‘When AA meetings make her want to drink more, alcoholic murderess Maeve sets up a group for psychopaths’
– Psychopaths Anonymous
[ About the Book ]
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.
[ My Review ]
Psychopaths Anonymous by Will Carver will be published in original paperback November 25th with Orenda Books. Described as a ‘dark, unpredictable, electrifyingly original new thriller’ be prepared for the most quirky and wicked read of your life.
Maeve is completely unstable, a person you would never wish to cross paths with. A successful and confident business woman living in a beautiful home, Maeve appears to have it all. But Maeve leads a double life. Behind this façade of accomplishment, she is an addict. Maeve drinks copious amounts of alcohol, has numerous sexual encounters and loves to fantasize about, and actually enact, the brutal killing of men. She takes a dislike for multiple reasons and decides the world would be a better place without that particular male still in it, so fuelled on adrenaline and an alcohol rush she kills.
Maeve is well aware that her actions are not acceptable in normal society. She was born into a regular family and suffered no traumatic experiences growing up. Nothing in her past can explain her psychopathic traits so Maeve has always longed to find others like her, people that she can call her own, but how can she do this? Initially Maeve attends numerous AA meetings and her internal monologues are scathing of the people who attend these groups. She is frustrated with religion and God being the one solution on the programme that is a common theme across all groups. So Maeve being Maeve decides that she needs to step up and start her own group for psychopaths and, to keep things simple, she calls it Psychopaths Anonymous. Selling it as a ‘mental health’ group she slowly gathers a motley crew of rather despicable characters. All are reluctant to share at the initial meetings but after a few weeks the personality types are revealed a bit more and Maeve thrives in their company.
At work Maeve continues to excel and one day she crosses paths with Seth. They have a very strong initial connection and it’s not long before Maeve discovers that she is in fact falling for Seth, a complication that she had never foreseen. He is handsome, enjoys a drink or three, is up for a laugh and seems to understand Maeve. Obviously Seth is completely unaware of her parallel life and Maeve intends to keep it that way. But Maeve is struggling to keep a line drawn between her two lives. She craves the kill, she craves the buzz, she misses the excitement. When Maeve steps back from her extracurricular activities, she senses a shift in her relationship with Seth. She feels distanced from him. She feels that she is different, boring, predictable. How can she keep the magic alive?
Psychopaths Anonymous is a disturbingly violent read yet, as Will Carver is the magic behind it, it is utterly addictive, completely insane, at times seriously stomach-churning and just plain outrageous. There is no let up in the pace of this book as Maeve’s behaviour jumps between being completely insane and strangely loveable. Her erratic and totally unorthodox approach to living is downright bizarre. To be honest I would run a mile if I ever had to shake her hand but there is an underlying kooky appeal that strangely gets under your skin.
Psychopaths Anonymous is a book I recommend BUT with a few caveats for the squeamish among you
IT IS VERY VERY GRUESOME
IT IS WACKY
IT IS WEIRDLY FASCINATING
IT IS COMPLETELY WILD YET SO DAMN COMPELLING
IT IS ORIGINAL
Read it for yourselves folks and let me know!
[ Bio ]
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.
Twitter – @will_carver
