The best kind of monster yarn—it sneaks up on you.
A small Texas town becomes the backdrop for a Stephen King–like grotesque that bonds with its hapless hosts.
Young Sam Parker has got a lot on his plate. He’s new in town, and his sister, ever since she started high school, doesn’t seem to be interested in hanging out and hunting creepy crawlies in the woods with him the way she used to. There’s also a school bully so mean he steals Sam’s headphones and tosses them into a tree and goes out of his way to scrawl “LOSER” on his forehead in permanent marker. A kindly widower named Ben, who lives across the street, not only sticks up for Sam, he kind of likes hunting for critters, too. Sadly for all involved, Ben is hiding a dark secret—and that secret has a name. His late wife, Mary, called it “Princess.” But exactly who or what Princess is and the reason she won’t leave poor Ben alone is held in careful abeyance until Devecchi is good and ready to reveal this particular monstrosity. The author does a masterful job of crafting a dreadful aura around Princess as she quietly lulls the reader into an almost trance-like state with the banality of Sam’s pint-sized problems. The tonal shift from Sam’s Mayberry-ish narrative to the gruesome reality of Princess’ world and her relationship to Ben is incredibly jarring and off-putting. But that’s clearly part of Devecchi’s devilish intent. The idea of Princess slithering It-like inside the unsuspecting town’s storm sewers is creepy enough (“I am alone. I have no friends. I am afraid,” the creature coos), but when the author finally sets her free in the full light of day the experience is truly terrifying. Devecchi’s languid narrative also successfully marries the innocence of youth with the regret and longing of aging; the result evokes a kind of horror that’s just as upsetting as Princess’ insatiable hunger for human flesh and human connection.
The best kind of monster yarn—it sneaks up on you.Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2024
ISBN: 9781959798392
Page Count: 332
Publisher: Wicked House Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 7, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
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