Detective Winchester Mills and author Ben Bookman have met before when Ben’s brother disappeared as a young kid. Now, they’re meeting again as murder victims are found posed in the exact same way as described in Ben Bookman’s newest novel. Mills, and his daughter detective Samantha Blue, find the victims hung inside corn husk cocoons. During a signing, a man who accuses Bookman of “stealing his nightmares” commits suicide in front of Bookman and the entire store. This drives Bookman to drink; after all, who wouldn’t be traumatized by witnessing and being blamed for a suicide? The drinking strains his already fracturing marriage with pregnant wife, Amanda. As a reporter, Amanda is sidelined during one of the most important stories of the year; as a woman, she’s freaked out by the erratic nature of her husband. She sends their daughter, Briana, to her parents while this is all being sorted out. Naturally, Bookman is a suspect in the killings, but Mills and Blue don’t have enough to arrest him. However, they know he’s hiding something from them. But that shouldn’t be a shocker; everyone in this book is hiding something from everyone else. Mills from Blue, Blue from Mills, etc. As Mills and Blue investigate, they see more and more connections to all the insane crimes that Mills has investigated in his career. Meanwhile Ben tries to clear his name and save his marriage while learning that family secrets may just be the key to it all.

The Nightmare Man by J.H. Markert is a third person point of view novel that switches between Mills, Bookman, and a dreamlike view of past incidents. It is a deeply character focused novel with horror and speculative elements attached. Markert keeps a tight pace that engages the reader. This book isn’t pushing any narrative or structural boundaries. It’s just a good story, well told. I was glued to the pages from start to finish.