Welcome (or welcome back) to my book review column! It is finally October, which means we are one step closer to Halloween and all its activities, like Trick-or-Treating, carving pumpkins, decorating for the holidays, and, of course, reading scary books! This month I will be reviewing four thriller or horror-esq books in preparation for Halloween. I hope you will enjoy.
HUNGERSTONE by Kat Dunn
Lenore has been the wife of steel magistrate Henry for ten years, but with no children and a souring relationship, distance has been growing between them for quite some time. Henry’s ambitions take the couple to their family’s crumbling countryside estate, where Henry intends to host a hunting party for members of high society—leaving Lenore to restore the estate for their wealthy guests.
Yet the preparations for the event are uprooted when a carriage accident leads the mysterious Carmilla into Lenore’s life—Carmilla, who sleeps through the day, but is wide awake at night; Carmilla, who awakens something deep within Lenore. With Carmilla’s ever-growing presence, Lenore finds herself torn between the newcomer and her husband—a struggle that not only leads her deeper into her relationships, but also deeper into more mysterious conflicts as well.
The central theme of this book, for what do you hunger?, is apparent in every page. In this sapphic vampire novel, Dunn masterfully creates a spellbinding atmosphere with gorgeously written characters and a beautiful plot. Dunn’s writing establishes an immersive world for readers, which I found captivating and impossible to forget. The main character, Lenore, is also well written—and very tragic, which only made me love her more. Her struggles with her husband and her wishes for autonomy made her a compelling character, making it really satisfying to watch her grow and discover herself through the plot. The main focus of this book, the relationship between Lenore and Carmilla, was steeped with longing. Their connection developed gradually, reflecting tension and desire that became very apparent in the narrative. Hungerstone’s romance was well-done and not rushed, and its somewhat slow development added a lot to the story. In the end, Dunn’s novel blends gothic horror with romance, creating a both intimate and engaging story. 8/10.
THE FURY by Alex Michaelides
Each year, Lana Farrar—reclusive and world-renowned movie star—invites her closest friends to escape the English weather and retire to her idyllic private island off the coast of Greece.
I, Elliot Chase, tell you these details because you may think you know the real story. You probably read about it in the tabloids, or in the newspapers, or even watched it on the news. It had all the makings of a perfect press story: celebrities, a private island, and, of course, a murder. Yet what you have heard is not the whole truth. Once we got to the island, we found ourselves trapped there in a twisted game of cat and mouse, as old friendships and romances revealed a twisted plot for revenge…
I’ve heard many people rave about Michaelides’ other book, The Silent Patient, so when I heard about his latest release, I had to read it. When I dove into this book, I was expecting something unputdownable and intriguing. The first few chapters were very promising; the narration was fun, and I loved all the breaks in which the narrator would “interact” with the reader. Michealides also did a great initial job at introducing and developing the cast, whom I found myself very interested in from the get go. Also, of course, the setting grabbed my attention: a private Greek island? I was immediately engaged.
But as the book dragged on, I realized that I wasn’t fully engaged at all. The plot progressed extremely slowly, and each time something new was about to be introduced, the narrator must set the reader up with pages of setup and description. The twists were fun, but they would have been so much better if each plot point didn’t require so much setup. With so much description, each reveal felt less and less entertaining, and I really had to persevere to even get to the end of this book. My high expectations may have made the book a little less enjoyable for me, but I also feel like this wasn’t a very good thriller—the plot was dull, there was too much setup, and it felt too long for me. 4/10.
WE BURN DAYLIGHT by Bret Anthony Johnson
Texas, 1993: People from all over the world have uprooted their lives—leaving families, signing over their savings and pensions, and resigning from their jobs—to follow the Lamb’s gospel to his commune in Waco. They’ve left everything behind to listen to this landscaper-turned-prophet’s foretellings of the End Times. Jaye’s mother is one of his most recent convents—though Jaye herself has doubts about the Lamb’s teachings.
Roy is the son of the local sheriff, an adventurous boy who falls for Jaye after they meet in one of his various escapades—but who doesn’t know of Jaye’s attachment to the cult that is currently driving his father insane. The two teenagers are immediately drawn to each other, but their love has consequences. The Lamb has plans to fulfill, and Roy and Jaye might just be caught in the middle of them.
This book isn’t exactly a thriller, or a horror story. Yet since it is based on a real-life “horror story” and it is centered around a cult, I felt that it deserved an honorable mention. What stood out to me when I picked this up was that it is based on a true story that I was already familiar with, and it was fun to see how each one of Johnson’s developments clicked with an aspect of real history. Moreover, the chapters are short and the characters are poignant. I loved how Johnson interwove chapters about the storyline with excerpts of a podcast. His formatting made the book a lot more interesting to read, as it was engaging and offered more details about the events that the book is centered around. The characters were my main highlight, however. We Burn Daylight does a great job of writing teenagers. I appreciated all their internal dialogue and their interactions with other characters, which felt so realistic and made me feel very attached to the two of them. Roy and Jaye’s irrational decisions and split-second thinking made them feel more like to lifelike adolescents than random book characters.
We Burn Daylight didn’t blow me out of the water. All in all, it just felt like an average book—it wasn’t outstanding, but neither was it horrible. 6/10.
THE ONLY ONE LEFT by Riley Sager
In 1929, the Hope family murders caused ripples of shock across the Maine coast. The culprit of the murders has never been discovered, but it has always been assumed that seventeen-year-old Lenora committed the crime. However, she has never spoken publicly about the incident—nor has she stepped foot outside the family’s crumbling cliffside manor, Hope’s End, since the night of the murder.
It is now 1983, and the murders have been reduced to nothing but a schoolyard chant. Home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at Hope’s End to care for the aging Lenora, who has been rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate through an ancient typewriter. Once the two get to know each other better, Lenora makes a tantalizing offer—I want to tell you everything. Eager Kit immediately accepts, and starts to uncover pieces of the crime through Lenora’s stories. Yet as Lenora continues her storytelling, Kit begins to think that there is more to the story than she is being told.
This book might’ve been the best mystery-thriller I’ve ever read. First of all, it had all the creepy and suspenseful vibes that it had promised. The crumbling, gothic seaside manor was the perfect setting. All the imagery was so vividly described that I constantly felt like I was there alongside the characters. The overall story was so incredibly atmospheric, and it really got my adrenaline pumping—I was really into the story! I also thoroughly enjoyed the characters. Sager did a great job of introducing individuals and then slowly integrating them and their relationships/stories into the overall plot, which was so satisfying to read. Every character added something to the story, which meant the plot was all the more interesting since there were so many moving parts. But while I adored almost everything in the book, my favorite aspect was the plot twists (and the plot as a whole). I was on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading; it was impossible to tell what was coming next! So many thrillers can feel repetitive or predictable, so Sager’s storytelling was a nice change of pace.
My only complaint was that the ending was a little confusing; there were a lot of plot twists, so by the end of the book there was a lot to keep track of, and I got a little lost. Overall, it was so fun! I don’t read many thrillers, but this is one that I’d recommend to anyone. 9/10.
And that concludes my book reviews for this month. If you are interested in reading any of these books, I recommend that you check out the San Marcos library or a local bookstore to get started. Happy Halloween!
