A darkly delectable, fresh blend of horror and Finnish myth.
Grass’ audacious mix of dark fantasy, horror, apocalyptic fiction, and Finnish folklore pits a lost boy against a mythic goddess of death who is trying to remake the world in her dark vision.
Fifteen-year-old Alan and his mother, Lena, disappeared in a plane crash off the coast of Helsinki and were presumed dead. But 20 years later, when a “massive, inked savage” inexplicably appears after an explosion creates a crater in a petroleum refinery outside of Philadelphia, the amnesiac giant eventually remembers that his name is Alan—and that for the last two decades he has been wandering in a place called Tuonela, a purgatorial realm of the dead in Finnish mythology, where he has had to survive a never-ending onslaught of hellish creatures bent on his annihilation. Covered with ritualistic hammer tattoos and 7 feet tall, Alan is brought to the home of his affluent aunt by Jefferson O’Brady, a Philadelphia homicide detective who is a walking cliché—the proverbial overworked, alcoholic cop with no significant relationships who numbs himself daily to forget the horrors that he has seen. But as Alan attempts to reconnect with his aunt and his next-door neighbor Rebecca—who used to be his childhood best friend—O’Brady is tasked with finding a prolific serial killer who is terrifying the inhabitants of Philadelphia. As O’Brady finds tangential connections between the serial killer’s crime scenes and the strange arrival of Alan, the murders begin to increase, and soon the body count is in the hundreds. As an otherworldly terror blankets the city, Alan sets off on his own quest—to go back to Helsinki, locate his mother, and somehow figure out his role in the interdimensional conflict.
In this genre hybrid—which seamlessly fuses elements of horror, police procedural, and mythology—the sheer uniqueness of the storyline is an obvious strength. Readers will be kept off balance throughout, and the numerous plot twists make for a satisfyingly unpredictable read. Additionally, Grass, whose previous novel was Dreck (2021), ably creates layered, emotionally astute characters. Alan and O’Brady are deeply and insightfully portrayed, and so are numerous secondary characters, like Alan’s aunt Mimi, his friend Rebecca, and Christian Henneman, a cultist who is fittingly described as “a cross between Ra’s-al-Ghul and Tony Robbins.” Along with the genre elements and bombshell-laden storyline, the richly described worldbuilding helps create a wildly immersive read. The various interdimensional worlds, and their nightmarish creatures, come alive on the page: “The biggest swarm were eyeless, humanoid devils with double-joints, obsidian black skin and long tongues slithering out past needlepoint teeth; their wings stretched from their waists up to their deformed wrists, odd-angled bones jutting out like compound fractures.” An excerpt from the novel perfectly describes the reading experience: “A bloody feast. A bountiful cornucopia of carnage, to be relished, to soak in.”
A darkly delectable, fresh blend of horror and Finnish myth.Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-73588-854-5
Page Count: 618
Publisher: Dickinson Publishing Group
Review Posted Online: March 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
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
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
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