Publishers Weekly
08/21/2023
In this clever but overstuffed sequel to Chizmar’s 2021 bestseller Chasing the Boogeyman, the author again brings a metafictional approach to the serial killer thriller. Decades after the first book’s Boogeyman killings in Edgewood, Md., journalist and horror writer Rich—who is closely patterned on Chizmar—finds a garbage bag filled with human remains while walking his dog. They belong to Annie Riggs, the sole survivor of the Boogeyman’s 1980s killing spree, and Rich, who became a key figure in that investigation, is thrust back into the spotlight. As media attention about a potential copycat killer starts to overwhelm Rich and threaten his marriage, more girls begin to disappear; when their bodies are found, each is missing an ear. Reluctantly, Rich investigates once again. Sections about Rich’s childhood in Edgewood (formatted as bits of an in-progress memoir) possess a certain Stand by Me charm, and his visits to the Boogeyman in prison vibrate with the intensity of Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter’s interactions in The Silence of the Lambs. But the novel’s ambitious structure, which folds news clippings and reviews of the last book into the narrative, sometimes weighs down the central mystery too much. Still, fans of the first book will likely be satisfied. Agent: Kristin Nelson, Nelson Literary. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
Becoming the Boogeyman is a worthy and frightening sequel to Chizmar’s Chasing the Boogeyman. Terrific storytelling. You won’t be disappointed.” —Stephen King
“Becoming the Boogeyman is a compulsive, utterly immersive twist of fact and fiction. Richard Chizmar masterfully blends reality and imagination to deliver something wholly original and totally gripping from start to finish. I couldn’t stop turning the pages, even when I wanted to turn away. Don’t miss this edge-of-your seat chiller that will keep you guessing—and guessing again.” —Lisa Unger
“Becoming the Boogeyman is at times almost unbearably suspenseful and at times incredibly poignant. Richard Chizmar delves deep into our worst fears and touches the darkness that lives there. An amazing book.” —S. A. Cosby
“Becoming the Boogeyman is Richard Chizmar at his most original and creative. A book that is as fun as it is smart and scary. I love the Boogeyman books so much!” —Caroline Kepnes
“A deliciously chilling follow-up to Chasing the Boogeyman—suspenseful, unsettling, and absolutely compelling. I couldn’t put it down.” —Meg Gardiner
“Richard Chizmar has pulled off one hell of a sequel, delivering the rare thriller that is truly original and unlike anything else you’ll read this year. While the tension is high and the chills plentiful, it is the human heart of the book that lingers once the tale is told.” —Michael Koryta
“Sinuous and twisting and utterly unputdownable, Becoming the Boogeyman slices deep from the start and twists the knife until the very end. I was terrified, moved, and gripped by turns. A tour de force.” —Catriona Ward
“Chasing the Boogeyman was brilliant. Becoming the Boogeyman is even better. An engrossing mystery, a chilling portrayal of obsession, and a terrifying take on how we commercialize evil and condemn the innocent. Fascinating, gruesome, heartbreaking, and chilling. This is masterful storytelling that will hold you in its icy claws to the very bitter end.” —C. J. Tudor
"Richard Chizmar knows his way around a frightening story...deeply unsettling...[he] blends reality and fantasy in a way that can only be described as intoxicating: heightening your emotions, blunting your skepticism, and luring you into trouble." —Vanity Fair
“Like its predecessor, Chasing the Boogeyman, this is a novel that masquerades as fact, and does so to startling effect, the reader never quite knowing what is fact and what is fiction. And like his friend and former co-author Stephen King, Chizmar is a master of capturing the horrors beneath the surface of suburbia. King would certainly approve here—this is stunning.” —Daily Mail (UK)
New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger
A compulsive, utterly immersive twist of fact and fiction…I couldn’t stop turning the pages, even when I wanted to turn away. Don’t miss this edge-of-your seat chiller that will keep you guessing—and guessing again.”
#1 New York Times bestselling author Stephen King
Terrific storytelling. You won’t be disappointed.”
author of Look Both Ways Linwood Barclay
Will chill you to the bone.”
