A chilling supernatural tale with indelible characters.
In this third installment of a thriller series, an orthopedic surgery resident inherits a haunted hotel with potentially lethal family secrets.
Dr. Benjamin Oris is now the proud owner of The Abigael Inn, courtesy of a great aunt he didn’t know he had. He immediately thinks of selling it, as the Massachusetts hotel is five hours away from the Philadelphia hospital where he works. But rather than speak to a realtor, he decides to inspect the inn, currently closed for the winter. Before Ben leaves, his comatose mother, who transmits sometimes-cryptic telepathic thoughts, tells her son: “I need you to finish it.” Everything seems OK in Massachusetts; a capable head housekeeper runs the hotel, and Ben reunites with his maternal grandparents, whom he’s seen only once. But rumors of a haunted Abigael Inn swirl, and unexplained sights and noises unsettle Ben, all alone at the vacant hotel. His fear only mounts when his girlfriend, Laurette, joins him, as they determine ghosts abound, including a particularly nasty one. They dig deeper into the inn’s history as well as Ben’s mysterious family on his mother’s side and turn up someone’s horrifying plot involving murder and a paranormal ceremony. Rubin offers readers an effective change of pace in this installment. While the previous volumes were medical thrillers with supernatural touches, this novel spotlights the paranormal. Early scenes at the haunted hotel showcase genre conventions, from a ghostly conversation via a Ouija board to a scribbled message on a steamy mirror. But the story slowly amps up frights as an evil presence emerges and threatens multiple people. As in the preceding books, the supporting cast nearly outshines the protagonist. For example, Sophia Diaz (who has a son with Ben) and Laurette, both series staples, prove vital in fighting sinister forces. The author’s pithy writing keeps the story popping all the way to the rousing final act.
A chilling supernatural tale with indelible characters.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 293
Publisher: Indigo Dot Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Vintage King: a pleasure for his many fans and not a bad place to start if you’re new to him.
The master of supernatural disaster returns with four horror-laced novellas.
The protagonist of the title story, Holly Gibney, is by King’s own admission one of his most beloved characters, a “quirky walk-on” who quickly found herself at the center of some very unpleasant goings-on in End of Watch, Mr. Mercedes, and The Outsider. The insect-licious proceedings of the last are revisited, most yuckily, while some of King’s favorite conceits turn up: What happens if the dead are never really dead but instead show up generation after generation, occupying different bodies but most certainly exercising their same old mean-spirited voodoo? It won’t please TV journalists to know that the shape-shifting bad guys in that title story just happen to be on-the-ground reporters who turn up at very ugly disasters—and even cause them, albeit many decades apart. Think Jack Torrance in that photo at the end of The Shining, and you’ve got the general idea. “Only a coincidence, Holly thinks, but a chill shivers through her just the same,” King writes, “and once again she thinks of how there may be forces in this world moving people as they will, like men (and women) on a chessboard.” In the careful-what-you-wish-for department, Rat is one of those meta-referential things King enjoys: There are the usual hallucinatory doings, a destiny-altering rodent, and of course a writer protagonist who makes a deal with the devil for success that he thinks will outsmart the fates. No such luck, of course. Perhaps the most troubling story is the first, which may cause iPhone owners to rethink their purchases. King has gone a far piece from the killer clowns and vampires of old, with his monsters and monstrosities taking on far more quotidian forms—which makes them all the scarier.
Vintage King: a pleasure for his many fans and not a bad place to start if you’re new to him.Pub Date: April 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9821-3797-7
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
It's almost enough to make a person believe in ghosts.
A disturbing household secret has far-reaching consequences in this dark, unusual ghost story.
Mallory Quinn, fresh out of rehab and recovering from a recent tragedy, has taken a job as a nanny for an affluent couple living in the upscale suburb of Spring Brook, New Jersey, when a series of strange events start to make her (and her employers) question her own sanity. Teddy, the precocious and shy 5-year-old boy she's charged with watching, seems to be haunted by a ghost who channels his body to draw pictures that are far too complex and well formed for such a young child. At first, these drawings are rather typical: rabbits, hot air balloons, trees. But then the illustrations take a dark turn, showcasing the details of a gruesome murder; the inclusion of the drawings, which start out as stick figures and grow increasingly more disturbing and sophisticated, brings the reader right into the story. With the help of an attractive young gardener and a psychic neighbor and using only the drawings as clues, Mallory must solve the mystery of the house's grizzly past before it's too late. Rekulak does a great job with character development: Mallory, who narrates in the first person, has an engaging voice; the Maxwells' slightly overbearing parenting style and passive-aggressive quips feel very familiar; and Teddy is so three-dimensional that he sometimes feels like a real child.
It's almost enough to make a person believe in ghosts.Pub Date: May 10, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-81934-5
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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