After posting a negative review of a horror novel, a woman staying at an isolated beach house begins to wonder if the author is a little touchy—or very, very dangerous—in this pulse-pounding novel of psychological suspense and terror from the critically acclaimed author of No Exit and Hairpin Bridge.
Emma Carpenter lives in isolation with her golden retriever Laika, house-sitting an old beachfront home on the rainy Washington coast. Her only human contact is her enigmatic old neighbor, Deek, and (via text) the house’s owner, Jules.
One day, she reads a poorly written—but gruesome—horror novel by the author H. G. Kane, and posts a one-star review that drags her into an online argument with none other than the author himself. Soon after, disturbing incidents start to occur at night. To Emma, this can’t just be a coincidence. It was strange enough for this author to bicker with her online about a lousy review; could he be stalking her, too?
As Emma digs into Kane’s life and work, she learns he has published sixteen other novels, all similarly sadistic tales of stalking and murder. But who is he? How did he find her? And what else is he capable of?
Displaying his trademark command of rapid-fire pacing, unnerving atmosphere, and razor-sharp characterization, Taylor Adams once again delivers a diabolically disturbing—and deadly—game of cat and mouse.
Ale
6/11/2024
Boy oh boy, am I scared of ever writing a 1 star review ever again... Consuming this story in audiobook was the best decision, I really got scared! The first part of the book was really giving me its all; but then I lost interest for a while. There are plenty of tense scenes, and suspensy ones as well, but I was sometimes confused by the way the book was written from the second part forward. I eventually understood what was happening but I was struggling for a bit there. Emma was getting on my nerves a bit, and I never ended up fully liking her, though surviving for her dog really earned her some brownie points in my book. The most realistic thing in this book is the way a dog-owner/parent will do pretty much anything to have their dog survive. I can happily say the dog survives, and I would have liked to know that before reading the book. As a dog-parent myself, the scenes where Laika was in peril made me feel anxious. Somethings were predictable but I still liked it overall.
Irati
6/28/2023
3,5🌟
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