A white-knuckled, sharply crafted piece of cerebral horror.
In this psychological thriller, an archivist works in a house haunted by secrets and a diabolical presence.
Mara, a divorced New Yorker with grown kids who are on their own, wants a break from her routine. So the archivist takes a job at the old Dumont House in Massachusetts, where she’ll stay and work for about a week. It’s definitely a change of scenery—a house that’s been empty for decades and so remote that cellphone coverage remains spotty. But she’s unnerved before she even begins recording and indexing everything. Mara sees things that she can’t explain, such as an envelope addressed to her that later changes into something else entirely. She chalks it up to stress but still feels as if the house is watching her. Then comes her obsession with the prior residents—Alaric Dumont and his wife, Isabelle. They’re shrouded in a dark history that Mara vows to unearth, particularly the reason Isabelle has seemingly disappeared from the public record. Surely, whatever’s lurking in that house will try to stop her. Taylor’s eerie novel, which kicks off a thematically linked horror series, practically drips with atmosphere. Mara, for example, observes what appear to be ghosts, although not everyone she sees has died. She’s also surrounded by a murky evil that lingers on the Dumont property. This atmosphere gives the author countless opportunities to deliver superlative prose: “Far below, the forest rippled in shadow. The trees moved in slow conversation with the wind, their branches creaking and swaying in unseen rhythms.” Mara’s troubled past earns her sympathy while her tenacity gives her circumstances plausibility (for example, explaining why she won’t leave the house). An overt but engaging parallelism between Mara and Isabelle plays throughout; both have suffered while dealing with controlling people. A twist in the final act proves effective and nudges the story toward an ending readers won’t soon forget.
A white-knuckled, sharply crafted piece of cerebral horror.Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2025
ISBN: 9798994098912
Page Count: 245
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Jan. 1, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
A grim yet gleefully gratifying tale of lost innocence and found family.
A woman fears she made a fatal mistake by taking in a blood-soaked tween during a storm.
High winds and torrential rain are forecast for “The Middle of Nowhere, New Hampshire,” making Casey question the structural integrity of her ramshackle rental cabin. Still, she’s loath to seek shelter with her lecherous landlord or her paternalistic neighbor, so instead she just crosses her fingers, gathers some candles, and hopes for the best. Casey is cooking dinner when she notices a light in her shed. She grabs her gun and investigates, only to find a rail-thin girl hiding in the corner under a blanket. She’s clutching a knife with “Eleanor” written on the handle in black marker, and though her clothes are bloody, she appears uninjured. The weather is rapidly worsening, so before she can second-guess herself, former Boston-area teacher Casey invites the girl—whom she judges to be 12 or 13—inside to eat and get warm. A wary but starving Eleanor accepts in exchange for Casey promising not to call the police—a deal Casey comes to regret after the phones go down, the power goes out, and her hostile, sullen guest drops something that’s a big surprise. Meanwhile, in interspersed chapters labeled “Before,” middle-schooler Ella befriends fellow outcast Anton, who helps her endure life in Medford, Massachusetts, with her abusive, neglectful hoarder of a mother. As per her usual, McFadden lulls readers using a seemingly straightforward thriller setup before launching headlong into a series of progressively seismic (and increasingly bonkers) plot twists. The visceral first-person, present-tense narrative alternates perspectives, fostering tension and immediacy while establishing character and engendering empathy. Ella and Anton’s relationship particularly shines, its heartrending authenticity counterbalancing some of the story’s soapier turns.
A grim yet gleefully gratifying tale of lost innocence and found family.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781464260919
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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