Husk

July 16, 2018
In Zeltserman’s disappointing contemporary monster tale, a backwoods cannibal strives to break away from his murderous clan after he falls in love with a city girl. On a procurement trip to find people for his clan’s consumption, narrator Charlie Husk spots Jill Zemler at a Massachusetts rest stop. Her boyfriend, Ethan, abandons her there after a public fight, and Charlie offers her a ride. Charlie soon falls for Jill and sets out to escape his family’s hold and make a life with her. Though Jill doesn’t know Charlie at all, she almost immediately invites him to crash in her N.Y.C. apartment, where he has to contend with Jill’s nosy best friend, his lack of a social security number, and his craving for human flesh. Charlie spends most of the story skulking about and menacing people around New York City and fails to elicit much empathy, though Zeltserman takes pains to emphasize the ingrained effects of his family’s ritualistic and aberrant generational practices. Charlie struggles with and repeatedly references his otherness, and people have shocked reactions when his “mask” slips, but whether his strangeness is purely human or of supernatural origin remains unclear to the reader. A final twist at the end fails to elevate this hard-to-stomach love story. Agent: Paula Munier, Talcott Notch.

Starred review from August 1, 2018
Charlie Husk is a cannibal, a member of a clan of flesh-eaters who live hidden away from the world. His job is to travel into civilization, abduct people (college students are favored prey), and bring them back to the clan. He's quite good at it; he's stealthy, ruthless, and smart, easily able to adapt to unexpected changes in circumstances. When he falls in love with a human girl, Charlie's whole life changes instantly, like a switch has been thrown. And, so, Charlie abandons his clan and his heritage, and determines to live among the people who used to be his prey. The author takes on a tricky challenge?making a monster a sympathetic character?and he's completely successful. Zeltserman keeps the story grounded in reality, giving Charlie practical problems to overcome (like finding a way to deal with the craving for human flesh, or learning new words, like social security number ), and the story is at once tender, brutal, fantastic, and vibrantly real. A unique and splendid novel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)