Mister Tender’s Girl by Carter Wilson is a 2018 Poisoned Pen Press publication.

Alice was a victim of a brutal stabbing when she was fourteen years old, by two girls who said they were acting on behalf of ‘Mister Tender’, a fictional character invented by Alice’s father. Alice survived the ordeal, but she was left with deep physical and emotional scars.

Ten years later, Alice runs a coffee shop and tries to live a normal life, until she receives a package with a new Mister Tender story and a link to a website run by “Mr. Interested”. Alice decides to face her fears and find out who is behind this new threat…

This story was inspired by the real ‘Slenderman’ attacks that happened in 2014, but it is a highly imaginative and gripping tale. It is dark, tense, and atmospheric, and it kept me hooked from the first page.

This story is well-written and very suspenseful. Wilson does a good job of creating a sense of dread and unease- but the book is also thought-provoking, as it explores the nature of reality and the power of the human imagination.

The reader isn’t quite sure if what Alice is experiencing is real or imagined, and this toyed with my mind and gave me something to think about- as more people than ever seem unable to distinguish fact from fiction- blurring the lines of imagination, fantasy, and reality. The effect is quite unsettling as the reader is unsure what to believe, either.

Overall, this is a powerful and disturbing novel that will stay with you long after you finish reading it. This is also a great example of a pure psychological thriller- a rarity, these days. It will challenge you, delving into the darker side of one’s imagination... ,

4+ stars ( )

2.5 stars

To me, this was nothing new (basing stories off of real events). Plus, this book just bored me. I only finished because I was far enough in that it was easier to finish than not finish. But it was boring and predictable. ( )

This is really outside of what I normally read, but it sounded interesting. It was a really quick read and I suspect if I was a regular reader of suspense thrillers, I would have whipped through this very quickly.

There were lots of really unexpected twists and what I suspected would happen very rarely did. The author did a great job of keeping his cards close to his chest. The plot itself was horrific - the main character, Alice, had 14 years previously survived a brutal stabbing from two other girls who had been convinced that the fictional character Mister Tender, created by Alice's father, had told them to. Now as an adult, Alice realizes that she can't escape her past and that someone has been stalking her.

A lot happened in this book, and I can't say too much because even a little bit will be spoilers, but I liked this book a lot. Not my usual read but I'm glad I picked it up.

Review copy courtesy of the publisher via JellyBooks. ( )

I'm a huge fan of the dark and twisty books, so from the moment I read the blurb for Mister Tender's Girl and learned it was inspired by the Slenderman case, I knew I had to read it. I was concerned that it would read too much like the Slenderman case, and be a fictionalized version of the exact same thing, but I was (thankfully) very wrong. Wilson himself said he read very little about the Slenderman case so as not to duplicate it, and I believe he succeeded very well in that. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, even if there were a few bits I predicted correctly. Guessing what was coming did nothing to make this book any less disturbing, and I applaud Carter Wilson for that. If you're looking for a book that will get under your skin and utterly unsettle you, I highly recommend this one. ( )

How far would you go to gain the thing you want the most in the world?

Alice Gray, formerly Alice Hill, knows the answer to that better than anyone. The idea is connected to her father’s graphic novels and one character in particular—Mister Tender. Alice hates the comic for all that it brought her. At age 14, her friends, convinced Mister Tender was real, tried to kill her. Because of that, Alice grows up trapped inside her mind. When references to Mister Tender begin to appear fourteen years later, she realizes that her past is catching up to her. Just because she ran away from it all, doesn’t mean she could hide.

This book was one of the best psychological reads I’ve encountered in a long time. Usually, I can guess who the bad guy is halfway through a book but this one totally took me by surprise. There were so many elements of different mental health issues that were touched upon in this book that made it all the more real, especially in Alice. The author gives the readers a very realistic look into how a survivor of violent crime thinks and feels. It’s because of this depth that the story really pulls the reader in.
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