LET HIM IN....IMAGINARY FRIEND? OR REAL SCARY FIEND.....(****)

 Let Him In by William Friend (2023)

                 Unquestionably one of the best, most evocative front covers for a scary book this year. In many ways the book more than fulfills the promise of that cover - to take you on a creepy tour of a cursed, possibly haunted house and keep you in a state of unease, dread and worry for its occupants throughout the story.

                  But any reader who thinks they're in store for decaying corpses, floating sprits and gallons of flowing gore.......this is not that book.

               Despite all its traditional supernatural trappings, "Let Him In" tends to veer more in the direction of psychological horror, of psychosis spawned by grief, tragedy and all too human frailty. The Victorian style Hart House, as it's called, bears a reputation every bit as forbidding as Shirley Jackson's Hill House. The history of the first family who inhabited Hart House is filled with murderous calamities. And the current family who've taken up residence there suffer through their own particular miseries - including a background of religious fanaticism and some freakish, tragic fatal accidents. 

               One of those bizarre deaths widowed Archie and left Sylvie and Cassia, his 8 year old twin daughters without their loving, vibrant mother Pippa. And adding to Archie and the girls' dysfunction as they work their way through their grief, a new presence comes to live among them. . From the twins' synchronized imaginations (or so it seems) springs "Black Mamba, an unseen shape-shifting friend whom they treat as all too real. Uncomfortably, creepily so.. 

               To Archie's growing horror, this invisible entity, who manifests himself as either a man or various beasts evolves from a therapeutic playmate to a sinister evil force......and maybe, just maybe something more than imaginary. Even to the point of unleashing violence.

                I should point out here that none of this transpires at any kind of breathless pace, it that's what you're hoping for. "Let Him In" functions as a slow burn, steadily building up its increasing levels of frightening moments to keep a reader shuddering.

                 Personally, I couldn't think of a better book to curl up with under a comfy blanket on a cold dark night. It's clear that author William Friend wanted a cumulative growing sense of anxiety rather than "gotcha" jumps. And I thought he pulled off that difficult, risky task of straddling the line between what's other-worldly and what derives from the dark recesses of the mind.

                 While I fully embraced and enjoyed what the author accomplished here, I'm aware that hardcore fans may find the wrap-up mild, abrupt and inconclusive. For sure, this is no carnival funhouse ride.....but a more of an unsettling trip through the wounded hearts of a damaged family. And that itself, fellow readers, can be plenty scary.  4 stars (****) 

THE TRAITOR.....A FEARLESS YOUNG SPY BACK IN ACTION...(*****)

 The Traitor by Ava Glass (2023)

                While we're all waiting an eternity for the next James Bond movie, I'd highly recommend "The Traitor" as the next best thing. Fast paced, effectively twisty and filled with some genuine moments of harrowing action and nail biting suspense, it's the new mission assigned to young British spy Emma Makepeace.

                 Even more so than her bosses, Emma's especially dedicated to rooting out and thwarting nefarious Russian operatives. She and her mother escaped Russia, but not her father, who died at the hands of Moscow secret police. So when a fellow MI6 spy's found brutally murdered,, she's put on the hunt for the prime suspects - a couple of fabulously wealthy Russian oligarchs.

                This new mission puts Emma undercover right in the lion's den......posing as a replacement crew member on a spectacular sumptuous yacht in the south of France....owned, of course by one those two oligarchs. Utterly fearless and determined to uncover the Russians' malignant doings, Emma's placed herself in no end of danger. If her identity's discovered, the oligarch and his ominous thuggish minion will most likely make her disappear without a trace. And the thug already views her with deep suspicion. 

                To go into any more detail would totally spoil all the adrenalin-filled fun of reading a spy adventure like this one. I will say that you'll find yourself cringing with fear for Emma as she takes one near lethal risk after another.....and then finds herself coping with yet another perilous threat she never counted on.

                Having thoroughly enjoyed 'Alias Emma' the first book in this series, I couldn't wait for a new one. And 'The Traitor' did not disappoint in any way. For all of us armchair secret agents, it's a pure escapist read of the best kind.  5 stars (*****)

WHO HAUNTS YOU......WHO'S HAUNTING HER OVERACHIEVING FRIENDS TO DEATH? (*****)

 Who Haunts You by Mark Wheaton (2023)

                Had no idea that to expect with this book.....but wow, what a swift, creepy and unexpectedly complex little thrill ride. It wastes no time at all sucking you in to its story of an autistic teen girl seemingly tormented by a haunting that's killing off her classmates, one after the other.

                Even as it maintains a literally breathless pace of suspense, scares and mind-bending twists, you still come to care deeply and fear for its narrator, Bex. She's forced to cope with way more than the everyday human interaction struggles of neurodiversity. Her school Claremont High boasts a student body heavily populated in overachievers with GPA's worthy of college placements reserved only for the best and the brightest. Bex, equally smart and armed with a deadpan wit, does her best to keep up with them.

              But why are some of the classmates she grew up with dying in horrible accidents? And why, in their last moments do they appear to be fleeing in terror from something (or someone) unknown.....and unseen?

              Bex quickly becomes desperate to find out, since this paranormal virus, or whatever it is, lands on her as its next victim. And her sense of what's real in her life and what isn't starts to rapidly warp like a funhouse mirror. 

             Given the sheer brevity of the book, I'm duly amazed and impressed at the density of the core mystery at the heart of all the strange goings on. There's truly some vast, overwhelming evil at work against Bex.........and as a fan of Hitchcock-type suspense, I couldn't help loving the scenes where she's hurled into the maddening position of sounding delusional to everyone around her.

             With its satisfying, ironic finale twist, "Who Haunts You" finishes up as one of the fastest, most enjoyable YA thrillers of this year.......a well earned haunting 5 stars.

ENOLA HOLMES AND THE MARK OF THE MONGOOSE......SHERLOCK'S KID SISTER, BACK ON THE CASE...(*****).

Enola Holmes And The Mark Of The Mongoose by Nancy Springer (2023)

             Once again, the game's afoot amid the cobbled streets and darkest corners of 1890 Victorian London. And once again, it'll require the relentless, perceptive and fearless investigation of a Holmes=ian detective with dauntless courage and intellect. So who better than Sherlock's feisty and fiercely independent young sister Enola?

              Having now established a distant but respectful relationship with her famous brother, she's a consulting finder of missing persons herself.......but under the guise of a fictitious male name. This ruse entices a potential client in cantankerous, irascible famous author Rudyard Kipling. He's seeking a dear friend, a young American publishing representative who vanished off the London streets,......but Kipling storms out enraged at the thought of dealing with a teen girl detective. Enola, intrigued enough to take on the case anyway, dons her endless variety of costumes and disguises to plunge fully into solving the dangerous mystery of what befell young Wolcott Balastier....even if it puts her own life at risk

            And guess what? Sure enough it does, as she encounters foaming-at-the-mouth rabid dogs, an ominous secret society of thuggish street vigilantes and further run-ins with the high strung, hot-tempered 'Ruddy' Kipling.

             As I expected, this latest Enola Holmes adventure proved every bit as thrilling, clever and witty as all the previous entries. And again, author Nancy Springer's meticulous research recreates Enola and Sherlock's world of late 19th century London with such evocative detail. It's the kind of long lost world any reader can happily lose themselves in.

              I wouldn't dream of missing any of Miss Holmes's baffling cases, filled with suspense and sometimes even laugh-out-loud moments..... and I'd more than recommend you don't miss this one either  5 stars (*****)....elementary.

TILLY IN TECHNICLOR.....AN EXCEPTIONAL, UNLIKELY DUO, IN LOVE AMID AMID EUROPE'S WONDROUS CITIES...(*****)

 Tilly In Technicolor by Mazey Eddings

             Technicolor may serve as an apt description for this mega-sweet romance between two neurodiverse teens who fall head over heels for each other.  It's such an unabashed feel-good experience to read, I felt like I'd found my way into a good old-fashioned, classic Hollywood love story, filmed in gorgeous color across every spectacular scenic city in Europe.

 
          And from the first chapter on, I found myself surrendering to the practically fairy-tale nature of what unfolds.   You just can't help falling for (and rooting for) this adorable pair. How could you not?They've endured a lifetime of living with and coping with the fact that their brains are wired differently from those around them, leading to no end of misunderstandings and hurtful experiences.   

            Tilly Twomley's ADHD keeps her mind racing at maximum speed in multiple directions while Oliver's Clark's autism makes human interaction a daunting challenge for him.   So naturally their 'meet cute' as fellow passengers on a flight to London goes comically awry.  And to their further displeasure, they discover they'll spend the summer together as interns for the fledgling nail polish line started by Tilly's older sister Mona and her partner Amina.....with Tilly serving as a hand model for photos by Oliver, who's a gifted student of colors and designs.

             When these four make their way across Europe to generate more business for the start-up, those inevitable romantic sparks start to crackle for Tilly and Oliver. As they begin to discover their similarities and anxieties in the way they see the world (and deal with it) a tentative connection between them slowly blossoms  And I can tell you as a reader, prepare to find your heart happily aching for them while you cheer them on every step of the way.

            Okay, maybe it rarely happens this way in real life, but it's so nice, at least while you're reading this, to believe it could - and 'Tilly In Technicolor' spins a enough enough of first love glow around you to make you believe. A quick read, but precision designed to make a reader sigh and smile all the way through it. 5 stars for sure (*****)

LOOKING GLASS SOUND.....A SUMMER OF MYSTERY AND HORROR....AS RECALLED BY UNRELIABLE AUTHORS

 Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward (2023)

         Like countless others, I became a lifelong fan of Catriona Ward starting with "The Last House On Needless Street".  And in her subsequent books, I loved the deep dives into lifetimes of horrific family histories, all unfolding amid landscapes both beautiful and threatening.

        "Looking Glass Sound" does indeed contain all those familiar tropes, but in the book's second half, the author takes them to a whole new ambitious level of dazzling complexity. And there's no getting around it, the literary magic show on display here demands you give every sentence your complete attention.........or you won't even begin to comprehend what's going on.

 
         I can understand why some readers grew impatient and exasperated, choosing to jump off.  But I  found myself so entranced by the book's hall-of-mirrors plotting and staggering risks. I hung on for dear life, taking the full ride.  I'm not sorry I did. 

         It begins like a traditional Stephen King-like, easy-to-digest crowd pleaser.  Three teens share a summer together at a Maine coastal town - Wilder, Nathanial and Harper, the wild child girl they're both obsessed with.  But hanging over the teens and the town is the terrifying 'Daggerman' a serial killer who also takes Polaroids of the town's children while asleep in their beds.  

          The capture and reveal of the killer reverberates for decades to come, with the publication of different books that fictionalize the three teens' life changing summer. But how much did each author bend reality to make it suit their vision of what really happened?  Are any of these accounts reliable in any way?

         (This is the point at which readers must stay glued to the pages to fully absorb the tidal wave of twists and the darkest of reveals unleashed in the final chapters.)

         Ultimately 'Looking Glass Sound' functions as a melancholic view of the power of books to offer their characters immortality in print, for better or worse......as well as a meditation on how the passage of years warp the truth of our memories, for better or worse.

 
         This book's far from a zippy horror page turner, but I found myself willing to take on the challenges it threw down and the complete upending of its narrative.  And that made it a 5 star (*****) read for me.

DEADLOCK....CORPORATE AND GLOBAL ARCHVILLIANS GET DEZ'D AND CONFUSED....(*****)

 Deadlock by James Byrne (2023)

          He's back!  And once again, civilization as we know it can sleep sounder.  Our one and only 'Dez', jack-of-all-lethal trades, soldier-of-fortune, wandering righter of wrongs is at large, in charge. (Not to mention a killer rock guitarist when called upon....)

            I speak, of course, of Desmond Aloysius Limerick, that mad, mad combination of Jason Bourse, Jack Reacher, James Bond.....and the Lucky Charms Leprechaun. Once again, the 'Gatekeeper', renowned for penetrating impregnable lairs, is confounding odious villains, both corporate and paramilitary, with his particular set of skills and his endlessly cheerful patter. 

          And once again, author James Byrne delivers one of the most purely enjoyable action-adventures you'll read all year. You won't be able to plow through the pages fast enough as Dez out-quips, outwits, outfights, outmaneuvers, and generally  outrages the array of bad guys who underestimate him. 

          This time he comes to the aid of two sisters who've stumbled into the crosshairs of Clockjack, a seemingly benevolent mega-corporation started by a quartet of high tech nerds. But Clockjack's been hijacked by a totally bonkers mastermind and his small army of hardcore mercenaries.  And they've found a way to spring and recruit the world's worst scumbags out of Witness Protection. Their mission -  assassinations for hire to upend the world order while they rule from their own private kingdom in Africa.  Well.....with Dez on the case and in their face....good luck with that. 

           Fools that they are, they take Dez's non-stop gift-of-gab as a joke, but we the readers can only chuckle along, since we know the Wrath Of Dez will come down on them in all sorts of fascinating, violent ways........guaranteed to leave the corporate slime and their heavily armed commandos....uh.....properly Dez'd & Confused. 

          I'm pretty sure you can tell by now that I loved this book to pieces and only sighed aloud after I finished it, bemoaning how long I'd have to wait before Dez's next adventure comes out.  Without any doubt a 5 star(*****)  'don't miss' for any action-adventure lover.....and not nearly enough books like this to give you such a non-stop blast of fun.