Nightjars - by Michael Wehunt (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Memento meets Dracula in this heart-thudding, unpredictable, and beautifully crafted novel of a man exposed for crimes he doesn't remember committing, and the monsters that dwell at the heart of us all, from celebrated and critically acclaimed author Michael Wehunt.

On a rainy night, Luke Oshel gets stood up halfway through dinner. But before his date walks off to the bathroom and never returns, she leaves an old photograph under her napkin--Luke as a child, a dead body in the shadows of his bedroom, and a terrifying masked man. He has no recollection of this event.

Then more photos disrupt his life--Luke posing with murder victims, covered in blood--and he falls back into the deep paranoia and repressed memories he's tried to leave behind. All the drugs and alcohol, therapy, and hypnosis sessions have never conquered his deepest fear--that he hasn't escaped the hidden legacy of his late father, who killed his victims by blood loss. But now there is a new string of serial killings, and the evidence all points to Luke.

As his journey to uncover the truth unfolds in the North Georgia Appalachians, a threat arises that will risk everything he holds close, including his ex-wife and their young daughter. Now Luke must chase his father's darkness through a centuries-old secret and learn what monsters truly are. And decide if he's one of them.

Review Quotes

Praise for Nightjars:

"Clever and original... Readers will gladly sail along as Wehunt's breakneck plot rockets them toward a terrifying yet heartfelt conclusion."--Library Journal (starred review)

"A twisty, heart-wrenching, and discomfiting journey." --Booklist

"Michael Wehunt doesn't just simply tell you a story, he inters you in one. Nightjars is such an immersive nightmare, it feels like being buried alive by a book. You will taste the loam at the back of your throat, the earth clotting up your airways. You're never climbing out from this novel." --Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Wake Up and Open Your Eyes

"I don't frequently label things 'among the best, ' but in the case of Michael Wehunt's stunning sophomore novel Nightjars, I must make an enthusiastic exception. A terrifying, heartbreaking novel that is as close to perfection as I've seen. Absolutely breathtaking." --Kristi DeMeester, author of Dark Sisters and Such a Pretty Smile

Praise for The October Film Haunt:

"Wehunt is one of the most dynamic voices in horror... a cosmic fusion of William Faulkner's gothic with modern sensibilities." --Booklist (starred review)

"How can one pen have this many good lines in it?" --Stephen Graham Jones, New York Times bestselling author of I Was a Teenage Slasher and Don't Fear the Reaper

"Michael Wehunt's rabbit punch of a novel is as beautifully written as it is affecting." --Paul Tremblay, New York Times bestselling author of Horror Movie and A Head Full of Ghosts

"Haunting, clever, and flat-out scary. I plan to read it again to figure out how Wehunt pulled it off." --Richard Chizmar, New York Times bestselling author of Chasing the Boogeyman and Memorials

"Intelligent, emotional, and very very scary. One of the best books I've read in years." --Adam Cesare, USA Today bestselling author of Influencer and Clown in a Cornfield

"A masterpiece of miasma. Imagine The Truman Show helmed by Wes Craven." --Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Wake Up and Open Your Eyes

"Each page sighs with the terrifying promise of dread, the soft whispers of legends and mythologies aching to be exposed." --Eric LaRocca, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke

"A love letter to horror... I have never read anything quite like this novel, and I don't think I will again." --Kristi DeMeester, Georgia Author of the Year Finalist and author of Dark Sisters and Such a Pretty Smile

"A masterful work by a horror writer whose talents I want the world to know and love--and fear." --Andy Davidson, author of The Hollow Kind

"Wehunt blurs reality and fiction, confounds any expectations, and makes you feel like you're participating in a dark ritual with each turned page." --Vulture

"Wehunt's chilling, spot-on imagery and descriptive prose are what really sell this ambitious concept...a layered slow-burn that speaks of obsession, fandom and the lethal itch to know the truth." --Fangoria

"A strong contender for the epic horror novel of the 2020s." --Geek Rage/Strange Library

"A love letter to horror films and creatives...damnably haunting and wicked as hell." --FanFiAddict

"Wehunt knows how to get under your skin." --Book Reporter

"Downright chilling...[a] monumental novel." --Camera Macabre

About the Author

MICHAEL WEHUNT has been a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award, multiple Shirley Jackson Awards, and the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts' Crawford Award. In Spain, his stories have garnered nominations for the Premio Ignotus and Premio Amaltea, winning the latter. He haunts the woods outside Atlanta with his partner and their dog.