A well-told story of unhealthy obsession and horror with a chilling twist.
A troubled couple’s bed-and-breakfast weekend turns into a nightmare in Kherbash’s horror yarn.
It sounds romantic—a couple’s return visit to a quaint bed-and-breakfast to make more happy memories. Here, the author takes a darker view. No need to wait for hints about where this dark novella, a disturbing portrait of a marriage in crisis, is heading; from the start, an atmosphere of horror creeps steadily through the pages. Clueless Nolan hopes that surprising his wife, Emma, with a getaway to the Tappy West Creek Bed & Breakfast inn will bring her out of her oppressive grief stemming from a second miscarriage. The first disquieting note: The reception area is oddly quiet, filled with cascading potted plants, “dim in the transient hour between late afternoon and early evening, when an amber shade steals over every inch of wall and furniture.” The inn is closed, says the establishment’s new owner, Leah. (Is the off-putting, coy, and cold Leah the source of the pervasive “loamy, sulfurous odor”?) And then there are the baby dolls, gradually multiplying in various rooms; walls sprout unpleasant, fleshy fungi, and the wallpaper’s roses appear to have eyes. Demoralized and vulnerable to Leah’s unhealthy manipulation, Emma views her own body as “a cruel tally of failed pregnancies and deflated hope,” and her self-doubt causes her to suspect that her husband is unfaithful. Here and there, Kherbash slyly undermines readers’ sympathy for Nolan, making clear that he disregards what she feels: “We’re here because I want to go back to where we were last year—before the pregnancy and the false hopes. I want to erase them. I want a do-over,” he says to himself. Nolan’s attempts to reestablish closeness with his wife drive her further away as Leah uses Emma’s grief, her yearning for a baby, and her dwindling self-confidence to poison her against her husband, leading to a disturbing, fevered scenario of twisted seduction and a shocking entrapment.
A well-told story of unhealthy obsession and horror with a chilling twist.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2025
ISBN: 9798986669540
Page Count: 90
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A standout in the series.
The sixth adventure of Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon explores the mysteries of human consciousness, the demonic projects of the CIA, and the city of Prague.
“Ladies and gentlemen...we are about to experience a sea change in our understanding of how the brain works, the nature of consciousness, and in fact…the very nature of reality itself.” But first—Langdon’s in love! Brown’s devoted readers first met brilliant noetic scientist Katherine Solomon in The Lost Symbol (2009); she’s back as a serious girlfriend, engaging the committed bachelor in a way not seen before. The book opens with the pair in a luxurious suite at the Four Seasons in Prague. It’s the night after Katherine has delivered the lecture quoted above, setting the theme for the novel, which features a plethora of real-life cases and anomalies that seem to support the notion that human consciousness is not localized inside the human skull. Brown’s talent for assembling research is also evident in this novel’s alter ego as a guidebook to Prague, whose history and attractions are described in great and glowing detail. Whether you appreciate or skim past the innumerable info dumps on these and other topics (Jewish folklore fans—the Golem is in the house!), it goes without saying that concision is not a goal in the Dan Brown editing process. Speaking of editing, the nearly 700-page book is dedicated to Brown’s editor, who seems to appear as a character—to put it in the italicized form used for Brownian insight, Jason Kaufman must be Jonas Faukman! A major subplot involves the theft of Katherine’s manuscript from the secure servers of Penguin Random House; the delightful Faukman continues to spout witty wisecracks even when blindfolded and hogtied. There’s no shortage of action, derring-do, explosions, high-tech torture machines, attempted and successful murders, and opportunities for split-second, last-minute escapes; good thing Langdon, this aging symbology wonk, never misses swimming his morning laps. Readers who are not already dyed-in-the-wool Langdonites may find themselves echoing the prof’s own conclusion regarding the credibility of all this paranormal hoo-ha: At some point, skepticism itself becomes irrational.
A standout in the series.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9780385546898
Page Count: 688
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
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
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