What Grows in the Dark - Jaq Evans

 This mystery/horror follows Brigit and Ian - friends and fake paranormal investigators.  After Brigit receives a call from her hometown about a potential job, her and Ian head to Ellis Creek.  When they arrive, they learn about the recent missing persons search for two teens.  At first, it isn't clear why Brigit, specifically, was asked to come help.  But with a connection between the current missing people and her sister's suicide 16 years prior, Brigit finds herself confronting a long kept secret that may be the secret to finding and ending the string of missing children from Ellis Creek for good.

TW/CW: suicide on page

For the first half of the read, this felt like a pretty straightforward mystery.  Brigit and Ian were investigating by non-paranormal means such as interviewing locals and doing some research at the local library.  As the plot progressed, the horror elements came in and slowly escalated until by the last 75%, we were in a straight up horror movie and it was fantastic.  Evans does a great job of using the horror elements to heighten the emotional points of the plot.  This makes the stakes feel so much greater and I found myself holding my breath while reading because I was so stressed about these characters. The mystery investigation was well done and I really enjoyed that it was equally rooted in the regular investigation as well as the paranormal investigation.

The actual horror elements were pretty solid in the folk horror category - complete with creepy forests and unnamed entities within.  As mentioned above, the horror creeps into this read in bits and pieces.  The first few times, it is easy to chalk it up to Brigit maybe being mentally impacted by being back in her hometown after so long or the trauma of losing her sister resurfacing.  For a while, I was wondering if this would turn into an unreliable narrator read where we aren't sure if the horrors are real or imagined.  The scene where the horror elements were solidified as being real is a scene I'm not going to forget soon.  I'm not sure if the folk horror entity in this read is based on any real local legends, but it was very unique and Evans fleshed out the lore and rules surrounding it very well.

 Brigit and Ian were wonderfully complex characters and I loved getting both of their POVs.  For me, most reads are pretty easy to label as either character-driven or plot-driven.  In this case, I think Evans does a great job of balancing both of these aspects.  We certainly get a lot of character work but the mystery investigation plot is also very well developed.  We are dropped into this read in the middle of Brigit and Ian working a job and the plot takes off from there.  We don't get much of any sort of summary of their relationship or history - rather, Evans sprinkles in details throughout the story and by the end we have such a great understanding of them as individual characters as well as their relationship.  All of the side characters we see, as well, are incredibly detailed and complex.

Overall, this was a fantastic read and one I don't think I'll forget about easily.  Complex characters, good mystery plot, and great horror elements.  I'd love to read more from Evans in the future. 

Thanks to NetGalley and MIRA for the ARC.  Expected publication date is March 5, 2024

The House of Last Resort - Christopher Golden

 

This haunted house horror follows Tommy and Kate as they move into their new home in Becchina, Italy.  Becchina, like many towns, is experiencing a decline in population so they started a program where you can purchase a home there for a single Euro as long as they promise to live there for 5 years.  It is an easy decision as both Tommy and Kate work remotely and Becchina is the hometown of Tommy's grandparents.  However, as they move in and begin to renovate the home, they start to feel an odd presence in the home.  And once they find out the true history of the house they bought, Tommy and Kate must delve deeper into the darkness than they ever expected.

This was the slowest of slow burns for me and I almost put it down when I got to the middle and there still wasn't a whole lot of spooky stuff going on.  However, I'm so glad I continued reading because the last 30% of the book was absolutely fantastic and the slow burn paid off.  There are so many seemingly mundane details we get in the first half of the read that I was frustrated with because it just felt like a general fiction read about these people and their house.  But when those details came into play in the finale, I completely understood why Golden included them early on. 

I was so excited when I saw the premise for this read because I've looked into similar programs in different countries where they are selling abandoned homes for very little.  What a great jumping off point for a horror read because, with abandoned homes, you really don't know what happened there before.  I also loved how we get to see other couples who took advantage of the program as well and see how their lives and homes differ from Tommy and Kate's. Also, the abandoned home program details come into play throughout the read, not just as a premise to get Tommy and Kate into this house. 

The horror elements were fantastic, although I do wish there was more of a consistent and gradual pressure of them throughout the first 50%.  We get a few creepy moments, but then we would go for stretches with no real horror scenes.  It went on long enough that I was starting to think that maybe this would be more of a general fiction with a slight horror elements.  However, I was pleasantly surprised that we really go from 0 to 100 quickly at about the 70% mark.  I also loved that we do get a specific sub-genre of horror (that I can't specify because I think it would be a spoiler) that I always forget I love as much as I do until I stumble across it and now I want to just read this sub-genre for the next month or so.

The ending was absolutely 12/10 chef's kiss fantastic.  It was one of those endings where I went to turn the page on my eReader, expecting there to be a new chapter, but it was just the end of the book.  And normally, I don't prefer those sorts of hard stop endings.  I do like my reads to have a bit of a calm down after the climax of the read.  However, in this case, I think the ending perfectly matches the plot and overall vibe of the read.  I loved that Golden leaves it a little open ended so the reader can imagine the long-term implications of what we're left with at the end. 

Overall, this was a solid read.  I would have liked the horror elements to be more consistently built throughout the read but the last 30% was absolutely a 5-star read and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC.  Publication date was January 30, 2024.

Original Sins - Erin Young

 

This mystery is the second book in the Riley Fisher series follows Riley as she starts her new position as an FBI agent in Des Moines, Iowa.  In Des Moines, a serial attacker known as the Sin Eater has struck again - putting more pressure on the investigators to catch the perpetrator.  Riley hits the ground in her new position running after being tasked with investigating threats against the city's newly elected female governor. But when the Sin Eater investigation, the governor threats, and Riley's own partner all converge, there might be more to this new position than Riley expected.

As usual with police procedural series, it isn't strictly necessary to read the books in order as the main investigation plots are self-contained.  I did read the first book in the series - The Fields - and really enjoyed it (review linked here) - however, I think this would work very well as a stand alone.  There is a pretty large gap of time between books 1 and 2, so even the personal life details we get in book 1 have changed significantly by book 2.  

Young writes in the acknowledgements section at the end that this was her quarantine book and the inspiration certainly comes through.  We get a good amount of the political climate of the time coming into play and I liked the political suspense/thriller aspect which was also an aspect I enjoyed in the first book in the series.  I think Young does a good job of balancing the political threads in with the more standard police procedural plot lines.  I would not be one to pick up a straight up political thriller, but I enjoy the parts we get in this read. 

Along with the political aspect, we also societal tensions around women and their 'place' in society.  There is a lot of language around women knowing their place, and being punished if they step out of that very restrictive role that some men think they should be in.  Also, we do see a number of Sin Eater attacks on page, and the viciousness of these attacks is not held back.  For me, these parts were a pretty visceral reading experience, but I could see someone with personal experience in these types of situations having a hard time reading them.  

I loved the Sin Eater investigation and was very invested in that plot line.  I found it the perfect amount of twisty and it had a lot of areas for Riley and the team to look into.  Riley - and thus the narrative - bounces between the Sin Eater investigation and the governor protection plot but I found myself much more invested in the Sin Eater side of things.  I found the narrative style to feel a little disjointed at times when switching between the two plots.  I think this was probably done on purpose as Riley finds herself equally torn between these areas of her job, but it did take me out of the reading experience just a bit. 

We get multiple POVs and I think Young does a fantastic job at using the different POVs to deepen the story.  We get Riley, the governor, and a character close to the Sin Eater plot.  At first, I wasn't sure if the multiple POVs were necessary since Riley was investigating both other plots, but by the end I think each POV helped bring all the moving pieces together.  The ending resolution is a little complex, but I think it would feel very messy and out of left field if we were only following Riley.  Having the other POVs help give the reader some background information to give context to some of Riley's investigation threads which helped me feel like the ending reveal was more grounded than it might have otherwise felt. 

Overall, this was another good procedural/mystery/political thriller read from Young and I look forward to reading on in the Riley Fisher series. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the ARC.  Expected publication date is February 13, 2024.

The Handyman Method - Nick Cutter and Andrew F Sullivan

This domestic horror follows a young family moving into their newly constructed home - Trent, Rita, and their son Milo.  Initially, everything seems great on the surface, but soon Trent starts to find issues with the construction.  He turns to YouTube DIY channel Handyman Hank who just so happens to have the exact video topics Trent needs.  No matter how many different issues Trent discovers with the home, Handyman Hank has a video.  But soon the videos start mentioning other things outside of DIY tips and tricks - more sinister topics.  

I read most of this book while waiting for my car to be inspected at the dealership and it was a hell of a ride to be reading in public.  The horror aspects were varied and well executed.  From the description, I was expecting more of a slow burn build-up to the horror but it started off much more quickly than I anticipated.  I've seen a lot of reviews comping this to The Shining by Stephen King and I do think that comparison is apt.  

The majority of this read is following Trent's POV, but we do get some chapters from Rita and Milo's POVs which was interesting.  I did find the balance between the POV choices to be a little uneven and I would have liked a few more chapters from Rita or Milo.  Trent is the main focus of the read until the last 25% so having some of those other POVs used more frequently earlier on in the story would have helped the transition be not so jarring.  We don't know a ton of information about our characters and it does feel like we get little bits of their backstory only when it is directly integral to a current plot point.  I actually really liked that choice as it helped the isolation feeling of this family being mostly stuck in this new house - like they had nothing else going on except the house. 

When it comes to the different horror elements, I enjoyed how well they connected and played off each other.  We get a good variety of horror types and each escalate throughout the story.  There were some gory moments that were borderline too much for me and I had to skim those sections a bit (I also skimmed over the parts having to do with the family pet).  The actual mechanics of what was happening weren't over the top or extreme, but the descriptions were so visceral that it made my skin crawl.  I think the paranormal/haunted house aspect was maybe the weakest of the horror elements because it didn't feel as grounded as the other parts.  I wanted some more details or rules about what was happening, especially since none of the characters seemed particularly worried about the strange things going on.  

By far and away my favorite horror element was the psychological horror of the Handyman Hank videos and Trent's breakdown.  From reading other reviews, some readers thought this part was way over the top and into almost caricature territory but I absolutely loved it.  I think we do get a good gradual ramp up of more sinister parts of the videos and we see how Hank gets into Trent's thoughts even when he isn't watching a video.  Some of my favorite moments in the book revolve around Trent's DIY projects and how gradually more and more unhinged they become.  

I wasn't so sure about the ending reveal/conclusion but the final scene really helped concrete the ending as a good choice for this read.  I would have preferred some more emotional build up throughout the rest of the book which I think would have helped the emotional weight of the ending hit more solidly. The ending is a little open ended, which I think is a great way to end the story and works well with the information we learn during the events of the book.  I would have loved a flash forward epilogue where we could see the longer term ramifications of the ending decisions, but since we didn't get that I have my own theories on what happens down the line. 

Overall, this was a great horror read with some fantastic elements.  From what I've seen of reviews, this is a 'love it or hate it' sort of read and I'm so glad I loved it.  

January 2024 Romance Wrap-up

Legally Binding - Sophie Snow

This age-gap office romance is the first in the Spicy in Seattle series and follows Maggie and Cal.  Maggie has been Cal's assistant for years and the two have worked very well together.  Maggie keeps Cal - and the rest of the office - running smoothly and Cal is a kind and caring boss.  But when the two run into each other at a sex club one night, the tension is palpable and neither can go back to seeing the other as just a coworker. They start spending more and more time together until one night stuck at the office together has them crossing a line neither of them thought they'd ever cross.  But one night isn't enough and the two need to figure out if this new relationship is worth them both turning their ideas for their lives upside down.  This was such a fun read and the characters were really the shining point of the story.  I loved Maggie, Cal, and the whole cast of characters we get to meet.  We got some absolutely fantastic character development with Maggie standing up to her neglectful family as well as figuring out what she wants out of her life for herself.  For an age gap, office romance, there was way less angst or drama than I was expecting.  I was really waiting for the other shoe to drop for the last 25% of the read where normally we'd see the relationship being outed and the fall out from that.  I did find the middle of the read to be a bit repetitive and I wanted to see Maggie and Cal be put in different situations to see how they'd react.  Overall, I had a good time and I'm looking forward to continuing on in the series.

 Thanks to the author for the ARC.  Expected publication date is February 13, 2024

 

When Grumpy Met Sunshine - Charlotte Stein

 This grumpy/sunshine romance follows retired footballer (soccer player) Alfie and ghostwriter Mabel.  The two seem too different, initially, and even Mabel starts to question her normal ability to pull stories and details out of her ghostwriting clients.  However, once the two start working together, they realize they have much more in common than they thought.  And when Mabel is assumed by the tabloids to be Alfie's newest romantic conquest, they agree to keep up the ruse so no one is the wiser to the ghostwriting arrangement.  That works well, until the fake kisses for the paparazzi start to feel too real. This read was not what I was expecting, but I think that made me love it even more.  This was much more of an emotional read than the adorable cover and synopsis lead me to believe. I never expected a book that looked like this would make me sob by the end.  It was only Mabel's POV which I disliked while reading because I thought Alfie was so obviously falling hard and fast for her and I wanted his POV so badly.  Stein seemed to be reading my mind because she used that to pull on my heartstrings when we get to the ending.  I loved Alfie and Mabel and their dynamic was a picture perfect grumpy/sunshine pairing.  The banter was fantastic and just weird enough that it really worked well as a window into these characters.  Overall, this was a great read that managed to worm its way into my heart much deeper than I was expecting and I imagine I'll be thinking about Alfie and Mabel for quite some time.

 Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC. Expected publication date is February 6, 2024.

  

 One Billion Reasons  - Sophia Travers

This enemies to lovers romance follows Miles and Lane.  The two were friends until a fight 2 years ago that left them not speaking.  But after a chance encounter brings them together, Miles has a proposition for Lane.  One week, as his fake girlfriend, for $50k.  It is a deal too good for Lane to pass up, even though the two can barely stand to be in the same room without throwing verbal knives at each other.  But when some buried truths and complicated feeling start coming out during their week together, the two not only rekindle their friendship, but something deeper.  This was also a much more emotional read than I was expecting, but it was more on the angst-y side of things and didn't quite work for me as well (I'm not a huge fan of angst in my romances, in general). I also found the conflicts between Miles and Lane to be very repetitive and I just wanted them to fight about something different for a change.  I could really feel the contempt Lane had for Miles early on in the story and I remember thinking "this author has a lot of work to make me believe these two are going to fall in love".  I did think Travers did a great job of sprinkling in details of Miles and Lane's backstory throughout the read which helped.  These details really helped strengthen their current relationship arc, especially considering the short timeframe.  We did get both character POVs, which was great considering how hot/cold they both were to the other.  I also liked the amount of side characters we get to see and how Miles and Lane both talk to their friends about their budding feelings.  While I do think the emotional turmoil generally paid off in the end, I was expecting something different from the big love declaration moment.  This read did have some moments that worked really well for me, but overall it was a bit too angsty for me to really love it.  However, if you are a fan of this sort of angsty, friends to enemies to lovers, second chance type of romances I think this is a really good example of one. 

Thanks to the author for the ARC. Publication date was December 4, 2023. 

The Clinic - Cate Quinn

 

This mystery follows Meg as she enters a remote rehab clinic to find the truth behind her sister's death.  Meg's sister, Haley, was a famous actress and her death was labeled a suicide.  However, Meg doesn't believe that and is certain that Haley was murdered.  Once she begins her investigation on the inside, trying to hide her relationship to Haley, Meg has to battle her own addictions as well as her repressed memories.  The truth may be more complicated than even Meg can anticipate and in a place as remote as the Clinic, Meg may be completely on her own.

This was such a fun read and I was sucked in from the very first chapter.  I was a little hesitant at first, since this was almost 450 pages long and I wasn't sure how a seemingly straightforward mystery would handle being stretched out for that long.  However, I think Quinn did a great job of layering a few different plot threads as well as weaving these plots together at different points in the book. 

I loved all the characters in this read - especially Meg.  She is such an interesting and complex character.  I loved how the mystery thread is intertwined with Meg's character development and how, eventually, Meg comes around to the idea that in order to find out what happened to her sister, she'll have to work on herself first.  Meg can certainly fall into the 'unlikable female' main character but I found her to be incredibly realistic.  While we do get multiple POVs in this book, I found Meg to be the most well rounded character and I loved getting her inner monologue.  I do wish we had more time to see her life before rehab because her connection/relationships outside of the Clinic do play a role in the overall story.  The cast of characters at the Clinic were fantastic and we really get a whole range of emotions and reactions to the events happening throughout the book.

Obviously, since this was set in a rehab clinic, there is a lot of discussion about addiction of various types.  I don't personally have any experience in this area so I can't speak personally to the representation.  However, there is a note in the book that says Quinn was inspired to write this book after her own experience in rehab.  I did enjoy the different types of addiction we see represented across the different characters and the different areas of recovery each of the characters are in.  We also get some POVs from the professionals working at the Clinic and it was interesting to get their views on addiction, recovery, and the patients there. 

I was expecting this to read more like a typical mystery where Meg is investigating and checking people off her suspects list.  However, the investigation was used to sort of highlight Meg's own struggles with her relationships and her addictions.  There are a number of times where she sort of recaps her investigation up to this point and realizes she hasn't really gotten anywhere substantial but that doesn't stop her from making accusations.  While I was initially a little annoyed (I love a straight up isolated murder mystery) I do think overall this was the right choice as it fleshed out Meg's character even more. She does solve the mystery at the end, but only after a good chunk of personal growth and character development. 

On paper, this ending feels like it should be one of those off the rails endings that I absolutely love.  However, it didn't quite land right for me.  After giving it some thought, I came to the conclusion that while I very much enjoyed the twist aspect (I certainly didn't see it coming), I think it deflated some of the character development we get throughout the previous 400 pages.  But as with any twisty endings, results will vary reader to reader.

Overall, this was a good mystery with a great cast of characters.  The topic of rehab/addiction is core to the story but felt like it was handled well.  I loved Meg and her journey throughout the book.  The ending didn't work for me as well as I would have liked, but I can see other readers liking it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC.  Expected publication date is January 23, 2024.

Lone Women - Victor Lavalle

 

This historical fiction/horror follows Adelaide as she leaves her home in California after covering up the deaths of her parents.  She decides to start a new life in Montana as a homesteader with the secret that has ruled her life locked in the steamer trunk along with her.  Once she arrives, she begins to put down roots and join the community - finding other women homesteading without husbands.  But when her secret gets out, it may be the end of Adelaide and her new life. 

I'm not a real big historical fiction reader but I do think I found my niche in these historical fiction horror subgenre. I absolutely love the mix of genres and find the historical fiction portion to feel more like the setting/background to the horror so it doesn't feel as dry as I find regular historical fiction.  Obviously, there is a sliding scale and I find ones like Alma Katsu's The Hunger (which I also loved) to be more of a slow burn compared to Lone Women which really hit the ground running. 

The characters in this are absolutely remarkable.  Before picking this up, I heard from some Booktubers I watch that they DNF'd this in the middle because it slowed down and lost their interest.  I was a bit concerned, especially given my 'meh' feelings toward historical fiction.  However, I loved these characters so much that I loved reading about their more mundane daily struggle of living life out in such a remote area.  I did find the horror subplot to be a consistent thread and threat throughout the read but the middle did feel more character-focused rather than plot-focused. The characters are complex and each has their own reason for wanting a life out here.  While this read does have an added supernatural/creature horror element added, the characters we encounter show the more realistic horrors of this life.

The supernatural/horror element was fantastic and I loved how we were shown right at the beginning of the book that something was off.  We get the horror reveal pretty early on in the read which leaves a lot of time for us to see the impact/effects of that horror played out in this new setting.  We do get some gore, but much less overall than I was expecting given how the book opened.  I loved the amount of backstory we get as the plot progresses and how much depth and character development is wrapped up in the horror.  This was a case where the horror elements deepened the story instead of being just thrown on top as a gimmick. We also get an added horror element of what desperate people will do to others which I think was a realistic addition to the plot. 

I would imagine trying to find a satisfying ending to a book like this must be difficult but I loved where we ended up.  In the author's note at the end, LaValle credits his wife for the ending so big kudos to her!  I do think the ending might be a bit divisive because the story goes off the rails a little bit, but overall I do feel like it fit the plot and characters we'd been following through the book.  I also enjoyed the little epilogue we got so we were able to see the aftermath of the big ending scene and where some of these characters ended up 

Overall, this was a fantastic read and I'm so glad I picked this up from the library.  We get a great cast of characters, wonderful horror elements, and an interesting plot to follow between horror scenes.