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Thursday, February 10, 2022

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway 72: Manhunt

This week's #HorrorForLibraries giveaway features a book that is about to explode into the world. The new gold standard for the band of survivors Zombie Apocalypse tale. Details below, but first, how to enter:

  1. You need to be affiliated with an American public library. My rationale behind that is that I will be encouraging you to read these books and share them with patrons. While many of them are advanced reader copies that you cannot add to your collections, if you get the chance to read them, my hope is that you will consider ordering a copy for your library and give away the ARC away as a prize or pass it on to a fellow staff member.
  2. If you are interested in being included in any giveaway at any time, you must email me at zombiegrl75 [at] gmail [dot] com with the subject line "#HorrorForLibraries." In the body of the email all you have to say is that you want to be entered and the name of your library.
  3. Each entry will be considered for EVERY giveaway. Meaning you enter once, and you are entered until you win. I will randomly draw a winner on Fridays sometime after 5pm central. But only entries received by 5pm each week will be considered for that week. I use Random.org and have a member of my family witness the "draw"based off your number in the Google Sheet.
  4. If you win, you are ineligible to win again for 4 weeks; you will have to re-enter after that time to be considered [I have a list of who has won, when, and what title]. However, if you do not win, you carry over into the next week. There is NO NEED to reenter.

Click here to see giveaway #71Our winner was Jessica from the Elizabeth Titus Memorial [IL] Library. Now on to today's giveaway.

I don't think I have enough superlatives for Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin or it's cover out 2/22/22.

I gave this novel a STAR review in Library Journal which because it is a STAR you all can read it for free here or below:

Beth and Fran are in the woods, on the run from monsters, both those created by a virus that turns any human with enough testosterone into a zombie-esque creature and an organized group of TERFS, led by a woman who could go toe-to-toe with Negan from The Walking Dead who rules with a violent brand of anti-trans, feminist hate. Beth and Fran are not helpless however, they are skilled hunters, seeking the valuable, estrogen rich testicles of the infected men, to bring back to their friend, Indi, a doctor who is distilling E for medicinal purposes. So begins this compelling, fast paced, and tense post-apocalyptic tale of a band of survivors, fighting off villains and struggling to find safety, featuring stellar world building and complex, fully developed characters. The original frame, a testosterone driven plague, opens the door for Felker-Martin to probe the popular zombie trope while simultaneously centering the experience of trans men and women. The result, a sensual, tender, honest, and inspirational story of imperfect but well meaning people banding together in an attempt to not only survive but thrive.

Verdict: Manhunt confidently plants a flag declaring its place as one of the great zombie, band of survivor tales, right beside 21st Century, thought provoking, and action packed classics such as The Rising by Keene, Zone One by Whitehead, and the Newsflesh series by Grant, period.

Three Words That Describe This Book: band of survivors, thought provoking, action packed

I hope I make it clear here that this book is violent. But surviving a world where men have become monsters cannot be without violence. Survival is not pretty. Nor are the awful, human monsters.

But this book is also so tender and sweet in ways that are honest. These are survivors who want to live, at any cost.

Many will try to say bad things about this book because of its violence or its focus on trans characters. Others have tried to find fault with the author herself, an outspoken and publicly trans woman who shares her thoughts and feelings, no matter how controversial, openly.

All of those haters are wrong. This is a spectacular book. If you like band of survivors, apocalypse stories, especially those with zombies, you will love this novel. And the way Felker-Martin introduces the menace makes her centering of the trans experience NOT a gimmick in any way, it is literally a direct consequence of a testosterone driven virus and the TERFs who more evil than the men who have been turned into zombie like creatures. It's brilliant.

The only problem with this giveaway  [courtesy of Nightfire] is that my advanced copy was so advanced that it only has a plain yellow cover. So sorry for no awesome cover. But it is still the same great read. and I will send it to one lucky winner.

Good luck.

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