The Butcher

In Settlement Five, justice means dismemberment: a finger for gossip, a foot for blasphemy, administered by the Butcher — a role passed from mother to daughter. When Lady Mae's mother refuses to mutilate a six-year-old boy, the ruling Deputies execute her on the spot, forcing eighteen-year-old Lady Mae to take up the family trade alone. Years later, a chance encounter puts her face to face with the very Deputy who killed her mother.

Laura Kat Young blends Shirley Jackson-style small-town horror with a Western setting, building toward Lady Mae's impossible choice between fleeing for a new life or risking everything for revenge.