What Kind of Mother

Get in the xigxag app
This book is not purchasable in your country. Please select another book.
Pre-order Buy Now £{{ price }}
How does xigxag pricing work?

Listen to a sample

What to expect

Nicholas Sparks meets The Empty Man in this modern Southern Gothic horror about a palm reader swept up in a disturbing missing-child case with a twist you won’t see coming.

After striking out on her own as a teen mom, Madi Price is forced to return to her hometown of Brandywine, Virginia, with her seventeen-year-old daughter. With nothing to her name, she scrapes together a living as a palm reader at the local farmers market.

It’s there that she connects with old high school flame Henry McCabe, now a reclusive local fisherman whose infant son, Skyler, went missing five years ago. Everyone in town is sure Skyler is dead, but when Madi reads Henry’s palm, she’s haunted by strange and disturbing visions that suggest otherwise. As she follows the thread of these visions, Madi discovers a terrifying nightmare waiting at the center of the labyrinth—and it’s coming for everyone she holds dear.

Combining supernatural horror with domestic suspense into a visceral exploration of parental grief, What Kind of Mother cements Clay McLeod Chapman’s reputation as a “star” (Vulture) and “the twenty-first century’s Richard Matheson” (Richard Chizmar, Chasing the Boogeyman).

Critics Review

  • “Perfectly paced.”

    Booklist

  • “Chapman is becoming a not-to-miss horror novelist. Suggest this one to a varied audience of fans who enjoy intense psychological tales.”

    Library Journal

  • “Clay Chapman’s books have a way of making you hold your breath. Grief and loss are common themes in fiction, but put in the hands of Chapman and the world goes even more out of balance—exactly what we look for in a horror novel.”

    Barnes&Noble.com

  • “What Kind of Mother mixes Southern Gothic, a missing child story, and body horror into an entertaining brew sure to inform your nightmares.”

    Paul Tremblay, author of The Cabin at the End of the World

  • “A tremendous, heartbreaking work of dark fiction, where the horror seeps in quietly until you’re left drowning. You won’t forget about this tale anytime soon. A masterpiece.”

    Ronald Malfi, author of Come with Me

  • “Bristling with uneasy energy, What Kind of Mother seizes you by the throat and never lets go. An ink-black story about grief, courage, and what we’ll do for those we love.”

    Catriona Ward, author of The Last House on Needless Street

More from the same

Author

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to get tailored content recommendations, product updates and info on new releases. Your data is your own: we commit to protect your data and respect your privacy.