Humbug - A. M. Walton

In 1956, Faye Lewis is desperate for a fresh start. Fleeing a broken marriage in Southern Illinois, she takes a job with a traveling circus-only to find herself assigned to the sideshow.

On the fringes of the carnival lies a quaint yet unsettling tent, where spectators pay to witness the bizarre talents and physical anomalies of the "geek" performers. To Faye, it is strange, fascinating... and unlike anything she has ever known.

But as she settles into this peculiar world, something begins to feel wrong.

Beneath the bright lights and spectacle lies a darker truth-one that draws Faye into an odd world shaped by deception, coercion, and quiet brutality.

Humbug is a psychological suspense novel exploring the hidden underbelly of a world often romanticized. Blending themes of illusion, grief, and moral compromise, it asks: how far will someone go to belong-and what does it cost to look away?