The Brood - by Rebecca Baum (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A fascinating blend of horror and magical realism, this spine-tingling thriller explores the complex relationship between women, their bodies, and the natural world.

Cutthroat NYC lawyer Mary Whelton just buried her problematic old mentor. But as she leaves the mourners and protesters behind, the press stays hot on her heels. Desperate to escape, she unwittingly barrels deep into a remote forest in upstate New York. Until a collision--with a buzzing, oozing throng of cicadas--stops her dead in her tracks.

She awakens in a crude cabin, held captive by Girl, a simple, hulking woman who mistakes Mary for her derelict mother and obsesses over a mysterious Brood. While tortured echoes from Mary's past feed her growing sense of fear, it becomes clear that she's destined to bear an unthinkable role in the cicadas' cyclical reemergence. But when Girl's grisly past comes back to haunt them both, Mary is thrust into a violent battle of wills.

Confoundingly creepy and atmospheric, The Brood peels back the hurt and pain of the female experience, laying bare the messy necessity for transformation and growth.

Review Quotes

Lifelike Creatures

"Rebecca Baum's writing is honest and concise. She can conjure our humanity in a sentence, deftly revealing a humble decency or an utter depravity." --Téa Leoni

The Brood

"Baum's prose is hypnotic, lush, and bristling with menace. Every page pulses with life--cicadas buzz incessantly, roots twist with intent, and the forest hums with ancient hunger...It forces us to confront the things we would rather not think about: our bodies, their decay and function, and our place within a natural world that does not bend to us. Baum has given us a beautiful, terrifying hymn to the wilderness--both without and within." --Susana Aikin, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and author of The Weight of the Heart and We Shall See the Sky Sparkling

"Rebecca Baum's The Brood is a fever dream of body horror and self-discovery that will keep you turning the pages. Be careful this book doesn't crawl under your skin." --Joe Hart, Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Or Else

"The Brood had me hooked at its premise--a cutthroat lawyer colliding with nature and trauma. I read an early draft and have been literally thinking about this novel for years--it's fiercely original and indelible. Fans of Yellowjackets and The Substance will eat it up." --Carinn Jade, author of The Astrology House

"Painted with surreal imagery, yet rooted in the visceral real, Baum's novel is a thrilling journey into the forests of our innermost darkness." --Robert P. Ottone, author of The Vile Thing We Created and the Bram Stoker Award-winning novel The Triangle

"It's rare for an author to rise above the sum of their inspirations--rarer still to craft them into something entirely their own. Baum proves yet again she's an alchemist of the highest order. Equal parts psychological thriller and body horror, The Brood is a gripping chimera that crawls under mind and skin alike. Perfect for fans of Misery and The Fly, or anyone who enjoys the macabre with a brain." --J.S. Gold, author of The Sanhedrin Chronicles