An imaginative horror novel that provides more laughs than gasps.
A man must confront his deepest fears inside the haunted mansion left to him by his missing uncle in Miller’s horror novel.
Max Brown has a strange routine every day after work: collecting weapons and ammo for the monthly life-or-death battles that take place in his basement (“The helmet, boxes of ammo, and other supplies make a growing, sloppy pile”). Max is a former high school basketball star whose life has long since peaked; after the disappearance of his mysterious Uncle Edward, Max inherited not only an eerie old mansion and a mountain of cash but also a chilling family curse. Beneath the house lies a supernatural arena in which Max must battle demons to free people trapped there. Working alongside two men named Walter and Tommy to rescue these poor souls, Max worries that their efforts are futile, especially since his allies are only the latest in a long line of people who have arrived at the house to fight, only to give up after months of struggle. Max is also still mired in grief over his mother’s death and dealing with the unexpected turmoil of falling in love while fighting for his life. Can Max come out on top, or is he doomed to the same unknown fate as his uncle? Despite the dark premise, the novel’s tone is campy and self-aware, balancing the horror of the characters’ situations with moments of absurdity and humor. Even the high-stakes climax strikes notes of levity (it takes place during a basketball game). The narrative is full of developments that blend affecting emotional truths with feats of writerly imagination and deeply enjoyable plot twists—Miller manages to make the prospect of facing one’s own worst nightmare simultaneously horrifying and hilarious. (This is a great read for fans of horror who enjoy seeing common tropes and references being playfully subverted.) Sometimes the emotional stakes are undercut by the humor, but, overall, this is an effective blend of comedy, heart, and scares that defies expectations in a way that will intrigue readers without losing the plot.
An imaginative horror novel that provides more laughs than gasps.Pub Date: Jan. 17, 2025
ISBN: 9798992397109
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Big Time Books
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Uneven but fitfully amusing.
Betrayed by her husband, a severely depressed young woman gets drawn into the over-the-top festivities at a lavish wedding.
Phoebe Stone, who teaches English literature at a St. Louis college, is plotting her own demise. Her husband, Matt, has left her for another woman, and Phoebe is taking it hard. Indeed, she's determined just where and how she will end it all: at an oceanfront hotel in Newport, where she will lie on a king-sized canopy bed and take a bottle of her cat’s painkillers. At the hotel, Phoebe meets bride-to-be Lila, a headstrong rich girl presiding over her own extravagant six-day wedding celebration. Lila thought she had booked every room in the hotel, and learning of Phoebe's suicidal intentions, she forbids this stray guest from disrupting the nuptials: “No. You definitely can’t kill yourself. This is my wedding week.” After the punchy opening, a grim flashback to the meltdown of Phoebe's marriage temporarily darkens the mood, but things pick up when spoiled Lila interrupts Phoebe's preparations and sweeps her up in the wedding juggernaut. The slide from earnest drama to broad farce is somewhat jarring, but from this point on, Espach crafts an enjoyable—if overstuffed—comedy of manners. When the original maid of honor drops out, Phoebe is persuaded, against her better judgment, to take her place. There’s some fun to be had here: The wedding party—including groom-to-be Gary, a widower, and his 11-year-old daughter—takes surfing lessons; the women in the group have a session with a Sex Woman. But it all goes on too long, and the humor can seem forced, reaching a low point when someone has sex with the vintage wedding car (you don’t want to know the details). Later, when two characters have a meet-cute in a hot tub, readers will guess exactly how the marriage plot resolves.
Uneven but fitfully amusing.Pub Date: July 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781250899576
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.
Two killers are on the loose. Can they be stopped?
In this ambitious mystery, the prolific and popular King tells the story of a serial murderer who pledges, in a note to Buckeye City police, to kill “13 innocents and 1 guilty,” in order, we eventually learn, to avenge the death of a man who was framed and convicted for possession of child pornography and then killed in prison. At the same time, the author weaves in the efforts of another would-be murderer, a member of a violently abortion-opposing church who has been stalking a popular feminist author and women’s rights activist on a publicity tour. To tell these twin tales of murders done and intended, King summons some familiar characters, including private investigator Holly Gibney, whom readers may recall from previous novels. Gibney is enlisted to help Buckeye City police detective Izzy Jaynes try to identify and stop the serial killer, who has been murdering random unlucky citizens with chilling efficiency. She’s also been hired as a bodyguard for author and activist Kate McKay and her young assistant. The author succeeds in grabbing the reader’s interest and holding it throughout this page-turning tale of terror, which reads like a big-screen thriller. The action is well paced, the settings are vividly drawn, and King’s choice to focus on the real and deadly dangers of extremist thought is admirable. But the book is hamstrung by cliched characters, hackneyed dialogue (both spoken and internal), and motives that feel both convoluted and overly simplistic. King shines brightest when he gets to the heart of our darkest fears and desires, but here the dangers seem a bit cerebral. In his warning letter to the police, the serial killer wonders if his cryptic rationale to murder will make sense to others, concluding, “It does to me, and that is enough.” Is it enough? In another writer’s work, it might not be, but in King’s skilled hands, it probably is.
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781668089330
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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