Maeve has everything. A high-powered job, a beautiful home, a string of uncomplicated one-night encounters. She’s also an addict: A functioning alcoholic with a dependence on sex and an insatiable appetite for killing men.
When she can’t find a support group to share her obsession, she creates her own. And Psychopaths Anonymous is born. Friends of Maeve.
Now in a serious relationship, Maeve wants to keep the group a secret. But not everyone in the group adheres to the rules, and when a reckless member raises suspicions with the police, Maeve’s drinking spirals out of control.
She needs to stop killing. She needs to close the group.
But Maeve can’t seem to quit the things that are bad for her, including her new man…
A scathing, violent and darkly funny book about love, connection, obsessions and sex – and the aspects of human nature we’d prefer to hide – Psychopaths Anonymous is also an electrifyingly original, unpredictable thriller that challenges virtually everything.
Psychopaths Anonymous by Will Carver is published in paperback today, 25 November 2021 by Orenda Books. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this blog tour.
I have to admit this; I find it so so difficult to review Will Carver's books. I don't find them in the least bit difficult to read. He is incredibly talented, his writing is fresh and unique. His books are different, and funny, and sweary and often cringy, but God, it's so hard to write about them.
Readers of Carver's previous novel; Good Samaritans, will have met Maeve before. In Psychopaths Anonymous we discover far more about her, we come to realise what makes her tick, and although you don't have to read Good Samaritans, you'll understand so much more about this character by doing so.
We really really shouldn't like Maeve. She's a functioning alcoholic who loves dirty sex, preferably with someone she hardly knows. Oh, and she also likes to kill people. She's also articulate, intelligent, with a great job, and maybe, just maybe some readers may envy her .... a little bit ... maybe?
Maeve has a habit of visiting self-help groups. She knows them all, with their multiple steps, their mantras and their increasing dependence on a God who Maeve dismisses. She's not satisfied with any of them, in fact she's going to create her own group: Friends of Maeve, or Psychopaths Anonymous.
There are people who worry about what goes on in Will Carver's head. They wonder how this bloke can create these characters who do these things? Some people even think he's a bit of a psychopath himself. I don't think he is. I think he's one of the most perceptive and brutally honest writers out there.
What he does, and probably more in this book than any of his others, is look at humans. He takes the most mundane and everyday behaviours and he breaks them down, piece by piece until the reader can see just how shallow and how hypocritical we are as a race. Reality TV? Check. That 'nice' bit at the end of the news? Check. Self help groups, memes, inspirational messages, mentors and spiritual guides? Check.
It's brutally done, but oh my goodness, it is eye-opening, and I think I actually squirmed in places.
Please don't think that this is a preachy, shouty novel though. It's not. It's a fabulously entertaining romp with a lead character who is so grotesque that she's adorable. It's hilarious, it's blunt and yes, sometimes, it's even a little bit subtle.
If this is your first outing with Carver, then welcome to our world. Return reader? You know what to expect ... but it's even better than usual. What a genius this guy is. I have no more to say here.
Will Carver is the international bestselling author of the January David series.
He spent his early years in Germany, but returned to the UK at age eleven, when his sporting career took off.
He turned down a professional rugby contract to study theatre and television at King Alfred’s, Winchester, where he set up a successful theatre company.
He currently runs his own fitness and nutrition company, and lives in Reading with his two children.
Will’s latest title published by Orenda Books, The Beresford was published in July. His previous title Hinton Hollow Death Trip was longlisted for the Not the Booker Prize, while Nothing Important Happened Today was longlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. Good Samaritans was book of the year in Guardian, Telegraph and Daily Express, and hit number one on the ebook charts.
No comments:
Post a Comment