whatsleahreading

  In the small Pennsylvania town of Harrow, something sinister is stirring in Dan Paxson's apple orchard. With autumn upon him, Dan more than ever needs an apple harvest that will set him apart from other farmers; one that'll get him out from underneath the overdue bills and the looming cost of Calla's college tuition.  Almost like magic, an apple so red it's nearly black appears on Dan Paxson's apple trees. As the town slowly but surely gives the "Ruby Slipper" apple a try, something dark begins to surface within it. People are changing in Harrow, something lurks within the orchard. You see, these are far from ordinary apples--these apples will make you different.  Chuck Wendig has an uncanny ability to deliver a horror novel unlike anything I've ever read: first with his epic masterpiece "Wanderers" then later with the fall book of the season "The Book of Accidents." Not unlike its predecessors, "Black River Orchard" mak...

  Dawn Schiff and Natalie Farrell couldn't be more different from one another. Dawn is orderly, perhaps a little too orderly; social graces don't come easily to her, and she finds the company she enjoys most of all is her own. Natalie is, for all intents and purposes, the reigning queen of their office--every bit as glamorous as she is successful.  And both women have a secret.  What starts out as an ordinary day at work ends in turmoil as Dawn fails to show up for her prompt 8:45am start time. Natalie thinks nothing of it as Dawn's cubicle phone continues to ring in her absence, but when she finally answers one of the calls, a faint voice answers her on the other end of the line, "Help me."  And just like that, Freida McFadden--otherwise known as the sensation who gave us "The Housemaid" and "The Housemaid's Secret" is back--but unfortunately, she is far from better than ever. From first to final page, "The Coworker" read like an...

  In my time chasing after the inimitable after-effects of novels like "Babel," "The Secret History," and "If We Were Villains," I've found that true dark academia is both commonly-attempted and commonly-fumbled. As so many short story collections tend to be, "In These Hallowed Halls" is an intriguing package of both the noteworthy and the (mostly) unexceptional. As such, I find it best to review its parts rather than its whole and worthwhile to mention that its noteworthy dark academia names (Rio, Fargo, and especially Blake) fell utterly flat for me, while names I didn't hold high hopes for soared to new heights.  Beguiling and sinister not so much, "In These Hallowed Halls" is further testament to the fact that I simply might not be the right audience for short stories. I always find them, dare I say it, too short, and I long for a connection to their characters that they simply can't offer.  1000 Ships, Kate Weinberg, 3 ...

  In the wake of his wife Pippa's death, Alfie is doing everything he can to make life carry on as normal for their twin girls Sylvie and Cassia. Tucked away in their family home of Hart House in London, there isn't much to break the monotony of grief or to fill the Pippa-shaped void now left in their lives. Before long, Sylvie and Cassia struggle to sleep. "Daddy, there's a man in our room," they say. What Alfie dismisses initially as the girls harmlessly processing their loss through the form of an imaginary friend soon becomes something more unsettling. "Daddy, he said he's going to take us away," the girls report pleasantly. Black Mamba, he's called. He wants a seat at the dinner table, he protects the girls at night. He whispers things to them. Things that grow darker in the night. As the days pass, it's clear that something sinister walks the halls of Hart House. Cassia and Sylvie become silhouettes of their former, vibrant selves...

  Annis is a slave girl born into a world of unthinkable injustice. Mama is her only shield from "her sire," a white man who owns a Carolina rice field that serves as the only home Annis has ever known. When in a blink, Annis' entire world is upended and she's moved further south to be sold, her grief takes the form of a visceral being as she makes the incomprehensible journey on foot alongside of other sold slaves to New Orleans where her future hangs in the balance. Through undeniably masterful storytelling, Ward tells the story of Annis' journey as she makes her way through deplorable conditions to the New Orleans slave markets and eventually onto a Louisiana sugar plantation. As the story marches further into dread-filled darkness, spirit guides and otherworldly beings emerge from the swamp, the dark wood, and the waters to guide Annis along the way. And despite the remarkable storytelling in "Let Us Descend," I found that I never fully connected ...

  In the wake of her mother Noelle's unexpected death, Belle leaves her solitary life in Montreal for the overbearing glamour of Southern California and hopes to quickly settle Noelle's estate as to not face the thorn-sharp, painful memories that linger there. Before long, clues of Noelle's mysterious death begin to surface. A cracked mirror in her mother's bedroom. A glamorous stranger at the funeral. An imposing mansion on the coastal cliffside. And a tantalizing invitation from La Maison de Méduse that entitles Belle to a free treatment at their spa. As Belle descends further and further into the depths of a dark society of beautiful strangers, she finds herself entangled in a world of glamour, yes, but also obsession, that she may not be able to escape before it's too late. Perhaps one of the most promising titles of the year, "Rogue" is an ambitious, gothic, and painfully-slow burn of a story. Brimming with all the weirdness of "Bunny" (a...

  Lewis and Wren are unlikely newlyweds. Lewis--the artist, the actor, the dreamer; and Wren--the realist, the stable one, Lewis' anchor. Together, they harmonize perfectly and set their sights on a long life together. Then, out of the blue, Lewis is diagnosed with a rare but rapidly-progressing mutation that will turn him into a great white shark. I haven't lost you, have I? Please tell me I haven't lost you. Because over the course of 9 poignant, poetic months, Lewis' transformation from man into shark in "Shark Heart" can only be described as masterful. Set against the backdrop of Lewis and Wren's marriage, Habeck pens a story that is part novel, part play, and part poetry; a curious amalgam of metaphors and magical realism, but one that is utterly spellbinding. The characters of Wren and Lewis (and later, Angela, but wait for Act II for her) are imbued with such a delicate, familiar humanness that it almost took my breath away, what I expected to b...