Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Holy Splatterpunk, this was good!!
Caution: Don’t read whilst eating…
Honestly, I don’t even know how to begin going about reviewing this book. While it technically fits into genres that I have read, it’s like nothing else.
Manhunt is like being punched in the face repeatedly and enjoying it. Maybe even asking for more…
This is like an unrated version of The Walking Dead, but with trans and other queer main characters.
Basically this story takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where a virus has turned the entire male population into horrifying creatures; like walkers.
We follow two best friends, Beth and Fran, trans women, trying to survive in New England. They are manhunters. For reasons I won’t go into here, they kill the infected men and harvest certain parts of them.
Any time they are out hunting they are in terrible danger. This entire setting is incredibly risky. There are not just the infected men they have to deal with, but also bands of TERFs scouting certain areas, as well as other general apocalypse survivors.
Everything and everyone poses a risk.
Over the course of the first part of the story, Fran and Beth join up with a trans man named, Robbie, and their long-time friend, a fertility doctor named, Indi.
Basically, as you can imagine, living situations in this world are highly unstable. We follow our quad as they move from one place to another, trying to find a safe situation for themselves. It ain’t easy and a lot of blood, guts and various other bodily fluids get shed along the way.
Y’all, wow. I haven’t read something this bloody, gorey, toe-curling, gag-inducing, addicting, erotic and uncomfortable, well…ever.
I love how Felker-Martin never lets up. It’s not a super gore-filled scene followed by 50-pages of nonsense. It is balls to the wall, pardon the pun, the entire way through.
The post-apocalyptic setting was so well done. I loved the idea behind the virus, how it struck men and how society tried to rearrange itself after. That was very creative.
Additionally, the characters were well done. I wish I had gotten to know each of them a little bit more, but I understand you can only make stories so long. The important bits were all here.
Towards the end, it did get chaotic for me. The perspectives were shifting so rapidly, it was sometimes hard to follow. In particular, as the final showdown approached, a few times I lost track of whose perspective I was reading from.
Overall, this was such an addicting story. Holy smokes. I feel like I need to take a recovery day to get over it. It’s violent, erotic, thought-provoking, visceral…did I mention erotic?
Proceed with caution, but also, don’t. It’s a ride worth being a little uncomfortable for. You can eat again after it’s over.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Tor Nightfire, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I cannot wait to see what Gretchen Felker-Martin dishes up next!!