The Changeling by Victor Lavalle
The Changeling by Victor Lavalle Apollo Kagwa's father disappeared when he was a young boy, but he hasn't left his dreams. In them, Brian West comes to Apollo in the apartment he shares with his mother, Lillian, and tells Apollo "you're coming with me" amidst the running water in the bathroom and the steam that fills the space. This dream and Apollo's desire to know his father follows him throughout his life, along with a children's book his father would read to him. When Apollo marries the beguiling Emma and they have a baby (named Brian), Apollo has plans of reading the book to his own boy. Then Emma starts receiving texts of Apollo and baby Brian, texts that disappear. Apollo thinks she's going nuts, and then she does; she ties Apollo up and kills the baby, saying "that's no baby." Or so we're led to believe. After Apollo does some time in prison and returns home, he joins a survivors group and finds others like Emma. He is then ...