Mr. Shivers

· Hachette+ORM
10 reviews
Ebook
337
Pages
Eligible
80% price drop on Oct 22

About this ebook

In this gothic horror adventure, a father hunts for vengeance in Depression-era America.

"[Reads] like a collaboration between Stephen King and John Steinbeck. . . . Bennett makes dark fantasy feel like gritty realism, achieving a rare laconic eloquence that will captivate horror readers hungry for new voices." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Set against the desolate backdrop of the Great Depression comes a literary debut novel that will reignite the horror genre.

It is the time of the Great Depression.

Thousands have left their homes looking for a better life, a new life. But Marcus Connelly is not one of them. He searches for one thing, and one thing only. Revenge.

Because out there, riding the rails, stalking the camps, is the scarred vagrant who murdered Connelly's daughter. No one knows him, but everyone knows his name: Mr. Shivers.

In this extraordinary debut, Robert Jackson Bennett tells the story of an America haunted by murder and desperation. A world in which one man must face a dark truth and answer the question-how much is he willing to sacrifice for his satisfaction?

In this gothic horror adventure, a father hunts for vengeance in Depression-era America. "[Reads] like a collaboration between Stephen King and John Steinbeck. . . . Bennett makes dark fantasy feel like gritty realism, achieving a rare laconic eloquence that will captivate horror readers hungry ...

Discover more

Ratings and reviews

10 reviews
Nick Yoctopus
March 10, 2026
Yow. Deep, dark, disturbing tale from the bowels of the Earth. We followed the protagonist across 1920s America with Divine Providence, and witnessed the whole world change. Such a smooth read, but not a light one. A masterclass in storytelling. The most terrestrial but the heaviest of his I have read so far. If it hurts too much, read all his SF :)
Did you find this helpful?
A Google user
October 13, 2012
This book is amazing and very suspenseful. One of the best books I've ever read.
Did you find this helpful?
Nicholas Sloan
January 24, 2026
what a debut of a novel not as good as American elsewhere but good enough
Did you find this helpful?

About the author

Robert Jackson Bennett was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Winner of the Shirley Jackson Award, the Sydney J. Bounds Award, and an Edgar Award, he is the author of the novels Mr. Shivers, The Company Man, The Troupe, American Elsewhere, the Founders trilogy, and the Divine Cities trilogy, which was a 2018 Hugo Awards finalist in the Best Series category. Find out more about the author at www.robertjacksonbennett.com.
Robert Jackson Bennett was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Winner of the Shirley Jackson Award, the Sydney J. Bounds Award, and an Edgar Award, he is the author of the novels Mr. Shivers, The Company Man, The Troupe, American Elsewhere, the Founders trilogy, and the Divine Cities trilogy, which w...

Rate this ebook

Tell us what you think.

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.