Sundial by Catriona Ward

Title: Sundial

Author: Catriona Ward

Genre: Horror

Published: 3/1/22 by TOR Nightfire

I received a copy for review from the publisher through Netgalley.

Rob is a wife and mother of two. It seems like such a normal life until you look a little bit closer. Her daughter Callie is showing troubling signs like collecting animal bones and talking to imaginary friends. Rob takes Callie to Sundial, where she grew up with her family, to face the past.

A great sense of mystery and foreboding fills every chapter of this novel. The characters are not likable, but they are fascinating. The Mohave Desert setting of Sundial provides an atmosphere of death and isolation. Hot days and cold nights leave the desert feeling as inhospitable as the eerie events involved in the story. This book started slow, but finished strong. It took a while to get into the story, but then it got more compelling as the story went on. I recommend Sundial to fans of psychological horror stories featuring characters with complicated pasts and relationships with each other.

Content Warning: death and abuse to animals and humans, mental illness, drug abuse.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Comments

The Dead House by Billy O'Callaghan

Book Title: The Dead House Author: Billy O'Callaghan Genre: Fiction, Gothic, Horror, Ghost Story, Thriller Goodreads This best-selling debut by an award-winning writer is both an eerie contemporary ghost story and a dread-inducing psychological thriller. Maggie is a successful young artist who has had bad luck with men. Her last put her in the hospital and, after she’s healed physically, left her needing to get out of London to heal mentally and find a place of quiet that will restore her creative spirit. On the rugged west coast of Ireland, perched on a wild cliff side, she spies the shell of a cottage that dates back to Great Famine and decides to buy it. When work on the house is done, she invites her dealer to come for the weekend to celebrate along with a couple of women friends, one of whom will become his wife. On the boozy last night, the other friend pulls out an Ouija board. What sinister thing they summon, once invited, will never go. Ireland is a country haun...

Review: The Light of the Fireflies by Paul Pen

Book Title: The Light of the Fireflies Author: Paul Pen Translator: Simon Bruni Genre: Fiction, Thriller Rating: 4.5/5 stars Goodreads A haunting and hopeful tale of discovering light in even the darkest of places. For his whole life, the boy has lived underground, in a basement with his parents, grandmother, sister, and brother. Before he was born, his family was disfigured by a fire. His sister wears a white mask to cover her burns. He spends his hours with his cactus, reading his book on insects, or touching the one ray of sunlight that filters in through a crack in the ceiling. Ever since his sister had a baby, everyone’s been acting very strangely. The boy begins to wonder why they never say who the father is, about what happened before his own birth, about why they’re shut away. A few days ago, some fireflies arrived in the basement. His grandma said, There’s no creature more amazing than one that can make its own light. That light makes the boy want to escape, to know t...

When the Night Falls by Glenn Rolfe Book Review

Title: When the Night Falls Author: Glenn Rolfe Series: Until Summer Comes Around Book 2 Genre: Horror Published: 6/11/24 by Flame Tree Press I received a copy for review through NetGalley. A group of vampires descend upon a beach town after a documentary airs about the killings that took place there years ago. These vampires seem set on getting to Rocky, and leave a large body count in their wake. When the Night Falls is the sequel to the beach town vampire story Until Summer Comes Around. This time the story is a little bit darker and a little bit bloodier. It takes place in the 1990s with plenty of fun nods to the decade to set time and place. I would highly recommend this series to fans of vampire stories. These are fast fun reads for summer. My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Mindy's Book Journey

Search This Blog