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The Flayed Man: A Novel
Not yet published
Expected 21 Jul 26A complex mother-daughter relationship is taken to a new level in this fresh and propulsive novel of family curses, blood-thirsty ghouls, and budding romance set against the Mojave Desert and Las Vegas
Ellis Karsten spends nights working triage in the ER and days having the same conversation with her mom. The early onset dementia is exhausting, but the real challenge is their curse—Ellis’s family must feed daily on blood, or risk becoming mindless, skinless killing machines. When Ellis’s uncle, who supplies their blood, vanishes, she takes it upon herself to find a new source, aided by a prickly paramedic who’s equal parts unpredictable and intoxicating. But as Ellis fights to balance her bloodthirsty nature with a new relationship, her mom’s impossible demands transform into panicked warnings that a fabled monster, “The Flayed Man,” is stalking them.
As she traverses the desert in search of blood, Ellis risks her safety and her family’s secret, until it becomes clear that her mom is right: something ancient and hungry is hunting them, and it has come for her mom. Blood hunger begins to overtake Ellis, transforming her body into something ghoulish and frightening—exactly what The Flayed Man wants. In the end, she must decide who to trust, what she’s willing to sacrifice, and whether she is worthy of a life, and love, beyond her curse—or if she’s going to succumb to instinct and ravage the world.
Ellis Karsten spends nights working triage in the ER and days having the same conversation with her mom. The early onset dementia is exhausting, but the real challenge is their curse—Ellis’s family must feed daily on blood, or risk becoming mindless, skinless killing machines. When Ellis’s uncle, who supplies their blood, vanishes, she takes it upon herself to find a new source, aided by a prickly paramedic who’s equal parts unpredictable and intoxicating. But as Ellis fights to balance her bloodthirsty nature with a new relationship, her mom’s impossible demands transform into panicked warnings that a fabled monster, “The Flayed Man,” is stalking them.
As she traverses the desert in search of blood, Ellis risks her safety and her family’s secret, until it becomes clear that her mom is right: something ancient and hungry is hunting them, and it has come for her mom. Blood hunger begins to overtake Ellis, transforming her body into something ghoulish and frightening—exactly what The Flayed Man wants. In the end, she must decide who to trust, what she’s willing to sacrifice, and whether she is worthy of a life, and love, beyond her curse—or if she’s going to succumb to instinct and ravage the world.
240 pages, Paperback
Expected publication July 21, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 1, 2026
A new take on vampires with a surprisingly literary writing style.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Notes for upcoming Library Journal review:
Ellis Karsten bounces from her job as a nurse in the ER to her apartment in Las Vegas where she lives with her mother whose dementia is becoming worse.
She was raised with stories of The Flayed Man, a mythology that is unique to each family. While her mother deteriorates physically and mentally, she tells Ellis that The Flayed Man speaks to her.
The book deals with themes of family obligation, sacrifice, love, testing limits, and loneliness all within a new take on the vampire tale. In this urban, gritty vampire story the vampires are mortal and not indestructible. Their relationship to blood is also unique to the sub genre of vampire books.
The relationship between Ellis and her mother is tense because Ellis believes she has always disappointed her mother while simultaneously feeling as if much of what her mother has told her is a lie.
One of the subplots in the book is a sapphic love story with a complex and interesting , Veer.
Readers will share Ellis’ sense of desperation and increasing paranoia as her life unspools. She clings to Veer as she fights to know who she can trust given that her mother has regularly lied to her. Ellis also battles to not let the brutal side out, the side owned by what she calls the curse, even as she loses control of her life.
Readers of complex fiction with a gritty sensibility like Andy Davidson’s In the Valley of the Sun or Hailey Piper’s strong, complex female characters will love this book. It is a blending of Davidson’s style blended with the sort of characters PIper regularly features.
Ellis Karsten bounces from her job as a nurse in the ER to her apartment in Las Vegas where she lives with her mother whose dementia is becoming worse.
She was raised with stories of The Flayed Man, a mythology that is unique to each family. While her mother deteriorates physically and mentally, she tells Ellis that The Flayed Man speaks to her.
The book deals with themes of family obligation, sacrifice, love, testing limits, and loneliness all within a new take on the vampire tale. In this urban, gritty vampire story the vampires are mortal and not indestructible. Their relationship to blood is also unique to the sub genre of vampire books.
The relationship between Ellis and her mother is tense because Ellis believes she has always disappointed her mother while simultaneously feeling as if much of what her mother has told her is a lie.
One of the subplots in the book is a sapphic love story with a complex and interesting , Veer.
Readers will share Ellis’ sense of desperation and increasing paranoia as her life unspools. She clings to Veer as she fights to know who she can trust given that her mother has regularly lied to her. Ellis also battles to not let the brutal side out, the side owned by what she calls the curse, even as she loses control of her life.
Readers of complex fiction with a gritty sensibility like Andy Davidson’s In the Valley of the Sun or Hailey Piper’s strong, complex female characters will love this book. It is a blending of Davidson’s style blended with the sort of characters PIper regularly features.
tbr-arc
January 27, 2026i mean, the premise sounds pretty cool already.
*thank you to Soft Skull for the ARC*
*thank you to Soft Skull for the ARC*
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Vivid and gripping, laden with sensory details, story of a brave young woman struggling with a curse and the gradual deterioration of her mother. Could not put it down.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews