Mary

An Awakening of Terror

Nat Cassidy’s highly commercial debut horror novel, Mary, blends Midsommar with elements of American Psycho and a pinch of I'll Be Gone in the Dark.

Mary is a quiet middle-aged woman doing her best to blend into the background. Unremarkable. Invisible. Unknown even to herself.

But lately, things have been changing inside Mary. Along with the hot flashes and body aches, she can’t look in a mirror without passing out, and the voices in her head have been urging her to do unspeakable things.

Fired from her job in New York, she moves back to her hometown hoping to reconnect with her past and inner self. What she finds instead are visions of terrifying mutilated specters that come with increasing regularity; she begins auto-writing strange thoughts and phrases, and her investigations reveal that these experiences are echoes of an infamous serial killer.

Then the killings begin again.

Mary’s definitely going to find herself.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Nightfire.

©2022 Nat Cassidy (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

Menopause IS Basically a Horror Story

Dear Nat,

As a perimenopausal horror-loving Arizonan woman who recently turned 50, I feel like I am in a strong position to grant you "permission" to write about this subject. Because, my dude, you nailed it. And if anybody gives you any hassle for taking this on, just send them my way, and I'll set them straight. As with most issues related to female biology, menopause is a topic that most people rather willfully ignore, but you took it on fearlessly and gruesomely, and I AM HERE FOR IT. What really struck me deep in my soul as I read this novel was the concept of "usefulness." The transitions into Maidenhood and Motherhood are celebrated--without anybody acknowledging any of the gory details, of course--but those two stages in a woman's life are USEFUL for the patriarchy, and therefore tacitly acceptable. But the transition into Cronehood? Don't nobody want to hear about that--no matter how horrifying it can be for those experiencing it--because middle-aged women are no longer USEFUL as sexual objects or as vessels for reproduction. The incessant messaging Mary receives about her declining usefulness was hard to read for those experiencing it themselves, and you captured perfectly the rage that results from that misogynistic nonsense. The way that Mary is brushed off by medical professionals had me raising a hand to the sky in sisterhood. The afterword to this book was mighty insightful and appreciated, but I was already feeling empowered before I got to that point. All this said, I really didn't like Mary as a person, and if I ever met someone my own age that obsessed with Hummel figures I'm pretty sure I'd be repulsed by them. But I don't need to LIKE Mary to understand her, and wow did I. Also, The Awakening is one of my favorite books, and the section quotes were just...*chef's kiss*.

Obviously, I'm a fan.

Sincerely,
A Crone

Wow the narration

I had heard tons of reviews on how great this book was and had it on my TBR for a long while. Finally with not much in the plus category and wanting a spooky book for spooky season I decided to use a credit and purchase it. Credit well spent. the story is unique and so well written, bt the narration is one of the best I've heard the performance was so so good very Sally Fields'esque. Highly recommend

ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR

Fantastic story, exceptionally well written - one of the rare occasions where a male author has done a shockingly good job of writing an authentic non-male experience (thank you, Mr. Cassidy!). And the narration....quite possibly the best I've heard in my many hundreds of audiobooks. I'll be seeking out more books brought to life by Susan Bennett. Just. So. Good.

So great!

Such a great horror novel. I love the narration I’m this, some parts made laugh out loud. The narrator is perfect for Mary!

This might be my new favorite book

The end was a bit drawn out but overall I really enjoyed it. I feel for Mary just as ai did for Carrie all those years ago when I picked up my first Stephen King book. Don’t skip the foreword and afterword by the author, good stuff. Thanks Nat, as a middle aged woman, I think you get it as much as any man can “get it”. Fantastic book and wonderful narration!