Synopsis
She’ll do anything to save her child. Even join a cult.
When single mom Dalice learns her toddler, Cash, needs a heart transplant, she gets desperate. There are no guarantees he’ll receive a donor heart in time. And even if he does, she can’t afford the expensive procedure.
Then Dalice meets Shane. He’s part of a mysterious group whose leader claims to be able to heal any disease or injury. Dalice is skeptical at first, and the ritual she witnesses makes her uneasy. But when a broken arm gets healed before her eyes, she can’t deny the truth, and she wants the same miracle for Cash.
As her son’s life hangs in the balance, Dalice must decide how far she’s willing to go to save him. Because the miracles in the secret group come at a steep price. A price that might be too high for even the most devoted mother.
Review
A huge thanks to the publisher for the eARC!
“All that is glitter is not gold,” a sentiment that could not be truer when discussing Steph Nelson’s latest gripping novel, The Threshing Floor. Dalice is a single mother trying to make ends meet, something that is particularly difficult given her son Cash’s severe heart condition. It’s a very tense time as Dalice has just been informed that a heart transplant is needed sooner than expected. Yet, Dalice meets someone, a man named Shane who is kind and considerate. But, Shane’s life is heavily entwined with what appears to be a religious group, one that holds the promise of healing for Cash. Of course, not all is as it seems, and the more immersed Dalice finds herself in this group, the less things make sense. With incredibly high stakes and unthinkable twists, Steph Nelson has delivered yet another enthralling tale of love, manipulation, and deceit.
The Threshing Floor feels like the perfect book to bridge the divide between fans of horror fiction and propulsive, twisty thrillers. Nelson’s previous novels The Vein and The Final Scene seemed to fall into each category very neatly with The Vein capitalizing on slow-burn terrors plaguing a small town and The Final Scene running on mysterious pasts and imminent threats of death. While both of those books are brilliant for those reasons, it is also safe to say that The Threshing Floor feels like the natural convergence of those kinds of stories, one that succeeds through its suspense and thrives on the unexpected possibility of the (possibly?) otherworldly.
It is also no secret that The Threshing Floor is a cult novel which can set some expectations for where events will twist and turn. However, Steph Nelson seemingly subverts these expectations, delivering a raw, fresh look at the horrifying aspects of control. Not only do her characters read as complex and nuanced, but the fight to escape these monstrous hands of dominance comes across in startling clarity. And as a bonus, the romance component of The Threshing Floor is written exceptionally well. There are layers upon layers of conflict from each character that make this novel incredibly hard to put down, leaving your heart racing somewhere in the middle of your throat.
Beyond these successfully employed mechanics, there is a lot of heart to be found in this story. I’ve written before about books that are the product of raw spaces, and this novel undoubtedly falls in this category. Nelson pens an emotional author’s note to conclude this whirlwind novel, shedding light on a part of herself and this story that makes everything so damn human. Even without this note, Dalice’s struggle to “save” Cash comes through in heartbreaking, emotional waves that impart just how far a mother will go to save her child. This is empathetic, heartfelt writing at its very best.
The Threshing Floor is a heart-pounding, exhilarating, and somewhat unexpected venture into the realm of cultish horror. Steph Nelson has created something very unique in writing Dalice, Cash, and Shane’s story with tender care, enthralling twists, and blood-chilling terror. The perfect read for fans of both horror and thrillers alike, The Threshing Floor further solidifies my love of Steph Nelson’s writing and should not be missed.
The Threshing Floor by Steph Nelson releases on November 11th from Dark Matter INK! To support them directly, you can order a copy here: The Threshing Floor
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