We’re thrilled to announce that MAEVE FLY has been selected for the 2026 Summer Scares Adult Reading List, an annual program from the Horror Writers Association that highlights exceptional horror titles chosen by authors and librarians.
Readers will have the opportunity to hear directly from the author at the Summer Scares Adult Panel Webinar, featuring authors from the 2026 Adult Reading List in conversation about their work, inspirations, and creative process, by registering online.
Praise for MAEVE FLY BY CJ LEEDE
“Leede’s bloody and gory debut will make readers clutch their metaphorical pearls in the best way possible. The old-Hollywood descendant fits perfectly in her superficial and gritty Los Angeles bubble full of desperate stars, shady wannabes, and kitschy surroundings. This is the story of a ruthless antihero who becomes unhinged when her reality turns upside down and slips right through her fingers. Horror fans who enjoy villain-origin stories, social commentary, terrifying female characters, and unreliable narrators will devour each deliciously morbid and shocking page.”–Booklist, starred review
“Debut Bursting onto the extreme-horror landscape, Leede wastes no time making her readers extremely uncomfortable, yet unable to look away, as she introduces Maeve, who spends her days as the famous ice princess at “the happiest place on earth,” while her nights are spent defaming strangers for fun online and visiting the seedy bars of her beloved Los Angeles. Unapologetically dripping with graphic sex and violence, this book would be easy to dismiss as profane, but that would miss the point. Leede is actively working every angle to disgust and disturb her readers, balancing extreme scenes with obvious dark humor and Maeve’s engaging narration.”–Library Journal
“Leede’s bloody debut sends its nihilistic heroine down a twisted path in the footsteps of her literary idol, Patrick Bateman. Maeve Fly leads a split-life between her day job as a princess at a cheekily unnamed mouse-centric amusement park in Anaheim and the dive bars of the Sunset Strip. When she meets Kate’s enigmatic hockey star brother, Gideon, the pair enter an increasingly twisted relationship and Maeve turns to murder, mutilation, and nocturnal perversions with no motive other than entertainment. Leede does an excellent job of anchoring the story’s more chaotic excesses in Maeve’s narration, which offers equal parts trenchant insight and pitch-black humor. Though the plot occasionally loses focus, it quickly finds its footing again as Maeve’s deteriorating mental state drives things toward a satisfyingly visceral conclusion. The result is a gore-soaked love letter to Los Angeles that fans of American Psycho and Samantha Kolesnik’s True Crime won’t want to miss.”–Publishers Weekly
MAEVE FLY by CJ Leede; 9781250857859; available now
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