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
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
The novel offers mystery aplenty, but at its core, there is a deep and compassionate humanity.
Two old friends, relationship forged in fire and trauma, find themselves at the center of a murder mystery.
Frida Nilsen and Gabriel Miller are staying at the Ara, a comfortable desert hotel in Escalante, Utah, trying to decide whether both of them are ready to participate in a documentary about some mysterious point in their shared past. Late at night, Frida is standing on their suite’s private patio, smoking, when she overhears a fight between wealthy tabloid tycoon William Brenner and his young, glamorous wife, Sabrina. The next day, Sabrina’s body is found, her head caved in. When Frida tells the cops about the couple’s argument, William is arrested, but hours later, he returns to the Ara and seems to have both Frida and Gabriel in his sights. It turns out he recognizes Gabriel from a scandal 10 years prior, when his wife, Annie, went missing and was then discovered dead. Gabriel was never charged in her death, but papers like William’s had a field day stalking him and posting articles and photos that suggested his guilt. But unbeknownst even to William Brenner, Frida and Gabriel share a bond that’s deeper and darker than Annie’s death. They were born into a cult run by a charismatic dirtbag named Émile. Though they aren’t related by blood, this shared childhood and teenage trauma made them as close as siblings, and when they escaped, they had only each other. While Frida remains the narrator, chapters alternate back and forth between the present day and the past, offering a slow reveal from their childhood to their escape from the cult and the difficult years of adjusting to the real world. Michallon does incredible work building both characters and tension; Frida’s self-awareness and vulnerability clash with her strength and even hardness, but that’s what trauma has wrought. As Michallon poignantly writes, “This is who we are.…We start over together. Again. And again.”
The novel offers mystery aplenty, but at its core, there is a deep and compassionate humanity.Pub Date: July 8, 2025
ISBN: 9780593802762
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
