Synopsis: Not even the Church of the Invincible Sun is invincible – and somebody has to do its dirty work. Enter Sister Svangerd and her accompanying priest, both accomplished practitioners. Their mission is simple: to make a meddlesome princess disappear (permanently). To get to her, they must attend the legendary Ecumenical Council, the once-in-a-century convening […]
Medical Horror
Review: Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher
Synopsis: I saw the devil in these woods.” Sonia Wilson is a talented scientific illustrator—but she is only able to follow her dream because of her father’s reputation as a renowned scientist. Such is the lot in life for a woman in science in 1899. And after his death, she is left without work, prospects, […]
Review: Alien: Cult by Gavin G. Smith
Synopsis An FBI agent on the trail of a brutal serial killer gets caught in the web of a Xenomorph-worshipping religion in this thrilling murder mystery twist on the Alien universe, for fans of Scott Sigler’s Aliens: Phalanx and Alex White’s Cold Forge. In the affluent, technocratic Alexandria Colony, people are disappearing. And witnesses are dying in grisly, […]
Review: The Graceview Patient by Caitlin Starling
The Graceview Patient is the polar opposite of a feel-good story.
It is confusing, delirious, claustrophobic, at times downright bleak, and frankly horrifying for so many reasons. Yes, I can almost guarantee that Starling’s raw and brilliant fever dream of a medical-horror novel will haunt you. Why? Because it is, to date, the cleverest and truest show of an unreliable narrator that I have read, while also presenting intelligent and nuanced studies into chronic illness, bodily autonomy, medical ethics, healthcare systems that seem to care more about profit margins than the lives they’re supposed to be saving, and disability. What happens when you cannot trust our own mind? Can things be too good to be true?
Review: Pendergast: The Beginning by Preston & Child
Synopsis From the #1 New York Times bestselling duo Preston and Child comes the Agent Pendergast origin story—a golden opportunity for longtime fans and new readers to learn about Agent Pendergast’s strange and shocking first case. It only took six months for the life of Special Agent Dwight Chambers to crumble around him. First, he lost his partner, and […]
Review: The Graceview Patient by Caitlin Starling
Synopsis: Margaret’s rare autoimmune condition has destroyed her life, leaving her isolated and in pain. It has no cure, but she’s making do as best she can—until she’s offered a fully paid-for spot in an experimental medical trial at Graceview Memorial. The conditions are simple, if grueling: she will live at the hospital as a […]
Review: Spread Me by Sarah Gailey
Synopsis Spread Me is a darkly seductive tale of survival from Sarah Gailey, bestselling author of Just Like Home. A routine probe at a research station turns deadly when the team discovers a strange specimen in search of a warm place to stay. Kinsey has the perfect job as the team lead in a remote research outpost. […]
Review: The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir
Synopsis: Iðunn is in yet another doctor’s office. She knows her constant fatigue is a sign that something’s not right, but practitioners dismiss her symptoms and blood tests haven’t revealed any cause. When she talks to friends and family about it, the refrain is the same – have you tried eating better? exercising more? establishing […]
Review: Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix
I can confidently say that this is the first book I’ve read where I’ve felt physically unwell reading a birth scene. There’s one in particular where the girl is referred to as a ‘patient’ and it’s meant to feel detached from reality, but the body horror and detail Hendrix included made me flush hot and cold. I genuinely felt like I was going to pass out. And I think that’s a sign of some truly incredible writing.
REVIEW: The Queen by Nick Cutter
SYNOPSIS On a sunny morning in June, Margaret Carpenter wakes up to find a new iPhone on her doorstep. She switches it on to find a text from her best friend, Charity Atwater. The problem is, Charity’s been missing for over a month. Most people in town—even the police—think she’s dead. Margaret and Charity have […]
Review: The Dead Zone by Stephen King
Synopsis: Johnny, the small boy who skated at breakneck speed into an accident that for one horrifying moment plunged him into The Dead Zone. Johnny Smith, the small-town schoolteacher who spun the wheel of fortune and won a four-and-a-half-year trip into The Dead Zone. John Smith, who awakened from an interminable coma with an accursed power—the power […]
Review: Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio
Synopsis The author of sales sensation If We Were Villains returns with a story about a ragtag group of night shift workers who meet in the local cemetery to unearth the secrets lurking in an open grave. Every night, in the college’s ancient cemetery, five people cross paths as they work the late shift: a bartender, a […]