An inventive, multi-layered horror novel structured around a cryptic document.
In Blackhurst’s debut horror novel, a lawyer attempts to understand a mass death event and avoid becoming one of its victims.
In 2017, two hunters in Kentucky came across a dead town; ‘dead’ in the sense that all of the residents—hundreds of them— seem to have been killed in a freak landslide. The event came to be known as the Carrington Tragedy, even though no one is sure that the town had been called Carrington (in fact, before the hunters stumbled across it, the outside world was entirely unaware of the town’s existence). The sole record of the town, and of what happened to it, is a series of 33 canvases, found buried in the rubble, on which a man called Richard Maltessouri had scribbled a difficult-to-decipher diary. The first entry begins, ominously, “I wish the marionettes would stop trying to break through the windows. Incredible. I’m not entirely convinced I’m still alive.” Though it’s unclear whether Richard was sane—or even real—his account implies Carrington suffered something closer to a massacre than a natural disaster, even if the claims in the barely legible diary (written in a hard-to-read paint called “tint”) are difficult to parse. Along with a colleague, lawyer Joseph Blackhurst travels to the Carrington site in an attempt to decrypt the demented diary, hoping that his efforts at transcription do not end, as previous attempts have, in catastrophe. The book is a metafictional puzzle, with two texts unraveling side-by-side: that of Richard Maltessouri and that of the fictional Blackhurst. The real-life Blackhurst writes them both with the kind of neurotic restraint that hints at larger, unspoken forces. “I should come clean,” confesses the character Blackhurst early on. “In a footnote, I wrote that no part of the Canvases would be edited or omitted during transcription to preserve a complete record of the evidence. However, certain inconsequential edits will be made at the decision of the Committee.” It’s a fun puzzle of a book, reminiscent at times of Mark Z. Danielewski’s work, creeping slowly from confusion to delightful terror.
An inventive, multi-layered horror novel structured around a cryptic document.Pub Date: Dec. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9798988484318
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
The story unfolds so irresistibly that newcomers may think Grisham’s been writing thrillers like this his whole life.
What hasn’t legendary legal eagle Grisham tried yet? How about a thriller about serial kidnapping and international terrorism.
When Paul and Chelsea Tanner disappear during a day trip on their Paris honeymoon, their abductors demand a ransom of $2 million from Chelsea’s wealthy parents, and a few days later the same sum from Paul’s much less well-heeled parents. After orthopedist Lowell Clayburn, Chelsea’s father, ponies up the ransom without breathing a word to the authorities, his daughter is promptly released. But even though Paul’s parents sell their home, liquidate their assets, and borrow money from the Clayburns to meet the kidnappers’ demands, the villains hold on to Paul anyway. Asked whether he’s ever seen such an outcome in a double kidnapping, FBI deputy director Andrew Strong tells Lowell: “No, this is a new one.” But it’s not, as Strong knows all too well; it’s the third such active case, all involving honeymooning couples whose bridegrooms had served in the armed forces. After masterfully drawing readers in with his bare-knuckle account of the Tanners’ abduction and the attempt by their families and the CIA to tell the lies required to keep caring friends and the rapacious press at bay, Grisham effortlessly switches gears to follow CIA agent Rae Claire Russo and Stuart Nash, a former Department of Justice prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay who agrees to marry her so they can serve as bait for the kidnappers, whose motives include justice and revenge as well as cold hard cash. So much for the imprisoned Paul’s wistful reflection that “hopefully, it was only about money.”
The story unfolds so irresistibly that newcomers may think Grisham’s been writing thrillers like this his whole life.Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9780385550543
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2026
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.
A violent attack hijacks a woman’s memory in this novel of domestic suspense.
McFadden wastes no time pulling the trigger in this harrowing story that starts with gunfire then swiftly propels readers into a crack tale of secrets and misdirection. Originally self-published in 2016, the book carries the same formidable weight as McFadden’s later novels featuring unsuspecting women who lose their power then fight to recapture it—mostly from men who have betrayed them. That formula perfectly fits Dr. Charlotte McKenna, a 37-year-old dermatologist who isn’t looking for love until the most handsome man she’s ever seen begins to woo her. There are warning signs about Clark Douglas and Charlotte overlooks them to her detriment—but is he a killer? The novel has dual timelines split between events leading up to the day Charlotte barely survives a head wound meant to kill her and the months afterward, when she struggles to reclaim her memory and her mobility. In real life, McFadden is a physician trained to treat brain injuries. Her expertise gives Charlotte’s rehabilitation authenticity, and her writing talent makes it interesting and engaging. As good as that timeline is, readers will yearn to get back to the alternate timeline about who wants Charlotte dead. It’s only a matter of time before Charlotte starts to remember who tried to kill her, and the clock is ticking toward their next attempt. McFadden dishes up plenty of suspects: Charlotte’s secretive husband, Clark; a former patient turned stalker who confronts Charlotte on her honeymoon; and the angry husband of a patient who blames Charlotte for his wife leaving him. Though the story is delicious and dark, McFadden brightens things up with a possible love interest for Charlotte and a surprise ending sure to please the author’s many fans.
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249617
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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