An innovative take on the modern vampire story.
A vampire is stranded in the modern world in Catanzarite’s first horror-fantasy novel, the start of a series.
Gregorie Babin, originally from Saint-Suliac, France, washes up on a beach after being trapped in a waterlogged wooden trunk for a long, long time. He doesn’t remember how he came to be in there, nor does he have any idea where he is currently. It’s night, and he’s thirsty, and, for some reason, he feels compelled to drink the blood of a dying deer he finds by the roadside: “He’d never consumed anything so soothing, so satisfying. His limbs warmed, the nourishment spreading, and his insides filled near to bursting. He eased back in ecstasy and rested on the ground beside the animal while it relaxed into its last breath.” Gregorie soon discovers that the world has technologically advanced quite a bit; these automated, fast-moving carts that he sees on the road are all new to him. He notices, too, that he no longer needs to breathe to remain alive. He soon meets a trio of locals—Liam, Paul, and a young woman whom Gregorie calls “Gentille”—who see his confusion and offer him a place to stay. As Gregorie pores over his memories, attempting to figure out his predicament—a ship, a monster, and a lost love named Michaelangela are involved—his new friends start to realize that there’s something a bit strange about Gregorie. Catanzarite’s understated prose succeeds in selling Gregorie’s fish-out-of-water status and unusual perspective, as when Gentille offers him her sunglasses to protect his eyes from daylight: “Gentille removed the shiny brown thing from her face and propped it upon his nose, pressing one of its skinny arms behind each ear. Everything became soft and rosy, and the tears stopped flowing.” This aspect of the work, and the offbeat premise of a centuries-old vampire who’s unaware of who or what he is, brings some much-needed freshness to a crowded horror subgenre. That said, fans of such tales will still find plenty of familiar elements to sink their fangs into.
An innovative take on the modern vampire story.Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9781735952277
Page Count: 218
Publisher: Forster Publishing
Review Posted Online: Dec. 8, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A particularly nasty villain heightens the stakes in this thriller about a woman learning how to be her own hero.
An author is targeted by a fan who just can’t let her go.
Arden Bowie has had plenty of tragedy in her life, but now she’s finally on top. After her parents died when she was a teenager, she moved from Brooklyn to Ohio to live with her aunt, uncle, and cousins. She soon became part of their loving family and grew up to become a writer and bookseller. When her debut novel is published, she meets Dustin Dubecki at her first event. He showers her with praise, asks for writing advice, and wants to take her out for coffee. Arden tells herself he’s just a little awkward, but then he keeps showing up at her local events—and, even stranger, she’s sure she sees him lurking at her event in New York City. When he bursts into her apartment one night and assaults her, Arden’s calm life is shattered. Dustin gets a five-year sentence at a psychiatric facility; Arden spends most of that time rebuilding her sense of stability. Eventually, she moves to Oregon to start a new life where Dustin can never find her. But even though she has a beautiful home, a thriving career, a doting family, new friends, and even a potential love interest in a former cop named Gideon Riley, Arden can’t escape Dustin’s rage when his sentence is finally up. Roberts toggles between Arden’s point of view and Dustin’s, giving the reader occasional glimpses into his extremely twisted mindset. Although Arden’s attempts to escape Dustin are engrossing, the story stalls in the middle when far too many pages are dedicated to Arden purchasing and decorating a house. But the excitement picks back up when Dustin, a truly odious villain, re-enters the story. It’s also satisfying to see Arden grow into someone who refuses to be a victim, even as she deals with horrifying circumstances.
A particularly nasty villain heightens the stakes in this thriller about a woman learning how to be her own hero.Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9781250413581
Page Count: 432
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
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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