Psychopaths Anonymous by Will Carver #BookReview #BlogTour

 

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.

I'm honoured to be opening the blog tour for Psychopaths Anonymous today. Huge thanks to Will Carver, Orenda Books and Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me and for my advance copy of the novel.

Will Carver has written a book about a cult leader who persuades hundreds of people who have never met to kill themselves after receiving a short note, and a novel narrated by Evil. And yet, Maeve might be his darkest, most twisted character to date. However, in a book entitled Psychopaths Anonymous it's not surprising to come across more than one killer and although her story, it's evident that she isn't uniquely depraved. Everybody likes to find others they share an interest with so why shouldn't psychopaths form their own support group? 
This is the fourth book in the Sergeant Pace series but this isn't about him and although a detective makes a brief appearance, their identity is never confirmed. It isn't necessary to have read any of the other books, think of it more as the latest story in the Carververse. However, those who are familiar with Will Carver's novels will love spotting the various references to what has gone before - or has yet to occur. Some are more obvious than others and I'm sure I missed some; perhaps some day I'll read all his books back-to-back to truly appreciate the tangled genius of his writing in its entirety.
Maeve should be an unlikeable character ... actually, she is an unlikeable character - she is a functioning alcoholic and a nihilistic, perverted killer. Nevertheless, she is a fabulous main character and as disturbing as she may be, it's impossible not to compulsively keep turning the pages to discover what she will do next. This isn't a story of hope and redemption, neither is it a cat-and-mouse tale of a killer trying to avoid being caught by the dogged detective. Whether Maeve's victims deserve their fate is left up to the reader to decide; none of them are particularly sympathetic characters and some are positively loathsome but if we applaud their brutal deaths, what does that say about us?
As Maeve uses what she learns attending AA meetings to start her own Psychopaths Anonymous Group, she realises that for the first time, that she might just be falling in love. This might make some people more vulnerable and even Maeve struggles at times to manage the separate parts of her life but our antihero is too clever and too mindful of her own desires to really lose sight of what she wants. Her cynical observations of 21st century life, from our consumption of the 24-hour news cycle and reality television shows to our willingness to share our every thought on social media, seeking affirmation through likes and replies is uncomfortable to read at times but it's something Will Carver does so well. He isn't preachy and he doesn't offer any suggestions or answers but he does force you to consider all of our roles in what life has become.
Psychopaths Anonymous is about as dark and twisted as crime fiction comes; it's also bloody funny. Murder is serious but a killer can enjoy their work and we can have fun reading about it - even if we do feel a little dirty at the same time...  Will Carver's latest is provocative, offensive and savagely brilliant - this is risk-taking, challenging fiction at its very best. I loved it.

Psychopaths Anonymous is published by Orenda Books and out now in ebook and will be available in paperback from 25th November 2021. Purchase directly from the publisher's website or order from bookshop.org, Hive or Amazon but please support independent bookshops whenever possible.

Don't miss the rest of the blog tour, details are below.


About the Author
Will Carver is the international bestselling author of the January David series and the critically acclaimed, mind-blowingly original Detective Pace series that includes Good Samaritans (2018), Nothing Important Happened Today (2019) and Hinton Hollow Death Trip (2020), all of which were ebook bestsellers and selected as books of the year in the mainstream international press. Nothing Important Happened Today was longlisted for both the Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award 2020 and the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. Hinton Hollow Death Trip was longlisted for Guardian‘s Not the Booker Prize. 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 children.


Comments

Post a Comment