Dynamic characters energize this brisk, creepy, and enthralling story.
In Harrison’s horror tale, a Londoner fights to save a friend tormented by a malevolent entity.
After four months in Turkey as a linguistic attaché, Sebastian Mackie is ready to go home. The night before Seb leaves, his close friend and landlord, Oz, infuriates a local widow, who puts a curse on him. This unnerves Oz, as the Arabic passage she spoke cited a djinn, which in some interpretations are akin to demons (“I haven’t been to prayers in years. But the djinn still scare me to death”). He’s truly convinced that he’s cursed when, sometime later, there’s an incident of astounding violence at his parents’ farm. With help from university professor Deniz Yilmaz, Seb and Oz search for the widow and details about the ancient curse, which no one is willing to utter aloud. Meanwhile, the djinn seemingly strikes again, putting one of Oz’s loved ones in indisputable peril. Seb and the others rush to various places (including a mosque and a jaunt to North Africa) searching for anything that can put a stop to the curse—or perhaps to the djinn itself. Harrison’s short novel proficiently establishes its plot and cast. In relatively few pages, readers come to appreciate Seb’s background and his relationship with Oz as the curse slowly creeps in. Seb, who narrates, is a sublime protagonist who doesn’t hesitate to put himself in harm’s way to rescue his equally likable and sympathetic friend. Deniz fits right in, as her resolution to find answers rarely wavers. The most impressive element is the narrative’s grand environment—it’s engaging to follow the British Seb adjusting to Tunisia’s heat or growing noticeably anxious when a driver in Istanbul speeds through traffic. The descriptions of cuisine shine as well, from mechouia salad and egg-based menemen to Seb’s apparent obsession with coffee. While showcasing so much of the locales does occasionally lessen the narrative’s urgency (and corresponding suspense), everything culminates in a smashing final act and an unforgettable ending.
Dynamic characters energize this brisk, creepy, and enthralling story. (critical praise; dedication; afterword; acknowledgements; about the author; about the artist; content warnings; publisher’s additional titles)Pub Date: March 20, 2024
ISBN: 9781957537948
Page Count: 196
Publisher: Brigids Gate Press
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Gleefully sadistic, gloriously gratifying revenge fiction.
A frustrated advice columnist takes matters into her own hands.
Before dropping out of MIT during the second semester of her sophomore year, Debbie Mullen had designs on becoming the next Bill Gates. Now, almost 30 years later, the stay-at-home wife and mother of two uses her considerable genius to keep the Mullens’ Hingham, Massachusetts, household functioning “like a well-oiled machine.” In her spare time, Debbie also gardens and shares “the fruits of [her] wisdom” with neighbors via the weekly advice column she writes for Hingham Household, a local “family-oriented” newspaper. Though Debbie is proud of her husband and teen daughters’ accomplishments, her own life sometimes feels a bit empty. As such, she’s both honored and excited when Home Gardening magazine selects her backyard to feature in their next issue. Then, at the last minute, the publication decides to go in a different direction and instead spotlights the roses of her arch rival. Later that day, the editor-in-chief of Hingham Household axes her column because she’d counseled a reader to get a divorce. That evening, Debbie learns that her hard-working husband’s miserly boss refused his promotion request, her brilliant older daughter’s sketchy boyfriend broke her heart, and her athletically gifted younger daughter’s chauvinistic coach cut her from the soccer team for being “chubby.” Enough is enough. Debbie has always given great advice—everybody says so. If certain individuals don’t know what’s best for themselves, maybe it’s her obligation to help them see the light. Increasingly unhinged entries from a “Dear Debbie” drafts folder pepper the briskly paced, meticulously crafted tale, which unfolds courtesy of a pinwheeling first-person narrative. Some of the plot’s myriad twists are more impressive than others, but plucky, puckish Debbie is a nontraditional antihero for the ages.
Gleefully sadistic, gloriously gratifying revenge fiction.Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249624
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.
A struggling writer finds an unexpected muse when a mysterious man shows up at her cabin.
Petra Rose used to pump out a bestselling book every six months, but then the adaptation happened—that is, the disastrous film adaptation of her most famous book. The movie changed the book’s storyline so egregiously that fans couldn’t forgive her, and the ensuing harassment sent Petra into hiding and gave her a serious case of writer’s block. Petra’s one hope is her solo writing retreat at a remote cabin, where she can escape the distractions of real life and focus on her next book, a story about a woman having an affair with a cop. When officer Nathaniel Saint shows up at her cabin door, inspiration comes flooding back. Much like the character from Petra’s book, Saint is married, and he’s willing to be Petra’s muse, helping her get into her characters’ heads. Petra’s book is practically writing itself, but is the game she’s playing a little too dangerous? Does she know when to stop—and, more importantly, is Saint willing to stop? Hoover is no stranger to controversial movie adaptations and internet backlash, but she clarifies in a note to readers that she’s “just a writer writing about a writer” and that no further connections to her own life are contained in these pages—which is a good thing, because the book takes some horrifying twists and turns. Petra finds herself inexplicably attracted to Saint, even as she describes him as “such an asshole,” and her feelings for him veer between love and hate. The novel serves as a meta commentary on the dark romance genre—as Petra puts it, “Even though, as readers, we wouldn’t want to live out some of the fantasies we read about, it doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy reading those things.”
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781662539374
Page Count: -
Publisher: Montlake
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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