Title: The Mud Man

Author: Donna Marie West

Release date: April 19th, 2022

When Tim McWhorter announced he was opening up his own publishing imprint, Manta Press Ltd., I was really excited. I’ve loved everything I’ve read from Tim and knowing he would be seeking out fantastic stories to release, I awaited the announcement of the first book.

‘The Mud Man’ by Donna Marie West had the honor and distinction of being the first release on the upstart press and after reading the synopsis I immediately preordered it for my Kindle. 

Now, one thing I want to clarify – as I read a lot of horror – I was kind of expecting this to be a dark fiction release, but can say now, that I’ve read it, it is not. That isn’t a bad thing at all, the writing and the story are really great, but if you know Tim from his horror novels or short stories, definitely don’t assume all he’ll be releasing through this imprint is brutality. 

No, ‘The Mud Man’ is an intriguing story that is layered in emotions, complexities and character depth that really highlight the plot arc of this novel.

What I liked: ‘The Mud Man’ follows anthropologist, Veronica, who gets a request to come view a strange discovery in Northern BC. Once there, the team on site reveal the frozen (but starting to thaw) body of an ancient man, seemingly locked in place for tens of thousands of years. But when Veronica goes to examine him closer, they realize that this man is someone still alive.

From here, West has us follow along as Veronica gains stewardship/legal guardianship of this man and arranges his care, recovery and they eventually develop a friendly relationship where the man teaches Veronica about his life while she teaches this man about the modern world. It is a sweet development and you can quickly see how Veronica losses any pretense of simply researcher and develops a bond and caring for this man.

The secondary characters are great throughout, one of my favorites early on being the physiotherapist, Ty, who has a ‘HOLY COW!’ moment, when the realities of this man’s actual age hit him during a therapy session. It was a really great and light hearted moment that connected that character with the man even more.

The ending is gut wrenching but pristine. An expected full circle development but still emotionally devastating and I’m glad Donna decided to end it how she did.

What I didn’t like: There’s an odd ethical dilemma that plays out near the beginning, once this man is found and transported to Veronica’s ex-husband’s facility for rehabilitation. They discuss it a little bit but it seems to be glossed over and I found that odd seeing as both of their education/occupations and the reality of who and what this man is. I was hoping there’d be a bit more about those implications throughout.

Why you should buy this: I don’t read enough fiction like this to make any comparisons to other books or even movies. What I will say, is that this reminded me of a lot of movies I used to watch growing up. The movies that connected with the watcher such as ‘Stand By Me,’ ‘My Girl,’ and even ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.’ These stories that show character connection through an odd/strange event/incident and how different relationships develop afterwards.

This was really well done and a really excellent first entry into the world by Manta Press Ltd.!

4/5