She thought she’d escaped the monster that tormented her family decades ago…
Alane is determined to give her 12-year-old son, Ray the stable childhood she didn’t have. After moving into a new apartment, Alane works two jobs to make ends meet, leaving Ray alone in the evenings. Ray loves his new independence, but soon that love turns to fear as he begins to hear strange sounds from the attic crawl space. Doors slam where there aren’t any. Something is chewing a hole in his bedroom ceiling.
Long-buried memories of an old family tale surface, a monster Alane and her little brother called Palmetto Boy. Alane must confront the creature that has haunted her for years and destroy it for good—before it rips away her son and the future she’s fighting to build.
Palmetto Boy is a novel about the inescapable legacy of family folklore and the risks we take to keep those we love safe.
Alane has separated from her husband and moved with her 12-year-old son, Ray, into a small but cozy apartment owned by the parents of a friend. Alane doesn't take much with her, but she does bring the burden of childhood trauma. It is part of the reason for her separation, and the entirety of the reason that she takes the doors off the hinges in her new home.
She works days as a substitute teacher and some nights serving food for a caterer, which leaves Ray alone more often than she would like and still leaves her struggling to make ends meet. Ray doesn't mind being alone at first, until the scratching noises start and something chews a hole in his bedroom ceiling.
I'm sure you've heard the proverb that time heals all wounds. You probably know that's a useless and dismissive expression. Sometimes things happen that we can never get over. Alane's unresolved trauma contributed to the breakdown of her marriage, and now it is coming for her son. Time has not healed Alane; it has allowed her trauma to fester and grow into something monstrous.
I loved this book! I cared about these characters, and as the creepy happenings escalate, and a storm begins to brew, I never knew which danger had me more worried. The eerie atmosphere and the mystery of what really happened in Alane's childhood home had me barreling through the pages at all hours of the night to get to the end.
5 out of 5 stars
My thanks to Timber Ghost Press for the e-ARC
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