Cuckoo

January 1, 2024

Felker-Martin follows her multi-best-booked debut Manhunt with a story about a group of queer teens who survive a horrific conversion camp in 1995. Sixteen years later, those scarred survivors are the only ones who can end the evil buried there--and the fate of the world depends on it. With a 125K-copy first printing. Prepub Alert.

Copyright 2023 Library Journal

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2024

It's the summer of 1995, and teenagers from all over the United States are being forcibly taken to Camp Resolution, a gay-conversion camp hidden in the Utah desert, miles from civilization, with no contact with the outside world. Told by the full cast of well-drawn and authentic characters and in three distinct parts--a stage-setting prologue set in 1991, the meat of the novel set at camp, and an action-packed final section taking place in 2011--this is a novel where the pacing is brisk; the worldbuilding immersive; the plot intriguing, original, and existentially terrifying; and the emotions raw. Readers will quickly become invested in each of the teens, feeling their physical and psychological pain and ultimately rooting for them against all odds. Seething with anger at horrors both real and supernatural, Felker-Martin's novel sets out to incite readers and inspire them to protect queer kids. VERDICT No one writes like Felker-Martin (Manhunt), and her unrelenting and brutally honest novels are crucial inclusions to all horror collections. Pair with Chuck Tingle's Camp Damascus or Lucy Snyder's Sister, Maiden, Monster. This is also a great update to the classic film Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2024
At a remote desert conversion camp in 1995, a group of queer teens realize that, in addition to daily battles to live as their authentic selves, they are literally fighting for their lives against both their sadistic captors and a supernatural entity. Those who survive that summer will come together almost two decades later to destroy the forces behind Camp Resolution--or die trying. Bookended by short pieces set before and after the main events, Felker-Martin's action-packed and intricately plotted second novel (after Manhunt, 2022) fairly vibrates with rage at those who seek to harm or fail to protect queer kids. Even with a large cast of POV characters, everyone's strengths, flaws, and vulnerabilities are crystal clear. The writing is kaleidoscopic and precise and suitably gross, with visceral descriptions of sights, sounds, sex, and--especially--smells. Recommend to readers who enjoyed Chuck Tingle's conversion-camp horror, Camp Damascus (2023), those who appreciated the body horror in Eric LaRocca's Things Have Gotten Worse since We Last Spoke (2022), or those who responded to the oppressive religious elements and found family in Sorrowland (2021), by Rivers Solomon.

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Starred review from June 10, 2024
In this ambitious and devastating coming-of-age tale, Felker-Martin (Manhunt) digs into the trauma of growing up in a culture that wants queer youth erased and replaced. In 1995, a group of seven teens are abducted and brought to a conversion camp based at a remote ranch, where they face brutal punishment from camp leaders and cruel counselors. As the group unravels the otherworldly horror at the heart of the camp, they must fight for their lives in the desert, hundreds of miles from anywhere. Sixteen years after their escape, those left alive realize that the entity that failed to claim them remains, and they reunite to confront the Cuckoo one last time. Comparisons to Stephen King’s It feel inevitable, owing to the story structure and themes of childhood trauma and the camaraderie of the marginalized, but Felker-Martin surpasses her influences to create something fresh, brutal, and utterly singular. No punches are pulled, either in terms of violence or emotional impact, and the ending offers no pat answers, trusting readers to draw their own conclusions. Laying bare grief, terror, and the tenderness that makes it all matter, this is horror at its best.