn’t a fan. I did like how diverse the characters were, with there being a lot of queer characters and a trans character.
Also, I wasn’t a fan of the positive Israeli mention that had no impact or relevance to the story or the ableist slur that was used.
I liked the concept of the plot but ultimately, I didn’t like the execution. The plot felt like it was quite slow in places and had parts that felt like filler and didn’t feel necessary. It felt like it didn’t pick up until around the 60% mark, where I began to feel a little interested in how everything was going to end. It was descriptive, which made it easy to picture everything happening. However, I unfortunately didn’t feel satisfied by the ending as I still had a lot of unresolved questions.
⚠️ CWs: cursing, fire, injury detail, death, alcohol use, blood, imprisonment, sexual content, physical assault, drug use, gore, body horror, pregnancy, derogatory language, torture, cheating, medical content, animal death, controlling behaviour, toxic friendships/relationships, cannibalism, murder, abandonment; mentions slavery, medical trauma, ableist slur ⚠️
I didn’t like nor care for any of the characters - I felt like I needed to know more about each of them for me to be able to feel something towards them. I think you’re supposed to root and care for the main character Marcy but I unfortunately wasn’t a fan. I did like how diverse the characters were, with there being a lot of queer characters and a trans character.
Also, I wasn’t a fan of the positive Israeli mention that had no impact or relevance to the story or the ableist slur that was used.
I liked the concept of the plot but ultimately, I didn’t like the execution. The plot felt like it was quite slow in places and had parts that felt like filler and didn’t feel necessary. It felt like it didn’t pick up until around the 60% mark, where I began to feel a little interested in how everything was going to end. It was descriptive, which made it easy to picture everything happening. However, I unfortunately didn’t feel satisfied by the ending as I still had a lot of unresolved questions.
⚠️ CWs: cursing, fire, injury detail, death, alcohol use, blood, imprisonment, sexual content, physical assault, drug use, gore, body horror, pregnancy, derogatory language, torture, cheating, medical content, animal death, controlling behaviour, toxic friendships/relationships, cannibalism, murder, abandonment; mentions slavery, medical trauma, ableist slur ⚠️
June 13, 2026
Thank you to Jane Flett, Random House UK, Transworld Publishers | Doubleday, and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
Welcome to the Chaoskampf is a horror novel penned by Jane Flett, known for Freakslaw.
Marcy was a Scottish boxer until she suffered a one in a thousand injury and was force to retire. To escape her reality, she moved to New Orleans to start afresh as a horror tour guide. Fast forward several years and she has been married to her perfect, and therefore boring, husband Owen for four years. He cannot match her freak. When her old boxing scar rips opens, she finds herself embroiled with an apocalyptic cult of arsonists who view her wound as holy stigmata.
I had high expectations for this and unfortunately had to dnf at 100 pages. I didn’t care for any of the characters and it just felt like a domestic lit fic more than horror. It had slow pacing and was just boring. A positive mention of a country that should not be positively mentioned pushed me over the edge. Really disappointing overall.
Welcome to the Chaoskampf is a horror novel penned by Jane Flett, known for Freakslaw.
Marcy was a Scottish boxer until she suffered a one in a thousand injury and was force to retire. To escape her reality, she moved to New Orleans to start afresh as a horror tour guide. Fast forward several years and she has been married to her perfect, and therefore boring, husband Owen for four years. He cannot match her freak. When her old boxing scar rips opens, she finds herself embroiled with an apocalyptic cult of arsonists who view her wound as holy stigmata.
I had high expectations for this and unfortunately had to dnf at 100 pages. I didn’t care for any of the characters and it just felt like a domestic lit fic more than horror. It had slow pacing and was just boring. A positive mention of a country that should not be positively mentioned pushed me over the edge. Really disappointing overall.
July 28, 2026
Tough one because I loved Freakslaw. The chaotic nature of the book was great, with Marcy at the centre I could feel the rage pouring off into me, it felt electric at times. Although it was hard to watch her manipulated so easily. It was a let down for her to go from one controlling situation to another, when I read her as quite a strong headed person finding small ways to defy people in a very structured life.
I didn’t think we as the reader needed to be constantly reminded that the worshippers need to be chaotic, to embrace and practice the opposite of menial schedules and tasks.
The story itself though is not one I’ve ever read before and it is increasingly difficult to find new stories that aren’t dripping in themes used many times before. I would read again, and I think I would enjoy it even more. Thank you for one unpredictable story.
I didn’t think we as the reader needed to be constantly reminded that the worshippers need to be chaotic, to embrace and practice the opposite of menial schedules and tasks.
The story itself though is not one I’ve ever read before and it is increasingly difficult to find new stories that aren’t dripping in themes used many times before. I would read again, and I think I would enjoy it even more. Thank you for one unpredictable story.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Well. That was a wild ride. With 1000% more cannibals that I was expecting.
I loved Jane Flett's first book, but I didn't quite know what I was going into with the second. I'm kind of glad I didn't and so I'm going to avoid many plot details.
This is a feminist story. It's a queer story. It's a story about rage. About not knowing what to do. It's about climate change. It's about all the things that seem to be in every other book, but imo this one makes it work, and doesn't feel you with as much dread. This one left me walking away thinking, fuck that, I'm not ok with it, rather than wanting to hide in the sand I want to scream and shout and do something about it.
Good book.
I loved Jane Flett's first book, but I didn't quite know what I was going into with the second. I'm kind of glad I didn't and so I'm going to avoid many plot details.
This is a feminist story. It's a queer story. It's a story about rage. About not knowing what to do. It's about climate change. It's about all the things that seem to be in every other book, but imo this one makes it work, and doesn't feel you with as much dread. This one left me walking away thinking, fuck that, I'm not ok with it, rather than wanting to hide in the sand I want to scream and shout and do something about it.
Good book.
July 26, 2026
11/10 wild ride. This book is a force of nature (pun intended). Dark, funny, disgusting (in a good way), sexy, clever and surprising. Jane Flett is an absolute genius. The next time you feel like you are in the passenger seat of your own life, think about what Marcy would do... and just fucking do it!
To Chaos!
To Chaos!
May 23, 2026
Loved this book. It was different, well written and kept me engaged throughout. I wasn’t sure what to expect as it went along, but loved the style of writing and the story. I now want to read more from this author
August 9, 2026
definitely not insightful or layered, but it is a light, horny, heteropessimistic, self-proclaimed feminist read for people who wonder if the world is worth saving. tbh this book says a whole lot of repetitive nothing over and over again, and i found it frustrating to get through.
August 8, 2026
TW: gore, violence, murder, death, cannibalism
A very fun, gripping end-of-the-world romp that struck a good balance between humour and horror. Less scary, more gory and very cult-y.
A very fun, gripping end-of-the-world romp that struck a good balance between humour and horror. Less scary, more gory and very cult-y.
Did Not Finish
September 23, 2026I FEEL SO ICKY.
August 16, 2026
Weird, chaotic and at times ridiculous but I almost think strangely it didn't go far enough given the way it was billed. I was hoping for something in the line of All Fours but queerer and with a cult but sadly I think while it was easy to read and definitely unique it didn't quite go all the way for me. A rounded up 2.5
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews