[Query Letter] The Final Boy

Read the third-place entry for our week of February 2, 2025 prompt, Query Letter.

Query Letter for The Final Boy
by Hiko Mitsuzuka

Hello Mr. Spackman,

I am seeking representation for my thriller novel, The Final Boy (99,000 words), a gendered spin on “final girl,” the popular slasher movie term.

Nathan Okada, my unreliable narrator, is a struggling writer who gets the chance to collaborate with his literary idol, young-adult novelist T.P. Crane. Having revived his iconic teen horror series, Shadow Lane, the author secretly enlists Nathan to help him complete the final installment. As a die-hard fan of Crane’s work, Nathan gladly accepts the job, seeing it as a welcome distraction from a devastating breakup with his boyfriend…and being the sole survivor of a mass murder one year ago.

When Nathan travels to Crane’s remote lakeside lodge, he finds that the author is short-tempered and burned by a publishing industry that ignored him for the past decade. And while Nathan gets to work on the novel and learns more about the man behind the paperbacks he collected as a teen, he finds that their getaway isn’t so secluded. Several social media influencers have rented a nearby house on the lake, and Nathan sees it as an opportunity for inspiration, getting acquainted with the group and finding fodder to fill his chapters.

Soon, a massive blizzard rolls in, isolating everyone from the outside world and triggering Nathan to relive and reconcile with events from his past. The storm also has a way of bringing out people’s dark sides, and Nathan learns that everyone on the lake has secrets to hide, one of which leads to the discovery of a dead body, brutally stabbed in the snow – and that’s just the first one. But the biggest secret of all may come from T.P. Crane himself, because the more Nathan digs into the author’s mysterious past, the closer he gets to a truth scarier than fiction.

I can easily see The Final Boy sitting alongside several comparable titles in bookstores. Julia Bartz's The Writing Retreat stars a troubled writer fighting for survival at a remote estate. Riley Sager's Final Girls explores what happens to the survivor of a massacre, following the twisted developments that take over her life. And fans of Ruth Ware’s One by One will recognize a similarly snowy setting in which coworkers are trapped inside a ski chalet with a killer.

Finally, a little bit about me: I am a Clio and Emmy Award-winning writer who grew up on a steady diet of primetime soaps, YA thrillers, my Irish mother's meatloaf, and rice bowls made by my Japanese father. I reside in Los Angeles, where, for nine years, I served as a copywriter and the Director of Creative Services at a marketing agency and content studio. I have also moonlighted as an entertainment and travel journalist for several media outlets.

That all said, if you have any questions or need more info, please feel free to reach out. I appreciate your consideration and look forward to hearing from you!

Cheers,

H.

A Note From Our Guest Judge, James Spackman

Your positioning of the novel at the top is great. There are loads of good things going on in the synopsis that follows, though I think it's too long and detailed. Again, an excellent bio which shows the reason this book exists and will make readers want to engage with you as a writer and person.

About Hiko Mitsuzuka

Hiko Mitsuzuka is a Clio and Emmy Award-winning writer who was born and raised in New Rochelle, New York, where he grew up on a steady diet of primetime soaps and 80s slasher films. He resides in Los Angeles, where he recently served as the Director of Creative Services at Known Global. He has also contributed as an entertainment and travel journalist for several media outlets. You can Insta-stalk him at @TheFirstEcho.

This piece was written in response to the prompt Query Letter.