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Maneater

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After he catches her looking through his phone and sabotaging their birth control, Lorenzo Garcia breaks up with his girlfriend, Emily Hawkins. But Emily can’t move on. Heartbroken but determined, she plans on getting him back by any means necessary. She’ll destroy his life to help him rebuild it, ruin his relationships and eliminate the competition to keep him for herself, and if all else fails, she has a plan to keep him with her forever...

Jon Athan, the author of Lovesick and Erotomaniac, brings you another story of a relationship gone bad while redefining ‘maneater’ in this nasty, gruesome horror novel.

WARNING: This novel contains graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.

247 pages, Paperback

First published September 4, 2019

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309 people want to read

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Jon Athan

96 books2,251 followers

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5 stars
171 (41%)
4 stars
122 (29%)
3 stars
85 (20%)
2 stars
28 (6%)
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8 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
Profile Image for EdIsInHell.
83 reviews18 followers
December 25, 2023
A great story. Jon Athan is becoming one of my favorite authors. Disturbing and brutal.
Profile Image for Peter Topside.
Author 6 books1,465 followers
July 6, 2025
Jon Athan can be hit or miss. There are times where his writing skills are absolutely superb and he cranks out great horror tales. However, cases like this, he leans too hard into depending on body horror, sacrificing other vital parts of his books in the process. And this premise was nothing new. A lady is a love addict and freaks out when her boyfriend breaks up with her. Wonderful, right? But what followed was just very confusing and inconsistent. I honestly didn’t understand why Emily made the gang bang tape with the homeless men right after raping Ren. Or why she didn’t kill herself with Ren at the end, which would have made total sense. Or how her childhood trauma turned her into a serial killer, cannibal, nymphomaniac, and overall sadist. I had tons of childhood trauma and only 1-2 of those things apply to me. I’ll leave you to guess which ones. But the story started right off displaying Emily’s insanity with no explanation, which was very confusing. Did Ren not notice she was psychotic for the term of their relationship? Did he just not care? Or was he into it because she was so dependent on him? Too many unanswered questions. And then Emily just proceeded to torture, alienate, and/or kill everyone in Ren’s life in ridiculously elaborate ways, all in the name of love when he told her that they were done. So there was just a ton of plot points that didn’t add up and nothing really flowed together. I saw one other reviewer that said ‘yeah, this was written by a man’ and I have to agree. The whole concept here was very far-fetched for a multitude of reasons and did not depict its women very well. So, yeah, lots of gore and torture, but really not much substance beyond that. Not a terrible story, but it needed a lot more content development work to find its footing.
Profile Image for Cheryl P. (review hiatus).
98 reviews4 followers
April 11, 2025
Whoa oh here she comes. Watch out, boy, she'll chew you up.

I don't think anything I write will do this novel justice as to how much I enjoyed it. I was hooked from the start. When Lorenzo breaks up with Emily, she goes to extreme measures to try to win him back. Athan wrote a simlilar novel, Lovesick, and this story even mentions the characters briefly, as a little easter egg for fans. You'll even see why this is called Maneater later on in the book. This is definitely one of my favorites by this author!
Profile Image for Tam.
2,179 reviews54 followers
November 13, 2019
An intense, twisted, riveting, suspenseful, addictive, dark gore-fest! The stalker ex-girlfriend of your worst nightmares.
Profile Image for Christine.
419 reviews61 followers
August 5, 2021
Emily loves her boyfriend Lorenzo. Way too much. One night, he catches her poking holes in his condoms, and her true colors are revealed. Like any sane person, he immediately dumps her. Except she refuses to be dumped. She keeps showing up as if nothing is wrong, and when that doesn't work, she tries self-harm, revenge porn, stalking his friends and family, threats, coercion, and anything else under the sun. As each of her attempts fail, she progressively becomes more and more unhinged; if Emily can't have Lorenzo, no one can.

I love Jon Athan, and his "stalker/fatal attraction" type books are my favorite because they're so off-the-wall and hilarious. I honestly love anything he writes, though, and they're always very quick reads. It's not easy to put one of his books down once you start.
Profile Image for Mellisa.
604 reviews158 followers
June 3, 2022
Lorenzo breaks up with his girlfriend, Emily, after he catches her looking through his phone and poking holes in the contraception. For Lorenzo, this is the end, the trust is gone. The relationship is over. But Emily can't accept this. Emily loves Lorenzo, and realises that she needs to destroy everyone around him so he needs her again. She needs to make him love her again... no matter the cost.

Oh this is gruesome! Jon Athan is one of the masters of extreme horror and gore. You'd think I'd be 'used' to the descriptions in his books by now. I can confirm I am absolutely not, they still make me cringe. It's so brutal, so extreme. I love how it references Love Sick, which is one of my favourites by Jon Athan.

An excellent gory extreme horror for all extreme horror fans!
Profile Image for Claire.
Author 15 books46 followers
Read
August 25, 2022
I always skip the goriest parts from this author's books, but I had to skip pretty much an entire chapter near the end of this one. That being said, I am also a vegetarian, so the concept of meat already grosses me out. Definitely extreme horror. Also, graphic rape scene
Profile Image for Mila Reads Alot ☕.
49 reviews
January 14, 2023
Wow! Speechless. A truly disturbing read. It’s crazy to read how far a Crazy Ex can truly take things too far.
Profile Image for ❤ArtfullySinful❤ .
736 reviews49 followers
December 24, 2020
She said, “I’m all yours. I’m your puppy. I’m your slave. Your sex slave. What do you want me to do, master? Or should I call you ‘daddy?’ I’ll call you whatever you want, just tell me and I’ll do it.”

Desperation could turn deadly rather quickly as twenty four year old Emily Hendricks saw her life fleeting through her fingertips, running away from her more quickly then she could salvage. Caught by her twenty seven year old boyfriend of eight months; Lorenzo Garcia, of snooping through his cell phone and poking holes in their condoms, she had no alibi to her actions other then producing her love to him. Discouraged and outraged, he pushed her out to try and make her leave, but only fueled up a nightmare in the makings. Jealousy coursing through her veins, Emily has eyes for no other man other than Lorenzo, and was willing to maim and sacrifice to catch his eye again. Driving to the breaking point on insanity following their breakup, Emily wasn’t content just to let things be. No, she was hell bent on refocusing Lorenzo’s heart back to her, even if it meant destroying those he loved first. Angered by his uncle Diego Salazar as he pushed her out of the business when she tried to rekindle with Lorenzo, he rather quickly crosses the list of a psychopath in the makings. As the days begin dropping by, Emily resorts to self mutilation and acts of masterbation; sending photographs and videos to her former flame. Off out by the gore and violence he was witnessing, Lorenzo attempted to bring in Police Interventions against his ex girlfriend with mediocre results.

Some of the lines were slanted and uneven, blood streamed from the crook of her elbow to her fingertips, but the name was clear: REN. She dropped the knife.

Turning her anger towards his four year old daughter Bella and her mother Kayla, she stalked the two woman relentlessly before slipping tainted candy into Bella’s waiting fingers. Laced with rat poison in small enough doses, it would of been nearly undetectable by hospital personnel until the deadly concoction could take true effects. As his daughter began falling more and more ill, Emily had to reach farther to truly hurt him. Leaking hundreds of nude, Lewd photos and videos of their sexual experiences, she took care to blur her face and blasted his social media’s with them. Horrified, he felt control slipping from his fingertips, while those around him began fearing the levels she was willing to take to win back his heart. After slipping his daughter a nude photo of Lorenzo, Kayla wanted nothing more to do with him, eliminating one of the many threats. Confusing in close friend Monica Dawson; a retired school teacher who taught Japanese to him, she felt cornered as he was at a loss from the videos. Promoting him a ten day getaway in Japan with her, sounded like a nice stress reliever but instead opened up a horror show back home.

Emily was suffering from obsessive love disorder.

First she lured Diego to a secluded part of town, abandoned by the masses and left littered with homelessness and hopelessness. Promising his sex with a seventeen year old named Caitlin, she catfishes him before sadistically torturing and murdering him with sulfuric acid, stab wounds, and a slit throat. Unbeknownst to Lorenzo who was happily enjoying a relaxing time away, his uncle was savagely slain, and she still was far from over it. Filing a raunchy sex tape with four homeless men, she shared her glee to him at the gangbang, branding about the diseases he now carried in his bloodstream from her excitement. As he returned to the States, Emily set her eyes on the beautiful Monica, defacing her by snipping off her nose and burning her thighs with a blazing curling iron. Not yet convinced the message was effective, she poured bleach to her wounds and stabbed her a horrific thirty seven times. Taking a gleeful photo of her mangled face, she felt pride surge through her as another piece of the competition was melted away. Now with no one left, she set her sights on Lorenzo while playing the role of a worried Monica.

“Sorry, dad, but your worst enemy is my best friend. Your worst memory is going to save my future. Here goes nothing.”

Suicidal and deranged, her hold on reality was slipping as she handcuffed Lorenzo to a mattress, feeding herself a cake crafted with his hair and nail clippings. Disgusted, he attempted to fake his feelings for her again, as she carved her name into his flesh. Not yet satisfied with the branding, she turned towards his toe, his fingers and his bicep to complete a vore ritual; consuming his flesh. Turning obsession into cold blooded murder and canabalism, she used a potato peeler to remove flesh from his throat to sample raw, and cooked additional pieces of him. Losing blood and anemic, he watched helplessly as she feasted upon his flesh, saving parts to serve to his very own daughter. As he slipping from consciousness, Emily was already setting her sights on the family’s barbecue where violent turns were seen. High on PCP, she stabbed and butchered family members before stripping naked and setting her flesh ablaze. Even with her dying thoughts, Lorenzo was the last thing on her mind as he was raced to the hospital with horrific injuries. As love would forever be tainted for him, he is left with the murdered friends and family to remember and the daughter forever scarred by the events.

Stalking a stranger was difficult. Stalking an acquaintance was harder. And stalking a former lover was the hardest.

A whore in sheep’s clothing.

Cyberstalking a stranger was simple. Cyberstalking an acquaintance was easier. Cyberstalking a former lover was the easiest.
Profile Image for Amanda.
353 reviews
November 24, 2024
This one was tough. Starts off slow then WHAM!

Emily feels like a woman scorned. After he catches her poking holes in his condoms and searching his phone, Ren dumps her. But what about their future? No, that won't work for Emily. She's going to make sure no one gets between them, her love for him has no limits.
Profile Image for megb.
96 reviews10 followers
October 17, 2024
emily my girl …. i kept thinking you couldn’t get any crazier but you kept proving me wrong 😂
this wasn’t bad but i was a bit thrown off by the ending because it seemed out of left field and almost made me question if i somehow switched to a different book
Profile Image for Rachel Crevier.
49 reviews
October 10, 2023
This book was so disturbing that my stomach hurt at times. However, well written & the plot is just crazy that I couldn't put it down. 😳
Profile Image for Diane .
363 reviews11 followers
April 14, 2022
Wow...Emily you sure was a psycho bitch from hell....this book was great...it kept me wanting to read on and on to find out how it ended and I wasn't disappointed...one disturbed woman seeking revenge on her boyfriend for something he never done! Only trying to end a untrustworthy relationship.... Terribly gory...sick...and stomach churning...just don't read it before dinnertime or teatime. Jon Athan your work is always fabulous....how do you do it? This book worked for me and gave me great pleasure reading it. I can only hope for more like this!
Profile Image for CARLEEN.
178 reviews7 followers
October 2, 2019
MAN.....

I was in it to win it from the beginning until the end and then it blew up on me. There was predictability within ( people Emily was going to go after)
The final chapter made me feel like it belonged to a different book. It was abrupt, Emily got off too easy, what's Lorenzo's status? If he lives, how is life for him? his daughter? I NEED ANSWERS.
Profile Image for Meinfulleffect.
246 reviews14 followers
January 6, 2023
3.5 rounded down.
Yoooo... I wish this author would have used all the time he spent on giving us EXACT names for body parts on being more creative with the rest of the writing.
I dug this book, but it got pretty tedious for me. I'm sure clinically insane women like this probably do talk to themselves, but it got really annoying.
Profile Image for David Wright.
393 reviews4 followers
January 24, 2023
This is classic Jon Athan, not as brutal or as stomach churning as some offerings out there, but the story is solid, disturbing and full of madness.

If you have been fortunate enough to read Lovesick, you will be aware of the partner who obsesses about their ex and will not take no for an answer. Take that idea, throw in a female protagonist, add stalking, torture, murder and cannibalism and you have a basic idea of what to expect this time around.

Being a Jon Athan story, there is much more at stake than just a snubbed girlfriend. As usual, you find yourself rooting for someone, doubting if you agree with how they are behaving and wondering how you could possibly deal with things if you were in this situation. Extreme horror - Yes, gratuitous mindless violence? - Not even close. There are several instances of actual cases where some events in this book took place, and let's not forget Ed Gein and his proclivities...

Always a challenge, always a pleasure. If you haven't read this author yet and have a strong stomach, you are missing out!
Profile Image for jeannie recend.
2 reviews
Read
November 2, 2020
Really involved...

I was so involved in this story... Oh my... I was practically speed reading!
Emily was EVIL!
I was really into it, then it kind of ended ubruptly. But that's okay....as long as there is perhaps, a sequel.
Maybe Emily had a twin....that nobody knew about...and she is there now, discovering everything about the twin she never knew.
At the end of the day, I would say it was a good read. I enjoy a good grisley horror story. Very scary stuff, thinking that there are real people out there like that!
First time reading Jon Athan. I will look for his books again.
My name is Jeannie and I'm an avid reader of the strange, wierd, twisted, and macabre. So stay wierd, I will too.


Profile Image for RJ.
2,044 reviews13 followers
October 8, 2020
Prepare for a shockingly raw journey; a vision of codependency gone horribly wrong. I should have known better but I requested this title all the same. It was okay, not as bad as some, yet worse than others. I will designate that type of rating as well. I find no excitement or joy in this brand of writing. I think it is better suited for the True Detective style pulp magazines. At any rate, it certainly has its share of torture, gore, and nausea if that is what you seek. It makes me wonder how the research for such stories is acquired. 🤔 I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
23 reviews
March 26, 2020
Oh my sweet God, blessed Jesus, kind Gandhi, worshipful Mother Theresa, dear Moses & The Passover Angel of Death....

Why did I choose my rating? ......why does the sun shine? why is the rain wet? why do snakes slither? Because, how could I not? & how could the above 3 entities not do what's in their nature?! .... Jon is the Devils spawn, & I am Jon's twin sister... because he writes utter evil & I read it......
therefore, I'm ..........
Read the book.
Profile Image for KillerBunny.
274 reviews155 followers
March 1, 2022
I have a serious question, is Jon Athan even capable of writing a bad book? I don't even know how much books I have from him but they are all exceptionnal.

If you ever read Lovesick and you liked it as much as I do, give a chance to ManEater. Emily is a nightmare, what she is capable of doing for "love" is even worse than Patrick Bateman when he's angry.

If you like extreme horror and you want something different, with a woman as the villain don't look elsewhere, It's the book for you.
Profile Image for Sea Caummisar.
Author 82 books1,395 followers
March 31, 2023
I'm not proud of it, but I've been in some volatile relationships. I know the feeling of loving someone so much, and the fear of losing that person drove me crazy. Well, at least I thought it pushed me to the edge of insanity. The chic in this book took my level of crazy to a whole new level. She refused to lose her lover...... It started kind of slow, but like any Athan story, once the violence erupted, it was non-stop!
Profile Image for Misty Nord.
52 reviews
August 10, 2025
Obsessed!

I feel weird saying this considering the content, but I loved this book! 😅 I haven’t read Lovesick yet. I didn’t know it was connected to this book, but I’m reading it next.

This book was crazy. *Emily* was crazy. The lengths that woman would go through for the man she loves is inspiring. Jk! Obviously. 🤣

This next part is for Jon Athan. You are definitely one of my favorite authors. I’m obsessed! Just not as obsessed as Emily. 😬🤣
5 reviews
May 31, 2022
Nothing i expected

It was a good book tho I did have to skip over quite a few of the gore parts. Bit too hard for my taste but what of it I could handle was enticing & kept me turning pages long past bedtime. This will def keep you on your toes & a good read for any lovers of gore, thrill or suspense.
Profile Image for Lauren.
271 reviews22 followers
December 19, 2024
Whoa

Alright, I’m saying it— the ending did feel abrupt. It played out well, not hastily written, but I still feel rushed. Does that make sense? I couldn’t get enough of Emily’s antics. I enjoyed this read, despite the ending. But even then, I recommend this Jon Athan book. Truly. Read it. Enjoy the unhinged depravity.
509 reviews13 followers
October 3, 2020
Nobody tells a love story quite like Jon athan
Extream horror fans are gonna love this one for the fast paced brutality
Excellent narration from Matthew he’s one of the best
If you enjoyed this be sure to check out lovesick as well
I received a free review audiobook and voluntarily left this review
Profile Image for Risshan Adele.
Author 4 books41 followers
August 13, 2023
Maneater

Another great read from this author! Wow, so messed up and I loved that it was connected to lovesick in a way. This is not for the faint hearted but is excellent if you enjoy reading extreme horror.
1,535 reviews14 followers
November 6, 2023
Awesome story

This story was sick, exciting, entertaining and just F**kup!!!. But there really are SICK people out in the world like this!!!. Scary as HELL!!. Jon is a fantastic storyteller and is a PHENOMENAL writer!!. He always writes sick sh*t😁😂.
33 reviews
July 6, 2020
ManEater

I was not expecting that ending. I really enjoyed this book. If you’re looking for gore and guts, this is a must read.
Profile Image for Judith Raybeck.
2 reviews
Read
August 24, 2020
Unspeakable

There are some things you really don't want to read about. Glad the book was free because I couldn't finish it.
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