Christina Henry is known for her ability to craft suspenseful and compelling narratives, and her latest release Near the Bone is no exception. An excellent horror novel about the monsters in the dark and the monsters hiding in plain sight, it will keep you up at night demanding to be read. From imagery that is beautiful and stark to the brilliant characterization of its narrator, Near the Bone will stay with readers long after they’ve finished the final chapter.

Our protagonist Mattie lives by two rules: never upset William, and don’t think of the life she knew before. Sheltered from the world and living in an isolated cabin on the side of a mountain, she relies on him for everything (and it’s soon apparent to the reader why that’s the case). But when a mysterious creature arrives with a thirst for blood and other humans begin to encroach on Mattie and William’s home in search of it, Mattie must reject the narrative she has lived with for years in order to survive.

In Mattie, Henry has crafted an interesting protagonist with a unique narrative voice. You understand her instantly, even as she makes choices and remembers horrors that the average reader will never have to contend with. But Henry takes the time to carefully sketch the supporting cast as well, with William being a particular highlight. He’s an antagonist who both feels human and otherworldly, and somehow Henry makes him much more menacing than the bloodthirsty creature in the forest. He’s cruel and terrifying, but he has just enough humanity to stop him from becoming a caricature of a villain. The complex relationship between Mattie and William anchors the novel, and when other characters do arrive you feel the intrusion the way Mattie does.

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Henry’s greatest coup narratively is how she presents the monster. The characters in the novel almost never see it — we see the bloody aftermath of its actions and feel the slow dread Mattie does as she encounters it, but we almost never catch a glimpse of it. This increases the tension throughout as the reader is never quite sure what it is capable of or where it will be next. It also makes the novel cinematic, and there were moments I found myself imagining how the story would look on a screen. Too often little is left to the imagination when it comes to supernatural creatures, but Henry strikes just the right balance between showing the creature and letting us experience the story as Mattie does — scared and without knowledge of the threat she is facing.

Henry knows that the best horror narratives don’t need to include pages of backstory or lore to be effective; they just need to draw us in and invest us in the characters and their plight. By creating a protagonist with such a specific voice and surrounding her with a setting that epitomizes isolation and terror, Henry builds a story that the reader won’t want to put down (I read it in one sitting). If you are a fan of Henry’s previous novels The Ghost Tree or The Mermaid (among many others), Near the Bone will satisfy your craving for a dark fairy tale told expertly.

Near the Bone is available now wherever books are sold.
(This review will be posted on Nerds and Beyond on 4/13/2021)

I have read this author for years, and I am always excited to read one of her books. This felt like something I would like, so I tried it. First off, this has many triggers, so please use caution when reading this. I was uncomfortable in spots, and I don’t have triggers, which just goes to show how effective this author is in her writing. Adding to how effective a writer the author is, this book has many places with suspense-filled moments on the edge of your seat where you don’t know if Mattie is going to get away…and that’s from the human monster. The nonhuman monster was creepy, terrorizing, and just plan scary. However, I felt this book was more about the human monster and less about the nonhuman monster. I was left feeling I would have liked to have known or spent a little more time on that. At the end, I had many questions about both monsters that weren’t answered. That aside, though, this was a well-written, suspense-filled, gory book with some intense moments. Don’t read this in a cabin in the woods. Recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.

There is a menacing, eerie feel to Near the Bone right from the start, and the cover absolutely nails it. Near the Bone is the story of Mattie, a 20-year-old woman living in isolation on a snowy mountain with her husband William. Mattie cooks, cleans, checks the snares — always under William’s watchful eye. Every night, she does her other wifely duties, because as William reminds her each day, a man has to have sons.

The plot bursts into action when Mattie finds the body of a fox on a trail near their cabin. It’s been killed and mutilated, but not eaten. What predator would do such a thing? When Mattie explains her find to William, he takes her with him to explore further, and they find tracks and claw marks huger than anything a bear might leave behind. What new animal has shown up on the mountain?

As they soon discover, it’s something other, not just a monster. It’s enormous, dangerous, and sentient. It has rituals and territories, and seems to have left them a warning to stay away.

But as the author so deftly illustrates, the creature isn’t the only monster on the mountain.

I should pause here for some content warnings, which I tend not to include, but feel like it’s essential for this book.

Content: Includes kidnapping, rape, assault, emotional and physical abuse. And yes, those are all human actions.

When it comes to the creature, we see horror-story elements such as eviscerated and dismembered bodies — but honestly, if you read horror, this isn’t going to be the most shocking part of the story. Gross, yes, but not terrible the way the human-induced horror is.

The arrival of strangers on the mountain escalates the action. Mattie knows that she’ll be punished if William thinks she’s been talking to the strangers. They’re a trio of college friends exploring a “sighting” of a “cryptid” that they’ve read about online. They think this will be fun — but Mattie feels compelled to warn them away.

Meanwhile, memories start to return for Mattie — memories of her childhood, an earlier life where she had a mother and a sister and was happy. With the help of the outsiders, who recognize her from news coverage, she’s able to piece together the awful truth of the last twelve years of her life, and begins to plan her escape. But can she get off the mountain when there are two dangerous predators hunting her down?

I feel like I could talk about this book for hours, but at the same time, I’m already skating at the edge of spoiler-ville and don’t want to go too far. Near the Bone is incredibly upsetting and scary and utterly enthralling. I tore through this book in about a day and a half — I felt so personally invested in Mattie’s story and absolutely had to know if she’d find safety.

The story of her life with William and the ongoing abuse — captivity, control, beatings, sexual assault, withholding of food — is very, very hard to read. It does have a ripped-from-the-headlines feel, bringing up memories of the recent cases in the news of women escaping their captors after many, many years. Mattie considers herself a mouse, weak and powerless, but over the course of the novel, as her memories return, she finds an inner strength and determination that helps her finally take action.

This book is not going to be for everyone. As I said, the more traditional horror elements aren’t the parts that were hardest for me to read. It’s been a couple of days since I finished, and I still can’t get Mattie’s story out of my head.

I think the only thing that leaves me a touch unsatisfied is the lack of clear explanation of the creature. By the end of the book, there have been glimpses, but not a full look, and we’re left not knowing exactly what it was. I know this is intentional, but I wanted to know! There’s a message there about heeding warnings and staying away from places you shouldn’t go — my impression is that the creature only went after the humans when they disturbed its territory, and then of course there was hell to pay.

Ultimately, the true monster on the mountain is William. We can understand the creature as “other”, with behaviors and patterns that make sense for it, even though they’re deadly to whoever crosses its path. William, though, is human, and we’re left with a picture of evil that’s hard to shake.

Near the Bone is a fantastic read, very disturbing but impossible to put down. Mattie is someone to root for, and while I felt enormous sympathy and sorrow for her, I also was left with high admiration for her ability to survive, help others, and keep going in the face of terrible circumstances. The book ends on a high note, despite all the horror, and I was happy to be able to leave the books with a sense of hope after all the awful things that occurred.

I strongly recommend Near the Bone, but with the caveat that the content won’t be for everyone.

I loved everything about this book conceptually. Its so hard to find a good creature feature, and those elements are a lot of fun. A lot of tin prose and obnoxious/redundant internal dialogue sucks the life out of the novel, however. Still, will be featured in a 2021 preview column.

The Story: Mattie lives with her abusive husband, William in an isolated cabin on a mountain. She cannot remember a lot of things but one thing she remembers is to be an obedient wife and to never upset William. One day in the woods, she discovers strange paw prints and a mutilated body of a fox. She realizes they are not alone and William is convinced that there is a creature out there.

Soon after, parts of Mattie's memories begin to return and she slowly remembers who William is. She needs to escape from him but there is a creature out in the woods. Then three hikers stumble upon the cabin and one of them recognizes Mattie. This angers William and bad things happen when William is angry.

My thoughts: This horror suspense was a pretty enjoyable read. I liked how mysterious the story was. I was really curious about the relationship between Mattie and William and I liked how it was unraveled slowly in a series of flashbacks. I think this part was well-done. The unknown creature was really interesting too but I do wish there was more story on it.

I feel sorry for Mattie and my heart breaks for her. Her character is the only one I could connect with. As for other characters, there were not much depth in them.

This was a quick read and although it was a fairly simple plot, it is definitely not lacking in suspense! A good book to read if you want to try the horror genre.


TW: domestic violence, gore details

Pub. date: April 13th 2021

***Thank you Berkley Publishing Group, author Christina Henry and NetGalley for this review copy to read and review.***

This book is so effective in what it does, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I've never read a book by Christina Henry, but I've had her books recommended to me several times and thought I'd jump in with her latest. I was immediately hooked by the blurbs, and could not put it down. Henry writes such a believable protagonist in Mattie - she's endearing and clearly has been emotionally through the ringer. I rooted for her all through this one and never found myself wishing she'd behave differently, like I so often do with horror novel protagonists. Her motives make sense, especially given her backstory. The addition of Stockholm Syndrome and the mysterious strangers in this story is so engrossing, but the real danger of the horror in the woods is the cherry on top. This is one I'll recommend to thriller lovers and horror lovers alike.

3.5 stars - I have never read a book where I felt as much anxiety as I did reading this. The contrast of horror Henry presented in this had me at the edge of my seat. I loved the slow reveal of our main character, Mattie's, past - each memory she unraveled felt more and more like a win. I also found the "creature in the woods" to be very well described and frightening. I was continuously turning the pages to figure out how Mattie would even begin to separate herself from the two monsters. I found myself really rooting for her to escape - and I especially loved her budding relationships with the hikers she finds herself aligning with. I think the novel's downfall was its ending; I did feel like Henry was running out of time for how she could possibly end the book. I ended up finding the ending too quick (even though the novel was overall faster paced) and a bit gratuitous, but I think it is because Henry described things in such a gross and unbelievable way. I loved the overall conclusion for the monster (weirdly sweet? lol) and I would definitely recommend it for people looking for a high action and anxiety inducing horror.

Near the Bone is a atmospheric horror novel about an isolated and abused young wife living a pioneer style lifestyle in a cabin on a snowy mountainside. Over the next three days her world will turn into a twisted nightmare as a large predator appears in the woods. With the monster comes other people and Mattie finds herself facing strangers for the first time in a decade.

Mattie lives with her much older husband in a cabin in the woods. Her life is dedicated to chores and following the strict demands of her husband, William. She is beaten down, hungry and exhausted and the reader quickly realizes that their life isn’t what it seems and that William is hiding pieces of her past. When evidence that a monstrous creature is hunting in the woods around their cabin Mattie finds herself facing an abusive husband, an apex predator and three young hikers that show up looking for a “cryptid”. What follows is three days of terror including the revelations of who Mattie really is.

I loved this dark tale of horrible monsters (both human and other), deception, cruelty and fighting back. The college age hikers brought humor to an otherwise grim story and made a nice contrast to uneducated naive Mattie and religious zealot William. The non-stop action and scares will keep the reader on their toes wondering what horrors lay in store next. I highly recommend Near the Bone to horror and paranormal thriller fans.

For those that avoid certain topics this book includes: child abuse/kidnapping, murder, miscarriage/stillborn birth, spousal abuse/rape and animal and human gore

My copy was provided by Berkley and NetGalley for review purposes.

4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Mattie and her husband, William, live alone on a mountain with no electricity and no contact with the outside world. However, everything is not as it seems. Then Mattie starts finding dead animals and bone caches. There is a creature in the woods - is it friend or foe? This strange creature brings three strangers to Mattie’s doorstep, which sets off an unprecedented chain of events. Who will make it off the mountain alive? Will anyone?

I have only recently been exploring the horror genre, and Near the Bone did not disappoint. Much of the dialogue in the book takes place in Mattie’s own head and in flashbacks. The reader comes to know that Mattie has a much more tragic past than what the reader is originally made to believe. This book was very fast-paced and a pager-turner – I wanted to know what was going to happen next!

There was a lot of gore in this book, so if you are squeamish in the slightest, I recommend you pass on this book. However, I felt these elements really added to the story and helped my understanding of the desperation the characters were feeling. I really felt for the main character, Mattie. She had a tough life, and needed to get out of an extremely dire situation. I really appreciated the flashbacks to her time before the mountain, because this rounded out her character.

If you are a fan of endings where everything is tied together in a pretty bow, this book is not for you. The ending, while satisfying, left numerous questions unanswered. This book is perfect for those who love horror and psychological thrillers. If you were a fan of Devolution last year, Near the Bone is a perfect follow up for you. This book was a great read that makes me want to continue to read more books in the genre! 4 stars.

I received a free digital ARC from NetGalley and Berkley Books in exchange for an honest review. (I will post this review on my social media after the publish date by request of the publisher.)

The monster that hunts in Near The Bone is left largely to the unknown. We have little description of what it looks like, or where it has come from. All the reader knows is that it’s unusually intelligent and that it’s out for blood.
Our setting is an isolated cabin, where Mattie is trapped with her estranged and abusive husband, William. Mattie discovers strange tracks of an animal that William becomes obsessed about hunting down, giving her ample time to plan her next move. While her husband might have weapons and no inhibition to kill, Mattie has been living and analyzing the decisions and triggers of William for years now, and she knows how to conspire the perfect escape. But of course, nothing goes as planned. Three hikers stumble upon the area of the cabin, one of whom recognizes Mattie. As we slowly unravel the covered-up past of Mattie in a series of flashbacks, we also undercover the secrets of William.
Though thoroughly a monster horror, Near The Bone also combines both a creature feature and a domestic thriller, a mix which is sure to leave the reader on edge. With the presence of a wolf-like animal that toys with its prey, and a far more terrifying William who’s set on getting revenge, who’s to say which one is actually the monster?
Mattie is the highlight of the novel, and what elevates the suspense and anxiety of the story is how she’s constantly trying to say the right thing and never make the wrong move out of the fear of William’s violent impulses. While she may be able to lead a crusade back down the mountain while avoiding the creature and her husband, she’ll need to conquer her biggest fears before she’ll ever feel true freedom.

There are two types of monsters in this book, and both are terrifying.

Mattie lives in the mountains with a man who calls himself her husband. She doesn't remember much about her time before him. Anything she remembers, he says it was only a dream. Then she finds a dead animal, killed in a way that no wild animal would do. Soon three college students appear looking for this creature, and Mattie's world changes forever.

The pacing is perfect. Mattie remembers enough bits of her past for the reader to understand that Mattie has been abducted. Slowly, the horrors that she had to face are revealed. Now, she deals with horrors from an unknown monster simultaneously as her known monster. Both of these times are horrifying at Mattie trying her best even though she has faced so much trauma and is hard on how she handles situations. I couldn't stop reading until I knew she got off that mountain.

This review is based on an advanced reader copy provided through Netgalley for an honest review.

A harrowing story about a young woman, Mattie, who lives an isolated life in cabin on a mountain with her husband, William. It’s clear that something is amiss between Mattie and William from the start. She can’t remember her life before William and he is horribly abusive. Mattie finds a mutilated animal in the woods along with the monstrous foot prints of a mysterious beast. William becomes obsessed with hunting the giant creature and drags Mattie along. They run into hikers who become concerned for Mattie’s safety. Mattie starts to realize there might be more out there than William is telling her and her past starts rushing back to her. That’s when the monsters really come out to play.

Packed with gore, terrifying creatures and an atmospheric setting—this spine-tingling horror novel will have you sleeping with the lights on.

Mattie lives on a mountain, just her and William. Life before William and this mountain hardly seems to exist. It has just been her, and him. And his anger.

One day, Mattie sees a fox killed, left in the snow. Tracks of a size she doesn't recognize, far larger than a bear. There is something else on the mountain with them, something that screeches into the night. With a creature in the trees, and a group of cryptozoologists on their way, Mattie and William are no longer alone.

Content warning for: abuse, mentions of rape and sexual assault, pedophilia

This is the first Christina Henry book I've read and I can without question see why readers love her work so much. The atmosphere is heavy, isolating, terrifying. The descriptions of moments, particularly the most horror-movie of them felt visceral and full-shudder-at-the-mere-thought-of-it.

I really liked Mattie as a protagonist. The TENSION was so well done regarding the two separate horrors that are after Mattie. The way suspense builds and you are rooting so much for her!

I did feel that at times the plot felt a bit repetitive, and I left the ending feeling like I wanted a bit more of what comes after the final page.

Thank you so much to Berkley Books and NetGalley for an e-arc!

↦ cw: domestic violence, abuse, violence, child abduction

↦ ★★★☆☆ | 3 stars

"near the bone" is an enjoyable horror, but it felt like it tried to do too much and it didn't quite hit the mark. there are 3 plots intertwined and the focus switches from one to another, but i wished it explored one more in-depth. it left a lot of loose ends that weren't explained at all, especially regarding the creature.

the characters were okay, but they weren't the main focus of the book, so i can't say they're very well developed. Mattie is the MC and she's very complex, but the other characters didn't get the same attention, so they're pretty flat. i hated William with a passion and the author did an amazing job at creating a character you're meant to loathe. the 3 students didnt make much of an impact, but they were pretty likeable. CP was annoying at times, but eventually he grew on me.

the monster plot was simple and straight to the point, and at times, repetitive. the monster hunted them down and killed them the same way. i had hoped that maybe the monster would be described at some point, but it's not and we don't find out much about it.

i loved the middle part of the book, but it just sizzled out into an open ending that didn't answer any of the questions, which i wasn't a fan of.

all in all, "near the bone" is an enjoyable read and you can definitely read it in a day, because it's pretty engaging.

My final rating is a 3.5.

This was good! Nothing groundbreaking, but still enjoyable. This was also the first book by this author that I’ve ever read and I would definitely try out some of the other books that she’s published after this one. I did read through this one quickly, and it did a good job of pulling me in.

Right from the very beginning, I guessed what happened to Mattie and why she was living in a cabin with William. I think if you’ve read many thrillers, or are a true crime fan it’ll be extremely obvious. I think for me that kind of lessened the impact of the reveals of Mattie learning about her past, but it was still pretty sad and shocking to watch her go through everything.

A lot about this book was predictable, and in terms of the plot it was pretty straightforward and simple. That isn’t to say it wasn’t enjoyable though, I just don’t think that I could consider this a new favorite. I think this is an easy horror book to get into, and I personally wasn’t jumping at every turn so I think it would be a good beginner book for horror.

I do want to point out that there is quite a lot of physical and emotional abuse happening in this book which could easily make some people feel uncomfortable. Mattie is also kept confined to the cabin and surrounding areas, and mentions being contained in small places for extended periods of time.

I liked the characters well enough, with the exception of William who was a terrible human through and through. Even though he was terrible, he made a great villain and a great contrast to Mattie and the group of people that end up on the mountain. Then there was C.P. who was pretty bland and didn’t really feel like he added much to the story for me, because it easily could’ve been another character in his place. As for the monster itself, the fact that it was always left as this vague thing in the woods added to the creepiness of it all.

I do wish that we had gotten more closure at the end of the book, as it was definitely more open ended which isn’t always my kind of ending. I did however really like the idea of what makes a monster, and how we view this creature who is doing horrible things versus William, who is a human who does monstrous things.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable read and I think that a lot of people are going to like this one!

(Link to review on my blog will be live on 3/31/2021)

This book is CREEPY + full of monsters - both the fantastical and human variety.

Mattie is isolated with her restrictive and extremely abusive husband. She is docile and trapped in a marriage to a man who is more likely to blacken both her eyes before he ever listens to her opinion on anything. But there is a huge mysterious creature in the woods near their home and it’s doing peculiar things with its prey...

I started reading Near the Bone intending to work my way slowly through it, and then that notion was totally thrown out the window because I couldn’t stop reading after the first paragraph and I finished it in a day.

This is not a dip your toes in kind of book, this is a take the plunge read. It will hook you in with the first chapter, and then you’ll be along for quite the experience.

It has cryptozoology nestled in right among human evils, and omg did it leave an impression as the characters struggled for survival. Between the surfacing of repressed memories, and the discovery of a creature that could haunt your worst nightmares, this book really delves into some scary stuff.

Up until the last portion, this was a 4 star for me, but then things started to fall apart a bit. The action went up (yay!) but a major dud of a character known as C.P. came to the forefront (no!) some aspects of the book started to seem off and going on too many directions at this point. There were also one too many loose ends remaining for me to feel fully satisfied.

Despite the hang ups toward the end, this was still a interesting horror read with sci fi elements. If you want a suspenseful and unique edge of your seat story, then give this one a try.

Trigger warning: violence and domestic abuse, child abduction, murder, gore

Big thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for approving me to read this.
I've seen a number of people rave about Henry's work over the last few years, but none of it really grabbed my interest. That is, until I read the synopsis for 'Near the Bone.'

If you've read any of my reviews or even my own work, you know that I LOVE anything based around the woods, snow and massive creatures. Henry could've pitched this to me with those five words if I worked at Berkley and I would've said "YES!"

Diving in, I was pleasantly surprised with how easy Henry writes, which let me devour this over the course of a few sittings.

What I liked: Husband and Wife, William and Mattie live in a small cabin, high up in the mountains. They live a simple, isolated existence that is ruled by William's cruelty and abuse. Mattie can't remember her life before William. As flashes of her life before start to come through, it's pushed aside when a massive, unknown creature makes itself known.

Henry has crafted a thriller/creature feature here that gallops along. The characters are very strong and you connect with Mattie immediately. You want to see her survive and overcome everything, especially as we learn more and more about her back story.

The character of William, as despicable as he is, was really well done and made for a great 'evil' for Mattie to battle and ultimately use as her reason to survive.

I must say, even though we get far too little of the beast itself, every single time we get scenes with it, they were amazing. Absolutely top notch shivers and terrifying moments.

What I didn't like: For this reader things really went from point A to point B to point C. Maybe it's the sheer volume of books that I've read and in this particular theme, but none of the 'reveals' or moments meant to give me 'ah ha' moments were surprising. Saying that, that didn't diminish from my enjoyment and frankly as Mattie confronts her past, I was happy to see things go the way they did.

Why you should buy this: Well, did you not read how I said it was about the woods, snow and a creature? If that doesn't get you excited, how about a strong female lead who continues to survive no matter the costs? Henry has really crafted a fantastic thriller here and there were scenes in here with the creature that will stay with me for a long, long time.

(This review will feature on Kendall Reviews near publication date.)

Do you remember a time where you were sitting around a campfire and told creepy stories to scare each other? Well, Near The Bone is a story that would be worth telling before you send your troops to bed. It got the tropes of a Stephen king novel, about human beings at their worst or best, mixed with a chilling story involving a beast in the woods.

“We came up here to do some research and now we’re in a horror movie with a monster and an unkillable redneck with a gun.”

Love this snippet from Christina’s novel, which in short represents what this book is about. At 336 pages, this thriller involves a woman, Mattie/Samantha, who is cornered in an abusive relationship in a cabin, by a mountain with a relentless monster. This story reminded me of Stephen King’s Misery, but with the added benefit of having a dreadful monstrosity popping up now and then and doing human carnage in a manner reminiscent of the Predator movies.

We spend quite a bit of time exploring Mattie’s past and present, and her abusive husband William—therefore the main protagonist and antagonist are well established. As a small cast of supporting characters come into the fray to either help or worsen the situation for our major character, it builds the tension for Mattie, who we DO care about. The more we delve into the story the more we learn about who she is, why she’s stuck in this near-devoid-of-humans mountain and ultimately what she needs to do to get out of her unsettling dark relationship. It definitely was more about the ruthless human evil that is her husband (William) than it was about the creature outside.

Yet, the combination of all the events which occur in the book; the fact she’s trapped in her shack with her husband, but also unable to escape because of the creature outside, truly keeps you engaged in the story and makes you want to devour the book in one sitting. In the end, Near The Bone feels like a perfect page-turner-thriller and has all the right spices to become a movie adaptation. I’d love to see this story on the big screen.

This was fantastic! Terrifying and dark and so, so good. I really love Christina Henry's horror novels, and this was no exception. I did guess one of the twists on like page two, but luckily it wasn't the only thing that kept me turning the pages. I loved it!

Sometimes there is more than one kind of monster in the woods. Mattie has no recollection of her previous life only that she is reliant on William her husband for everything until one day something even more evil shows up. Edge of your seat, page turning stuff.