Catriona Ward

More than 24 hours later, and I am still caught in the tentacles of this book! It is so weird, and yet it is so well-written!

There’s a saying in Hindi that goes, “Jo dikhta hai, wo hota nahi hai, aur jo hota hai, wo dikhta nahi hai.” Translated to English, it means, “What is seen has not happened, and what has happened is not seen.” That’s the book! Whatever story summary I write, you can be sure that it isn’t exactly what the book is about.

So! Here’s all you need to know:

1. You will meet four main characters through the first person perspective: Ted, Lauren, Olivia, and Dee. Not giving any character insights except that Olivia is a cat.

2. Each of the characters has a strong and distinct yet weird personality. My personal favourite was Olivia, the Bible-quoting, self-righteous cat who wants to follow “The Lord”.… (más)

This was my kind of mystery/horror story! we begin by reading the unpublished memoir of Wilder Harlow...a sixteen-year-old boy whose uncle has died and left his parents a cottage on the Maine coast. Wilder soon makes two friends: a boy, Nathaniel and a British girl, Harper. The trio form a, almost instant close-knit bond during what appeared to be a magical summer together and they promised to return each year. The rural New England town they are in is also home to a serial killer the police are calling...The Dagger Man of Whistler Bay. If you think that that is that isn't creepy enough, this Dagger Man also takes threatening Polaroid photos of children while they are sleeping. Wilder’s summer soon becomes linked to the story of the Dagger Man, and friendships are shattered and his parents’ troubled marriage heads toward divorce. I felt so sorry for Wilder as the summers pass and he is left broken and alone as he begins college life, and still is unable to cope with the psychological trauma caused by that summer at Whistler Bay. Now we meet the overly friendly Sky Montague, an aspiring author who insists on becoming roommates with Wilder. We have to wonder right away if Sky is really the friend that he seems to be, or is he just trying to pump Wilder for information about the Whistler Bay murders? This book seems to cover all the clever and important bases that makes a story one that you want to read in one sitting right to the very conclusion. It has a plot involving a serial killer, believable and likeable characters that are obviously getting in over their heads, trauma that they each carry all the way into adulthood, and a beautiful, if haunting setting in rural Maine. this was standard fare to be found in the pages of the best Stephen King, or Shirly Jackson horror novel. However, I soon learned that the horror isn't anywhere near over yet...the Dagger Man story is just a covering for the true horrors that awaits us later in the story. The horror deepens as the author throws multiple layers of uncertainty into the story. The lines between reality and fiction slowly begin to blur as Wilder descends deeper into existential crisis, making the reader question everything they previously believed. From the Book: “An evocative, bone-chilling read, exploring grief, storytelling, and the dark forces of obsession. Ward’s writing is complex, challenging, and beautiful in equal measure. A tale to savor.”… (más)