Mister Tender's Girl: A Novel

by Carter Wilson

A 2019 Thriller Award Finalist!
From USA Today bestselling author Carter Wilson comes a chilling psychological thriller based on the real Slenderman mysteries. He's not real, just a monster from a story. But he can still hurt you, stab you, take you as his own… When he calls to you in the night, how far are you willing to go for Mister Tender?
At fourteen, Alice Hill was viciously attacked by two of her classmates and left to die. The teens claim she was a sacrifice for a man called Mister Tender, but that could never be true: Mister Tender doesn't exist. His sinister character is pop-culture fiction, created by Alice's own father in a series of popular graphic novels.
Over a decade later, Alice has changed her name and is trying to heal. But someone is watching her. They know more about Alice than any stranger could: her scars, her fears, and the bits of her she keeps locked away. She can try to escape her past, but Mister Tender is never far behind. He will come with a smile that seduces, and a dark whisper in her ear...
A riveting psychological thriller in the vein of Alex Marwood and inspired by the Slender Man case, Mister Tender's Girl plunges you into a world of haunting memories and the dark, unseen real, leaving you guessing until the harrowing end.
Carter Wilson's critically acclaimed suspense novel is:Perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn and Alex MarwoodA chilling book inspired by the Slenderman caseFor readers who enjoy inspired by real-life mysteries and psychological thrillers

• ISBN10: 149265650X
• ISBN13: 9781492656500
• Publish Date: 13 March 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 29 June 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Poisoned Pen Press
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

Mister Tender’s Girl is a disturbing tale of one woman, and the horrific events of her past – and her future. Cart Wilson has created a highly chilling tale here, one that is sure to stick with readers for years to come.
Alice survived a horrible stabbing, courtesy of her classmates and the obsession they carried. You see, they just couldn’t get over a graphic novel that her father had written, and it compelled them to take drastic action.
That was then. Now, Alice is grown and living well away from her father and that past. Or so she thinks. For it turns out that the past is never far behind. Not for Alice. Because Mister Tender is looking for his girl.

Warnings: Themes such as stalking, abuse, hunting, and so much more are all depicted within these pages. The description should probably be enough of a warning there, but I figured I’d make that clear, just in case.

Mister Tender’s Girl is every bit the chilling and terrifying novel that the description makes it out to be. Carter Wilson has really gone above and beyond in laying out such a terrifying tale. This is a novel unashamed about being exactly what it is: a thriller through and through.
I’ve seen this sort of general concept several times before now; secondary characters becoming obsessed with a fictional (yet evil) being and using it to target the main perspective. I still appreciate what Wilson has done here. Mister Tender’s Girl is not quite like any other version I’ve seen or heard of – and it is infinitely more daunting.
It doesn’t take much to get into the mind of Alice, and that makes her struggles and trials feel all the more real. The sense of being hunted and followed feels so much more terrifying when you realize that you actually care about Alice’s fate.
As always with a thriller of this nature, this is a novel unafraid to get really and truly dark. That does mean that there are some graphic and horrible things that happen, especially towards the end of the book. But It felt like a natural extension to the plot, so no complaints here.
Mister Tender’s Girl was every bit as alarming and terrifying as I was hoping – and arguably more so. It is certainly a novel that will stick in my head…and make certain that I triple and double-check for locked doors and activated alarm systems. Not that it’ll do much good, if I were being hunted as Alice was.