Becoming the Boogeyman

In this clever but overstuffed sequel to Chizmar’s 2021 bestseller Chasing the Boogeyman, the author again brings a metafictional approach to the serial killer thriller. Decades after the first book’s Boogeyman killings in Edgewood, Md., journalist and horror writer Rich—who is closely patterned on Chizmar—finds a garbage bag filled with human remains while walking his dog. They belong to Annie Riggs, the sole survivor of the Boogeyman’s 1980s killing spree, and Rich, who became a key figure in that investigation, is thrust back into the spotlight. As media attention about a potential copycat killer starts to overwhelm Rich and threaten his marriage, more girls begin to disappear; when their bodies are found, each is missing an ear. Reluctantly, Rich investigates once again. Sections about Rich’s childhood in Edgewood (formatted as bits of an in-progress memoir) possess a certain Stand by Me charm, and his visits to the Boogeyman in prison vibrate with the intensity of Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter’s interactions in The Silence of the Lambs. But the novel’s ambitious structure, which folds news clippings and reviews of the last book into the narrative, sometimes weighs down the central mystery too much. Still, fans of the first book will likely be satisfied. Agent: Kristin Nelson, Nelson Literary. (Oct.)