A thrilling mind-freak of a mystery.
In Scozzari’s deliciously gruesome debut, a young professional learns the dangers of trusting friends.
Diana is a quirky young professional with a promising future. Her career as a business consultant is taking off, and she’s amassed a collection of close friends, including Ann (whom she’s known since high school) and her boyfriend, Arnold, a philandering former frat bro and current high school gym teacher. Diana’s somewhat-charmed life takes a turn when she starts having mysterious fainting spells. Ann (who’s convinced she’s Diana’s best friend) and Tim (her actual best friend) jump into protective mode; Arnold can’t be bothered. To make matters worse, Diana suspects that she’s the victim of frequent home invasions, unheard of in her ostensibly safe Long Island community. (“She waited in deafening silence for some midnight terror to burst through her door.”) A wild Fourth of July party becomes a catalyst for revelations regarding Diana’s friends that she hasn’t been able to confront. As her world begins to unravel, questions arise about Diana’s health, sanity, and who she can and can’t trust. Scozzari is a master storyteller, weaving tension throughout the entire narrative. The pacing is slow at first, but the narrative never feels like it lacks purpose. Details are revealed as Diana uncovers them, and readers will question her reality right along with her. This sense of the unknown—represented by the dark figure Diana thinks she sees breaking into her house, her unaddressed fainting spells, and the sense that she may be getting gaslit by multiple people—evokes an atmosphere of dread and menace that rivals the classic thriller and mystery stories Scozzari’s novel is paying homage to, like Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca (1938). The characters are complex and fascinating, each possessing the means and motive to victimize the rest of the group, adding a Clue-like whodunit quality to an already engrossing domestic thriller. The author tells this labyrinthine story using clear prose with brutally violent descriptions that will delight fans of gothic literature, thrillers, and horror.
A thrilling mind-freak of a mystery.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2025
ISBN: 9798998781698
Page Count: 392
Publisher: EASEverything LLC
Review Posted Online: yesterday
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A grim yet gleefully gratifying tale of lost innocence and found family.
A woman fears she made a fatal mistake by taking in a blood-soaked tween during a storm.
High winds and torrential rain are forecast for “The Middle of Nowhere, New Hampshire,” making Casey question the structural integrity of her ramshackle rental cabin. Still, she’s loath to seek shelter with her lecherous landlord or her paternalistic neighbor, so instead she just crosses her fingers, gathers some candles, and hopes for the best. Casey is cooking dinner when she notices a light in her shed. She grabs her gun and investigates, only to find a rail-thin girl hiding in the corner under a blanket. She’s clutching a knife with “Eleanor” written on the handle in black marker, and though her clothes are bloody, she appears uninjured. The weather is rapidly worsening, so before she can second-guess herself, former Boston-area teacher Casey invites the girl—whom she judges to be 12 or 13—inside to eat and get warm. A wary but starving Eleanor accepts in exchange for Casey promising not to call the police—a deal Casey comes to regret after the phones go down, the power goes out, and her hostile, sullen guest drops something that’s a big surprise. Meanwhile, in interspersed chapters labeled “Before,” middle-schooler Ella befriends fellow outcast Anton, who helps her endure life in Medford, Massachusetts, with her abusive, neglectful hoarder of a mother. As per her usual, McFadden lulls readers using a seemingly straightforward thriller setup before launching headlong into a series of progressively seismic (and increasingly bonkers) plot twists. The visceral first-person, present-tense narrative alternates perspectives, fostering tension and immediacy while establishing character and engendering empathy. Ella and Anton’s relationship particularly shines, its heartrending authenticity counterbalancing some of the story’s soapier turns.
A grim yet gleefully gratifying tale of lost innocence and found family.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781464260919
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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