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Chimera
Not yet published
Expected 16 Feb 27A powerful family’s terrible secrets threaten to consume them in Chimera, a visceral body horror novel from Gretchen Felker-Martin, the author of Manhunt and Cuckoo.
Centuries ago, in the dark of the woods, a pact was made. A gift was given. And the costs have echoed down the bloodlines.
The clans of Skin Dancers—humans able to shapeshift into the form of any animal they've eaten—rule the 1980s New England crime scene. A late summer wedding between two families is meant to usher in a new era of peace between households, and stifle the brewing tensions that threaten to boil over into war.
But something is lurking in the forest outside the family compound. Something ancient, angry...and starving.
Also by Gretchen Felker-Martin:
Manhunt
Cuckoo
Black Flame
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Centuries ago, in the dark of the woods, a pact was made. A gift was given. And the costs have echoed down the bloodlines.
The clans of Skin Dancers—humans able to shapeshift into the form of any animal they've eaten—rule the 1980s New England crime scene. A late summer wedding between two families is meant to usher in a new era of peace between households, and stifle the brewing tensions that threaten to boil over into war.
But something is lurking in the forest outside the family compound. Something ancient, angry...and starving.
Also by Gretchen Felker-Martin:
Manhunt
Cuckoo
Black Flame
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Kindle Edition
Expected publication February 16, 2027
About the author
Gretchen Felker-Martin
20 books1,754 followersGRETCHEN FELKER-MARTIN is a Massachusetts-based horror author and film critic. Her debut novel, Manhunt, was named the #1 Best Book of 2022 by Vulture, and one of the Best Horror Novels of 2022 by Esquire, Library Journal, and Paste. You can follow her work on Twitter and read her fiction and film criticism on Patreon and in TIME, The Outline, Nylon, Polygon, and more.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
You're not ready for this one. Think shapeshifters meet the Sopranos and you might get the general idea. This one is dark and filled with betrayel, revenge, and a whole lot of characters with extremely questionable moral limits.
Basically, it's about two factions, both related in one way or another, and they are all shapeshifters or, as they're called in the book, skin dancers. Set in New England in the 80s, we learn that these warring family units have had an unstable truce as they both seek to continue their mob-like income (protection rackets, drugs, guns, etc). But every one of them can change into any animal they have already consumed. And they have to breed within their bloodline because, if they mate with a person who are known as the skinless, the children from those unions come out...wrong. I'll leave it at that but you'll read about them. So, yeah, incest happens.
Something much more powerful is hunting them though and, when a missing family member returns twenty years after disappearing, there is going to be bloodshed, a power war, and absolutely horrifying family secrets coming to light. This novel is bleak, which I love, and every character is flawed to the point of being an antagonist. There aren't really any GOOD people, but some of the characters are viewed in a sympathetic light. Sure, they're bad people overall, but they're doing whatever it takes to survive even if it is for the wrong reasons.
The thing I really enjoyed here is the almost two different narratives. The first half mainly focuses on the family, their special powers, and the power struggles between the two factions. Once that second half hits though, it gets brutal, grotesque, bloody, and absolutely horrific. You'll definitely remember this book after you turn the last page. Its intensity keeps you reading and it never lets up throughout. I highly recommend it.
I received an ARC of this book through Netgalley. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.
Basically, it's about two factions, both related in one way or another, and they are all shapeshifters or, as they're called in the book, skin dancers. Set in New England in the 80s, we learn that these warring family units have had an unstable truce as they both seek to continue their mob-like income (protection rackets, drugs, guns, etc). But every one of them can change into any animal they have already consumed. And they have to breed within their bloodline because, if they mate with a person who are known as the skinless, the children from those unions come out...wrong. I'll leave it at that but you'll read about them. So, yeah, incest happens.
Something much more powerful is hunting them though and, when a missing family member returns twenty years after disappearing, there is going to be bloodshed, a power war, and absolutely horrifying family secrets coming to light. This novel is bleak, which I love, and every character is flawed to the point of being an antagonist. There aren't really any GOOD people, but some of the characters are viewed in a sympathetic light. Sure, they're bad people overall, but they're doing whatever it takes to survive even if it is for the wrong reasons.
The thing I really enjoyed here is the almost two different narratives. The first half mainly focuses on the family, their special powers, and the power struggles between the two factions. Once that second half hits though, it gets brutal, grotesque, bloody, and absolutely horrific. You'll definitely remember this book after you turn the last page. Its intensity keeps you reading and it never lets up throughout. I highly recommend it.
I received an ARC of this book through Netgalley. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.
September 17, 2026
Heartfelt thanks to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A deeply felt, splatterpunk, and folklore-informed saga of blood, humanity, and violence on the scale of Euripides', Sophocles', and Aeschylus' best work. (I promise I did not use AI to write this review. Rather, much like the authors the robots cut their teeth on, I am drawn to lists of three and also adjectives.) Broader in scope than Felker-Martin's other novels, all of which I devoured as vociferously as a Skin Dancer, Chimera nevertheless remains grounded, thanks to a slew of toxic and tragic familial dynamics. The monstrous transformations and gang activity of the Vargers crime family are nothing compared to the domestic violence they enact upon their children, siblings, and in-laws.
Unlike Felker-Martin's Black Flame, Cuckoo, and Manhunt, Chimera doesn't give us a protagonist to root for, at least not in the traditional sense. I've come to know Felker-Martin's main characters as flawed folx, named monsters by society for the crime of queerness, but resplendently and defiantly human. Chimera is different. It is an undeniably queer novel, from its lore to its syntax to its mirrored literary devices. It is queer in its bones and in all of its many, varied skins; queer in ways that other similarly-labeled novels shrink from or flinch at. In this way, it fits neatly alongside Felker-Martin's other works. Yet, Chimera is also a departure.
As mentioned, this is an expansive tragedy, mythic in its scope, more aligned with a Nordic saga than a single text. Because of this, the strokes are broader; the characters, though finely wrought and fully fleshed, get less time to perform their vengeance and trauma. The closeness with which this author usually cleaves to their characters has been replaced with vignettes, little sips of poison, moments of reckoning that offer glimpses into the minds of four Varger women. The resulting effect is not a disjointed one, but one that nevertheless left me uncertain—of the ending, of motivations, of who was righteous and who was simply a hurt creature hurting other creatures.
I think perhaps this was the point.
I found myself feeling both bereft and triumphant at the end of this novel. I cannot recommend it enough.
My singular complaint: I would have loved a genealogical tree or chart to help me keep track of the expansive family.
A deeply felt, splatterpunk, and folklore-informed saga of blood, humanity, and violence on the scale of Euripides', Sophocles', and Aeschylus' best work. (I promise I did not use AI to write this review. Rather, much like the authors the robots cut their teeth on, I am drawn to lists of three and also adjectives.) Broader in scope than Felker-Martin's other novels, all of which I devoured as vociferously as a Skin Dancer, Chimera nevertheless remains grounded, thanks to a slew of toxic and tragic familial dynamics. The monstrous transformations and gang activity of the Vargers crime family are nothing compared to the domestic violence they enact upon their children, siblings, and in-laws.
Unlike Felker-Martin's Black Flame, Cuckoo, and Manhunt, Chimera doesn't give us a protagonist to root for, at least not in the traditional sense. I've come to know Felker-Martin's main characters as flawed folx, named monsters by society for the crime of queerness, but resplendently and defiantly human. Chimera is different. It is an undeniably queer novel, from its lore to its syntax to its mirrored literary devices. It is queer in its bones and in all of its many, varied skins; queer in ways that other similarly-labeled novels shrink from or flinch at. In this way, it fits neatly alongside Felker-Martin's other works. Yet, Chimera is also a departure.
As mentioned, this is an expansive tragedy, mythic in its scope, more aligned with a Nordic saga than a single text. Because of this, the strokes are broader; the characters, though finely wrought and fully fleshed, get less time to perform their vengeance and trauma. The closeness with which this author usually cleaves to their characters has been replaced with vignettes, little sips of poison, moments of reckoning that offer glimpses into the minds of four Varger women. The resulting effect is not a disjointed one, but one that nevertheless left me uncertain—of the ending, of motivations, of who was righteous and who was simply a hurt creature hurting other creatures.
I think perhaps this was the point.
I found myself feeling both bereft and triumphant at the end of this novel. I cannot recommend it enough.
My singular complaint: I would have loved a genealogical tree or chart to help me keep track of the expansive family.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
CHIMERA is Animorphs meets New England mob-family Gothic with a little bit of werewolf on the side. That's the elevator pitch. Parts of it really worked for me (I enjoyed the fucked up incestuous Varger family dynamics) and parts of it really didn't (by the end, I had no emotional investment in any of the characters and the body horror I started off loving started to grate). A mixed bag for me, which is to say: pretty standard for a Felker-Martin novel.
Told from the POVs of four Varger women (Rina, her mother Marguerite, Marguerite’s mother Marian, and Antoinette who I…. think…? is Marguerite’s MIL? or maybe Marian’s mother??), Chimera is at its best in the beginning when you're getting to know its world. It started slipping after the first third for me, and by the final third (a long string of emotionally-numbing splatterpunk battles that felt like they were just happening to happen) I was bored. Head hopping can be a very effective narrative technique, but in this case I think it prevented me from sinking into any one character's POV and establishing emotional stakes. I felt the most connected to Marguerite's chapters, a character who has some truly gut-wrenching scenes with her mother, sister, and daughter. I wanted to spend more time with her perspective.
I think this might have worked better for me on paper, as there was an absolutely enormous cast of characters introduced very quickly from multiple points of view, all with very similar looking and sounding names, and frankly they started running together (see above re: Antoinette’s relation to the rest of the POV characters). Still, I did really like the dark, rotting stink of the Varger family and would recommend this novel to anyone who wanted their Animorphs to be evil and about three hundred times more fucked up.
Out 2/16/27. Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Told from the POVs of four Varger women (Rina, her mother Marguerite, Marguerite’s mother Marian, and Antoinette who I…. think…? is Marguerite’s MIL? or maybe Marian’s mother??), Chimera is at its best in the beginning when you're getting to know its world. It started slipping after the first third for me, and by the final third (a long string of emotionally-numbing splatterpunk battles that felt like they were just happening to happen) I was bored. Head hopping can be a very effective narrative technique, but in this case I think it prevented me from sinking into any one character's POV and establishing emotional stakes. I felt the most connected to Marguerite's chapters, a character who has some truly gut-wrenching scenes with her mother, sister, and daughter. I wanted to spend more time with her perspective.
I think this might have worked better for me on paper, as there was an absolutely enormous cast of characters introduced very quickly from multiple points of view, all with very similar looking and sounding names, and frankly they started running together (see above re: Antoinette’s relation to the rest of the POV characters). Still, I did really like the dark, rotting stink of the Varger family and would recommend this novel to anyone who wanted their Animorphs to be evil and about three hundred times more fucked up.
Out 2/16/27. Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
September 10, 2026
CHIMERA: does what it says on the tin! This novel is *horrific*, the body horror is so well written I found myself physically uncomfortable for so much of the book.
Felker-Martin does capture visceral horror and unbelievable trauma so exceedingly well. The animal POVs are masterful.
I tried to separate my physical disgust from my opinions of the narrative, but I have struggled a lot with pinpointing what I wanted to say in my review.
I got a little lost in the middle—there is such an enormous cast of related characters. Everyone is a cousin, a family member, even the POVs of characters you're with don't know the specific relationship to all of them, which is very reasonable. To me, as a reader, I got a little lost on the Who's Who for a large part of the 'battle' in the second half of the book, which did limit how emotional some of their deaths or losses were.
I think for a book to be so horrible and uncomfortable to read, there needs to be an emotional payoff or satisfaction that I didn't quite feel. This was a book I *endured* and while it does horror well, I don't know if I'm leaving the reading experience feeling good about it, if that makes sense?
I did appreciate the soft landing of the epilogue!
I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for my review.
Felker-Martin does capture visceral horror and unbelievable trauma so exceedingly well. The animal POVs are masterful.
I tried to separate my physical disgust from my opinions of the narrative, but I have struggled a lot with pinpointing what I wanted to say in my review.
I got a little lost in the middle—there is such an enormous cast of related characters. Everyone is a cousin, a family member, even the POVs of characters you're with don't know the specific relationship to all of them, which is very reasonable. To me, as a reader, I got a little lost on the Who's Who for a large part of the 'battle' in the second half of the book, which did limit how emotional some of their deaths or losses were.
I think for a book to be so horrible and uncomfortable to read, there needs to be an emotional payoff or satisfaction that I didn't quite feel. This was a book I *endured* and while it does horror well, I don't know if I'm leaving the reading experience feeling good about it, if that makes sense?
I did appreciate the soft landing of the epilogue!
I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for my review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I haven't been so hooked by the first page in a long time - in the spirit of full disclosure, I accidentally flipped through while downloading the eARC and then could not - could not! - put it down. I read it in the span of a few hours like someone entranced.
Echoing another reviewer, I do think this novel could have been served by a family tree (or rather, family wreath) in an appendix but, then again, half the fun was quarrying out the family dynamics of this hellacious brood. There was
I'm not even sure where to start in this review. The prose is horrifically good. Like, seamless/poetic/too vidid at times. I appreciated each of the POV characters and did feel totally gut-punched by the epilogue and the implications, once again, of the cyclical nature of trauma .
Overall, one of my favorite reads of the year and probably the past few years.
Echoing another reviewer, I do think this novel could have been served by a family tree (or rather, family wreath) in an appendix but, then again, half the fun was quarrying out the family dynamics of this hellacious brood. There was
I'm not even sure where to start in this review. The prose is horrifically good. Like, seamless/poetic/too vidid at times. I appreciated each of the POV characters and did feel totally gut-punched by the epilogue and the implications, once again, of the cyclical nature of trauma .
Overall, one of my favorite reads of the year and probably the past few years.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Chimera follows a family of Skin Dancers—humans with the ability to shapeshift into any animal they’ve eaten—that rule of 1980s New England crime scene. As a simmering feud threatens their livelihood, a marriage alliance is struck. But something sinister is lurking in the forest nearby and when someone dies, tension threatens to boil over into war.
I have a lot of mixed feelings on this book. It wasn’t bad by any means, but it didn’t work for me in the way I thought it would. There’s a lot going on in this book—especially with the amount of characters we see. The two families we hear about are very large and I found it a bit hard to follow at times. It was also very incestuous.
That being said, the body horror and horror elements used were top notch. I thought that was really well done. And I thought the Skin Dancer concept was super fascinating and cool! This book does have multi povs, and I enjoyed most of them for the most part. I liked Rina’s story the most. She was a really interesting and engaging character.
Overall, if you like the idea of shapeshifters meets The Sopranos, you’ll probably like this one!
Thank you to Netgalley and Tor for the arc
I have a lot of mixed feelings on this book. It wasn’t bad by any means, but it didn’t work for me in the way I thought it would. There’s a lot going on in this book—especially with the amount of characters we see. The two families we hear about are very large and I found it a bit hard to follow at times. It was also very incestuous.
That being said, the body horror and horror elements used were top notch. I thought that was really well done. And I thought the Skin Dancer concept was super fascinating and cool! This book does have multi povs, and I enjoyed most of them for the most part. I liked Rina’s story the most. She was a really interesting and engaging character.
Overall, if you like the idea of shapeshifters meets The Sopranos, you’ll probably like this one!
Thank you to Netgalley and Tor for the arc
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Gretchen Felker-Martin knows exactly how to get under my skin. Chimera was disturbing, strange, brutal, and completely impossible to look away from. I loved the way the horror felt both deeply unsettling and strangely intimate, with that uncomfortable feeling that something is very, very wrong beneath the surface.
The characters felt messy and human, and the story kept pulling me deeper even when I had no idea where it was going. There are some genuinely disturbing moments here, but what stuck with me most was the atmosphere and the way the horror gets inside your head.
Felker-Martin continues to prove that she has a very specific talent for writing horror that makes you uncomfortable in all the best ways. If you like dark, visceral, unsettling horror that isn't afraid to get weird, definitely put this one on your list.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
The characters felt messy and human, and the story kept pulling me deeper even when I had no idea where it was going. There are some genuinely disturbing moments here, but what stuck with me most was the atmosphere and the way the horror gets inside your head.
Felker-Martin continues to prove that she has a very specific talent for writing horror that makes you uncomfortable in all the best ways. If you like dark, visceral, unsettling horror that isn't afraid to get weird, definitely put this one on your list.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This is a dark, gothic family-centric horror novel that pulls you in and really doesn’t let go until the very last chapter. I was entranced by the characters and their toxic relationships to each other. A family tree would have been extremely helpful in terms of understanding who is who and how everyone is related (cuz they’re all related). The incestuous connections are a bit confusing, but the overall story is easy to follow - a mafia family of animal eating shape shifters who slowly unravel through the course of the book. Power and family trauma are inextricably woven together and the whole book is just a chaotic ride as the family unravels. . I did enjoy the LGBTQ aspects of the book, but I wish the relationship between Rina and Wendy was more fleshed out. Overall, a fascinating and disturbing read!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
A disgusting, incestuous Animorphs meets Sopranos. I really loved it.
I loved the body horror take on animal morphing, with visceral, gross-out descriptions that slotted perfectly into compelling, unique action sequences. The way Felker-Martin combined mob politics with fantasy horror action was really fantastic, and it's a combination that sounds really strange but works surprisingly well.
It's also full of characters who have...let's just say unhealthy relationship dynamics, in a wide assortment of ways, and while I could not relate to them whatsoever I found them interesting and at times sympathetic. It's a tightwire act that Felker-Martin nails.
This is an exceptionally dark and weird book, but also one of the most unique you'll ever read, and it's one I'm going to be thinking about for a long time.
I loved the body horror take on animal morphing, with visceral, gross-out descriptions that slotted perfectly into compelling, unique action sequences. The way Felker-Martin combined mob politics with fantasy horror action was really fantastic, and it's a combination that sounds really strange but works surprisingly well.
It's also full of characters who have...let's just say unhealthy relationship dynamics, in a wide assortment of ways, and while I could not relate to them whatsoever I found them interesting and at times sympathetic. It's a tightwire act that Felker-Martin nails.
This is an exceptionally dark and weird book, but also one of the most unique you'll ever read, and it's one I'm going to be thinking about for a long time.
August 29, 2026
The pitch here is: what if a crime family (like the Sopranos) inherited the power to shape shift into whatever animals they ate (a la Animorphs, but with a darker twist for the morph acquisition), and shit started to go down between them all? Gretchen does internecine family and generational violence exquisitely, and the ending is a twist of the knife after all we watch unfold. Also includes some great fucked up sex as a treat, and amazing food descriptions. Highly recommended when it comes out in February.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews