“Only a writer as flat-out funny as Michael Libling could remind us that 99% of ‘slaughter’ is ‘laughter.’” — Paul Witcover, author of Lincolnstein and many others
There wasn’t a soul in town who didn’t know what Bobby Blessing’s father had done, and would have kept on doing if he weren’t behind bars. He had murdered 27 innocent people. But Bobby knew that number was higher. Much higher, most likely. Bobby’s father was a bad, bad man. But even Bobby himself didn’t know the whole story.
In The Serial Killer’s Son Takes a Wife, author Michael Libling plunges readers inside the decidedly cursed life of Bobby Blessing, a young man struggling to navigate a reality few people will ever ponder: how to survive having a serial killer for a father in a small town where nothing is forgotten.
“Most of my stories are set in small towns, and … The Serial Killer’s Son Takes A Wife is no exception,” Libling said. “There’s something wonderful and comforting about small towns, until you make the mistake of probing beneath the surface.”
When readers meet Bobby, he has a new last name and a relatively benign existence as the owner of an ice cream parlor in Saratoga Springs, New York. He is working hard to leave his family’s horrific legacy behind, including his mother, who wasn’t exactly a sweet treat herself.
Bobby’s life is a lonely one, as having a dad for a serial killer isn’t exactly an icebreaker conducive to forming friendships. But then, one harsh winter night, the astonishing Cori Widdoes shows up with a hankering for ice cream, and Bobby abruptly forgets the one key to his survival: Nothing is what it seems. Before too long, he finds himself asking, how do you tell the woman you love your dad is a serial killer?
With surprising doses of humor that cut through the tension and horror, The Serial Killer’s Son Takes A Wife “delves into areas few, if any, so-called ‘serial killer’ novels have explored before,” Libling added.
Through it all, the specter of Bobby’s bloodthirsty father looms, forcing Bobby to face unspeakable answers to questions that have haunted him for a lifetime.
“The Serial Killer’s Son Takes a Wife is as fun as it is titillatingly horrifying, with references to current rock bands, TV shows, and movies, and at least one reference to COVID,” said Dan Laxer of The Suburban weekly newspaper. “The reader is yanked from one chapter to the next, cliff-hanger to cliff-hanger, until reader and protagonist meet in the dark, one as blind as the other as to what happens next.”
About the Author
Michael Libling is a World Fantasy Award finalist whose short fiction has appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Realms of Fantasy, The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror, The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy, and many others. The Serial Killer’s Son Takes a Wife, published by WordFire Press, is his second novel. His first, Hollywood North: A Novel in Six Reels, was published in 2019 by ChiZine and subsequently, in 2020, by Open Road Media.
Creator and former host of the long-running CJAD radio Trivia Show in Montreal, Libling is the father of three daughters and lives on Montreal’s West Island with his wife, Pat, and a big black dog named Piper. Among other things, he claims to be one of only a handful of North American authors who has never owned a cat.
For more information, visit www.michaellibling.com, or follow the author on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and BlueSkySocial (@MichaelLibling); Instagram (@MichaelLiblingWriter); and TikTok (@MichaelLiblingNovels).
Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Serial-
The Serial Killer’s Son Takes a Wife
Publisher: WordFire Press
Release Date: September 5, 2023
ISBN-10: 1680574574
ISBN-13: 978-1680574579
Available from Amazon.com, BN.com and other major booksellers