Despite some literary missteps, an artfully unsettling tale of the contest between reason and madness.
A new mother just released from a psychiatric institution is desperate to solve the mystery that haunts her in Barker’s novel.
Immediately after giving birth to her daughter, Rebecca, Sunny Johnson is committed to a psychiatric facility by her husband, Taylor, a psychiatrist himself. She’s diagnosed with peripartum psychosis, a condition that manifests itself in delusions, hallucinations, and irrational paranoia—and, in Sunny’s case, threats of violence against her husband. She’s dogged by memories, splintered impressions that don’t seem to correspond to any lived experience, and upon her release from the hospital she becomes obsessed with coming up with a rational explanation for them, a profound need poignantly captured by the author. In fact, Sunny teaches psychology at a university, and has a professional interest in the tendencies of the human psyche to embrace the irrational, as well as optimism about the power of rationality to liberate oneself from such fantasies. She flees with Rebecca in search of a home that she sees in her reveries and that she painted pictures of while in the hospital. That house turns out to be real, a former funeral parlor in Alexandria Bay in upstate New York with a gruesome past no one in town seems eager to discuss. When she stumbles upon the house from her dreams, she simply knows she’s been there and that, in an inexplicable way, she’s deeply connected to it. “That was why she was here; she was putting into practice what she preached—seeking out the facts required to explore alternate perspectives. Only then could one come to a rational explanation based on logic. But Sunny’s fears weren’t manifested in the manner most people might experience. Instead, they were from not knowing what these events were.” Barker deftly combines Sunny’s internal struggle with external drama, including Taylor’s frantic, police-assisted search for his wife and her likely recommitment to the hospital once she’s found.
At the heart of this suspenseful novel is an exploration of the challenge of certifying oneself as rational—Sunny is not a naïve woman, and she has no time for the supernatural, but she also feels a deep conviction that the strange images that impose themselves upon her are somehow connected to the real world. Occasionally, Barker indulges some cliched literary strategies. The appearance of a mysterious fortuneteller, Madame Vanderhill, who speaks in cryptic riddles, makes the tale temporarily feel like the rehashing of an old paperback formula (she’s the one character in the book who seems like a stock type, a prefabricated template). At times, Barker strains to build dramatic tension; it is simply not necessary for this refrain to appear so often: “I’ve been here…before.” Each instance seems like an anxious reminder that this is a creepy story, a note delivered to readers in whom Barker has limited confidence. Still, the novel as a whole is impressively well crafted and, in fact, genuinely creepy—and unpredictable, to boot.
Despite some literary missteps, an artfully unsettling tale of the contest between reason and madness.Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9798999206312
Page Count: 388
Publisher: The Bark Bites Back Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 29, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A smart and highly original work of modern fantasy.
After the events of Book of Night (2022), Charlie Hall is forced to hunt down the perpetrator of a terrible massacre.
Charlie Hall is the Hierophant: It’s her job to be tethered to a powerful, independent shadow—a “Blight”— and hunt down other Blights for the Cabals, the heads of their respective shadow-magic specialties. The Cabals use the difficult job of Hierophant as a punishment, but Charlie agreed to take it on so she could be the person tethered to Vince, aka Red, the Blight who posed as a human and ended up dating and falling in love with Charlie. The Cabal leaders used magic to steal the part of Red’s memory that contained his relationship with Charlie, and so Charlie is determined to steal Red’s memories back. And she needs to move fast, because if Red doesn’t remember loving her, he just might be OK with Charlie being killed if it means his own freedom. Meanwhile, Mr. Punch, a terrifying Cabal leader who specializes in using shadow magic to possess other people’s bodies, has a job for Charlie: He wants her to find the culprit behind a terrible massacre that was attributed to a cult. He suspects that the people were actually killed by a Blight, and he doesn’t want the Cabals to face the blowback if the truth becomes public. Mr. Punch could do terrible things to Charlie if she fails, but if she succeeds, he’ll help Charlie and Red be free of the Cabals for good. The sophomore novel in a series is always tough, but this sequel proves that the second book can be even better than the first. Black turns the screws on the magical world she set up in Book 1, creating complicated political motives between Charlie and the Cabal leaders and making the question of what it means for a shadow, like Red, to have their own consciousness more interesting. Veteran con artist Charlie makes some truly brilliant moves, especially toward the end, where the last few chapters have one terrific surprise after the other.
A smart and highly original work of modern fantasy.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781250812223
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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