I remember reading Glen Hirshberg’s short story “Mr. Dark’s Carnival” a little over a decade ago and thinking “This guy’s gonna be big.” And while bestseller status has eluded Mr. Hirshberg (So far…), he’s kept supplying fans with great reading, and his latest novel, Motherless Child, is no exception.
The ninth book in Earthling Publication’s annual Halloween Series continues the tradition of great seasonal stories, this time presenting a Southern Gothic spin on Vampires, with a Hirshberg twist. Motherless Child centers around Natalie and Sophie, lifelong best friends and single Moms. The two young women leave their babies with Natalie’s Mother for a long-overdue night out at a local watering hole, and find themselves meeting a mysterious, legendary, whistling drifter called, appropriately enough, “The Whistler”. After a hazy one-night-stand, the girls awaken in the back of a car, covered with blood, hung-over, and seemingly dead. The Whistler is, of course, a Vampire, traveling the back roads of The South with Mother, the Vampire who created him. The Whistler thinks Natalie is “His destiny”, and is planning to end his decades-old partnership with Mother to forge off and make his own way. Mother is less than thrilled….Natalie and Sophie go on the run, leaving their babies with Natalie’s Mother, hoping to keep them safe from both The Whistler and the vengeful, violent Mother. The duo become a kind of Supernatural Thelma and Louise, traveling by night, attempting to elude their murderous pursuers and deny their rapidly mounting thirst for blood.
The back cover copy of Motherless Child reads “Another vampire novel? Really?”…..Well, if it’s as well-written as this novel, then, YES, another Vampire novel. Hirshberg’s story uses Vampirism as the mcguffin that drives the narrative, which is, at it’s core, a heartbreaking exploration of friendship, motherhood, love, loss, and loyalty. The characters of Sophie and Natalie are incredibly well-realized; Their friendship feels real, and is filled with the little quirks and shorthands that you would expect to find in people that have been together for most of their lives. The Whistler and Mother are presented more as forces of nature than villains, lending their actions a kind of otherworldly lack of conscience….They do what they do because, at this point, it’s all they know. The thought of a change in their lifestyle is both exciting and terrifying at the same time, and each is willing to do anything to get their way.
Motherless Child is a staggeringly good novel, and if I had any complaint, it’s that it ended too soon. Highly recommended.
- The Scarlet Gospels - March 9, 2015
- Inspector of the Dead - February 23, 2015
- The Boneyard - February 23, 2015
- The Deep - February 2, 2015
- Pumpkin Cinema: The Best Movies For Halloween - November 20, 2014
- The Wake - November 20, 2014
- Dark Screams, Volume One - November 20, 2014
- Horror Library, Volume 5 - September 16, 2014
- Ghost Heart - September 16, 2014
- Monster & Madman - August 6, 2014
