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Friday, January 14, 2022

What I'm Reading: Booklist January 2022 Issue

The current issue of Booklist has 2 reviews by me. One by a name you should know, and another by an author totally new to me.

As always, I have posted my draft reviews along with more appeal info, readalikes, and my three words.  

Sundial
by Catriona Ward
Mar. 2022. 304p. Tor Nightfire, $26.99 (9781250812681).
First published January 1, 2022 (Booklist).

“It’s the chicken pox that makes me sure - my husband is having another affair.” This ominous open to Ward’s latest novel [The Last House on Needless Street], sets the tone for an original tale marked by constantly increasing tension. Rob not only has marital problems, but also her older daughter, Callie is an odd, solitary teen, whose best friends are imaginary, possibly ghosts. As life starts to spin out of control, Rob takes Callie on a desperate road trip to visit her childhood, desert home, Sundial, the research commune where she grew up and her personal horrors began. Told in alternating voices and timelines with Rob now, Rob as a teen, and Callie taking turns driving the story, Ward parses out details with restraint, keeping the reader hooked on every terrifying detail, and compulsively turning the pages. With violence to animals, uncomfortable familial relationships, harsh landscapes, and compoundingly terrifying twists, readers will be transfixed until the final shocking conclusions. For fans of gut wrenching psychological horror, where bad things happen to flawed but sympathetic characters such as Violet by Thomas, Baby Teeth by Stage, or The Cabin at the End of the World by Tremblay.

Further Appeal: Here are a couple of my notes from when I read this book:
  • Goes from bad to OMG to gasping 
  • You will keep turning the pages to see what and why with the answers coming in drips and drabs throughout and then fast and furious to the fnal page. You will need to take a deep breath after turning the final page.
This book is a great example of psychological horror. As I discuss in my book, psychological horror is, at its core, horror that actively plays with the minds of both readers and characters, twisting and turning the story into the darkest corners of their fears, disorienting them with confusing situations that could be real or could be supernatural.

I loved The Last House on Needless Street. Sundial is similar in that it is psychological horror, but while the “horror” in TLHoNS was 100% human, here there is definitely a speculative element. The plot, and the horror, hinges on a SF element, something not possible in our current world.

Sundial is not TLHoNS. You need to know that. It has a different feel and while the story unfolds
in layers in both, the storytelling is different. TLHoNS is like Russian dolls hidden one inside the other, while Sundial is more of a traditional psychological suspense novel.

Three Words That Describe This Book: original, constant tension, dual timelines


Readalikes: The three above were chosen because they each have a little something that

reminded me of this novel. Taken all together, the three make the perfect readalike.


I would also highly suggest another 2022 title that I reviewed recently [this one in LJ], Such a Pretty Smile by Kristi DeMeester. These two are very close readalikes. I didn't want to list the DeMeester in this review however because it wouldn't be out yet. It comes out next week though. In that review I also noted

Christina Henry and Rachel Harrison as readalikes. I think they hold true here too.


The Fever Cabinet 

by Justin Joschko
Mar. 2022. 200p. JournalStone, $16.95 (9781685100216); e-book, $6.95 (9781685100223).
First published January 1, 2022 (Booklist).

Ronald, a German Canadian immigrant in 1940, is alone and impoverished when the disturbing visions begin, hallucinations that land him at the Erasmus Walpole Institution for Mental Hygiene. Martha, a Catholic, Irish nurse, can only find work at the same mental institution. The two outcasts meet as Martha administers Ronald’s first treatment in the “Fever Cabinet,” a coffin shaped hot box, the macabre design of hospital head, Dr. Verloc. The therapy increases the clarity and intensity of Ronald’s visions while simultaneously causing negative physical effects on his body. But it is not just Ronald, there is something sinister, an evil force, at the very foundation of the institution. A compelling story with strong world building, told in alternating chapters by the sympathetic Martha and Ronald as they search for the truth, this short novel will keep readers hooked as the escalating sense of dread moves swiftly but convincingly from atmospheric to unsettling to outright terror. A crowd pleasing blend of Historical, Occult, and Psychological Horror, this is a great choice for those who like The Devil in Silver by LaValle or The Twisted Ones by Kingfisher.

Further Appeal:  This one surprised me. I know nothing about it and at first, I thought it would be a typical mental hospital horror novel, but it quickly became more. There is a huge Occult and Lovecraftian vibe here.

It was compelling and creepy learning into downright terrifying as it went on. There is excellent social commentary that is very historically specific while still allowing the reader to extrapolate out to issues that are still with us today-- issues about immigration, class, prejudice, how the mentally ill are treated, etc...

I had no idea what to expect with this book and I will tell you that I was pleasantly surprised. This will appeal to a wide variety of readers.

Three Words That Describe This Book: psychological, occult, strong world building

ReadlaikesThe two above were chosen to show the range of readers who will enjoy this, but honestly, the book it most reminded my of was Lovecraft Country by Ruff. The Ruff novel is long, but it is made up of smaller long stories. The Fever Cabinet could be a second cousin of one of those stories.

Another book I have read that would be a great option is In Darkness Shadows Breathe by Catherine 
Cavendish.

I felt a little bit of Doctor Sleep by King vibes too.

I know you will all be ordering the Ward, but I hope you give the Joschko a try. It is available trough your normal ordering outlets.

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