#Thriller Fiction

[mendingbone]

i keep seeing people in their late teens/early twenties having a "[X] content intended for younger audiences does not feel satisfying to me anymore but i don't know where to start to branch out into adult fiction" moment and i thought i would give some recommendations for adult fiction for my fellow creepy crawly queer people. all or at least a LOT of it will be on the darker and more fucked up side bc i primarily engage with horror and thriller media personally but feel free to add on with more or recommendations from other genres :)

edit: i am continuing to add to this list so there might be new recs (highlighted in pink) in here every once in a while! also want to add that there's a variety of POC, queer, and disabled authors in here as well, i am also all of the above (asian, bi/aro, poly, disabled) and tried to incorporate as many of their wickedly talented, compelling narratives as possible. that's all, happy reading!

A Certain Hunger, Chelsea G. Summers

A Darker Shade of Magic, V. E Schwab*

A Dowry of Blood, S.G Gibson

Animal, Lisa Taddeo*

A Ripple of Power and Promise, Jordan A. Day*

Bunny, Mona Awad*

Children of Blood and Bone, Tomi Adeyemi*

Cursed Bread, Sophie Mackintosh*

Dark Places, Gillian Flynn

Dead Girls Don't Say Sorry, Alex Ritany*

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, Olga Tokarczuk*

Eileen, Ottessa Moshfegh*

Fruiting Bodies, Kathryn Harlan*

Goddess of Filth, V. Castro*

Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn

House of Leaves, Mark Danielewski

If I Had Your Face, Frances Cha*

Iron Widow, Xiran Jay Zhao

Jackal, Erin E. Adams*

Juniper and Thorn, Ava Reid*

Kindred, Octavia Butler*

Manhunt, Gretchen Felker-Martin*

Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Ninefox Gambit, Yoon Ha Lee*

Rabbits, Terry Miles*

Scorched Grace, Margot Douaihy*

Sharp Objects, Gillian Flynn

She is a Haunting, Trang Thahn Tran

Slewfoot, Brom*

Sorrowland, Rivers Soloman

Summer Sons, Lee Mandelo

Supper Club, Lara Williams*

The Centre, Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi*

The Change, Kirsten Miller

The Death of Jane Lawrence, Caitlin Starling*

The Dreamer Trilogy, Maggie Stiefvater

The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson

The Hollow Places, T. Kingfisher*

The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter, Soraya Palmer*

The Jasmine Throne, Tasha Suri

The Locked Tomb, Tamsyn Muir

The Luminous Dead, Caitlin Starling*

The Red Tree, Caitlin Kiernan*

The Unfamiliar Garden, Benjamin Percy*

Vicious, V. E Shwab

Wake, Siren, Nina MacLaughlin*

We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson

What Moves the Dead, T. Kingfisher*

#the * means i have not read it myself but have heard good things and/or have it on my to read list!! #wanted to add little blurbs on each book but i am disabled and exhausted and truly don't have the energy for anything other than listing #please do ur own research for content warnings etc! be safe. enjoy <33 #adult fiction #adult horror #horror #reference #queer lit #queer adult lit #horror fiction #thriller fiction #book recs #horror media #book list #book recommendations #iron widow #xiran jay zhao #the locked tomb #tlt #tamsyn muir #the dreamer trilogy #tdt #maggie stiefvater #gillian flynn #gone girl #sharp objects #house of leaves #shirley jackson #haunting of hill house #v. e. schwab

[desdasiwrites]

– Amanda DeWitt, Aces Wild: A Heist

#Some people join chess club #some people play football. Jack Shannon runs a secret blackjack ring #asexual protagonist #ace rep #whole cast of ace characters #Las Vegas heist #book quote of the day #Amanda DeWitt #Aces Wild #heist novels #ya #thriller fiction #asexuality # identity # lgbtqia+ rep books

[onemorechapterandcupofcoffee]

An Unwanted Guest

Sheri Lapena

Follow the story of a group of guests and hotel staff as they navigate being snowed in at a remote inn with a murderer among them. This book was a very enjoyable read. There are many twists that will keep you on your toes, and the ending will not be what you expect. 4.5/5 would read again.

#book blog #book cover #book review #bookish #booklr #books #books and reading #book thoughts #book recommendations #bookblr #book lover #thriller #thriller books #thriller fiction #book nerd #book recs #book community #book club #book commentary #reading #reading 100 books in a year #100 books goal

[fiction-quotes]

There's an unfair responsibility that comes with being an only child – you grow up knowing you aren't allowed to disappoint, you're not even allowed to die. There isn't a replacement toddling around; you're it. It makes you desperate to be flawless, and it also makes you drunk with the power. In such ways are despots made.

  —  Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn)

#book quotes #thriller fiction #crime fiction #mystery fiction #gillian flynn #gone girl #amy dunne #family #parenting #children #only child #perfectionism #psychology

[jikookao3recs]

what an incredible story !! I am hooked, I am obsessed.. what's new lol

🌲 Firewatch by Ashlyn17 🌲

▫️firefighter/ ranger JK, dancer JM

▫️ retro, thriller, memory loss

▫️ W: 16 371 (2/10)

#thriller fiction #jikook #jikook fanfic #jikook fic #jikook fic rec #bts fic #kookmin fic rec #kookmin fanfic #jikook au #kookmin

[cozycoffeereads]

Cozy Coffee Reads POC Book Recommendations

Historical Fiction:

The Stationery Shop- Marjan Kamali

The Vanishing Half- Brit Bennett

Homegoing- Yaa Gyasi

The Nickel Boys- Colson Whitehead

Thriller/Horror:

Lakewood- Megan Giddings

The Hacienda- Isabel Canas

House of Hunger- Alexis Henderson

Severance- Ling Ma

The Ballad of Black Tom- Victor LaValle

My Sister, the Serial Killer- Oyinkan Braithwaite

Fantasy:

The Poppy Wars Trilogy- R.F. Kuang

The Stardust Thief- Chelsea Abdullah

Biography/Autobiography:

12 Years a Slave- Solomon Northup

The Life of John Thompson, a Fugitive Slave- John Thompson

I Know Why the Cage Bird Sings- Maya Angelou

LGBT:

Giovanni's Room- James Baldwin

These are some of my favorite books by POC that I've read in the past two years. I'll definitely make new lists as I read more.

#book recommendations #book recs #booklr #bookblr #book blog #bookworm #bibliophile #fantasy books #historical fiction books #thriller books #horror books #horror fiction #thriller fiction #historical fiction

[ingeniousmindoftune]

𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝒢𝒪𝒪𝒟 ℒ𝒪𝒪𝒦ℐ𝒩𝒢 𝐌𝐄𝐍 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝒲𝒜𝒯ℰℛ • Dark Romance • “The Cabin.”

This story was written separately from this platform; with proof I’ve written. Do not plagiarize or steal my work. I do have a lawyer on standby and will gladly take your ass to court! DO NOT THINK ABOUT IT.

WARNINGS: dark fic, dark humor, smuts, explicit scenes involving characters, gore and brutality! Do not read if you aren’t into dark romance or lifetime type shit cause baby, this isn’t the book for you.

Prologue!|

𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Jason Momoa stars as the main character in one of my original fics. It’s been a while since I’ve written on tumblr and wanted to come back with a bang. Jason Momoa is Cyrus Eastwood, a handsome tour guide and naturist. But he’s not just that, he’s also.. a serial killer. And his newest mark is Luna Blair <feel free to change it to your name but this is an original character.> whom was in desperate need of a get away, who escaped the craziness of her home life and booked a nice little cottage off to itself in the woods, I know right? Black woman by her lonesome in the woods? Rare shit!

NEVER TRUST GOOD LOOKING MEN ON THE WATER

“The Cabin.”

Luna exhaled sharply pulling her luggage as she approached the guide center. There was no way she was getting to her doctor’s cabin on foot. Everywhere here was surrounded by water, which scared her. She could easily be killed and thrown off in the creek somewhere and no one ever know .

The creaky screen door slammed shut, a man came out in a white sleeveless shirt with an axe, making his way to the lodge that was in the front of the shack, scattered around the lodge was wood. She closed the door to the Taxi, alarming her present to the man.

Cyrus' head rose. His eyes came face to face with the smooth, clear, dark complexion of Luna Blair’s. You could hear the crows cawing and trees blowing from the wind. His golden brown eyes were met with her dark brown ones. “Can I help you?” His voice was quite sexy, everything about him was sexy to Luna. He was appealing. He wiped away the beads of sweat from his forehead, slamming the axe into the wood. Moving closer, to get a better look at his possible new victim.

Cyrus wasn’t just any killer. He romanticizes his women, he wants them to feel wanted, passion and the whole nine, and then he just snaps whenever she does something he doesn’t like, but he does it all consciously.

“I-” Luna felt a knot in her throat, as he got closer, he formed a sinister smile. Luna was left speechless.

Cyrus chuckled. “Sweetheart. Are you going to speak or are you just going to stand there?” She nods her head. His hair was pulled back in a bun, but even Luna found it to be another big part of his attraction. She loved a man with a pulled back messy bun. His eyes met with her lips as they parted slightly. “Yeah, sorry, I’m in need of your assistance to get to the Brown cottage or cabin? I’m not entirely sure which it is.” She couldn’t help but admire his tattoos, at least the ones she could see, including the one on his neck. Luna was always a sucker for men with tattoos. Always.

“Ah, the Brown cottage? Yes. I can take you. That cottage has been around for years, you a friend of the browns?” He questioned waving her over to the back of the shack where his boat resided

She stumbled over a few branches. He caught her. “Should’ve warned you to watch your step.” He smiled down at her, she looked up at him as he helped her back on her feet, up straight. “Yeah, a little warning could’ve gone a long way.” She chuckled. He nods. “My fault. Right this way.” She smiled following him down the dock, he pulled off his shirt. “So, you never answered me.” He kicked off his shoes and rolled up his pants, getting in the water so he could push the boat in and further into the water. “Yeah, you could say that.” She finally answers.

“Yeah, I knew Mr and Mrs.Brown. Nice ol’ couple. May they Rest In Peace.”

Luna smiled a tight-lipped smile. “Yeah. May they.” Cyrus could tell she was different from the other victims, she held hurt behind her brown eyes. She craved peace, part of him wondered if she could be more than just another mark. Cyrus was once in love. Because of his heartbreak, it turned him into who he was. Love drove him insane. Drove him to murder. “You should step in. I got you.” He held her hand, helping her into the boat with one hand as he held the boat with the other. “I hate boats.” She admits. He chuckled. “You’re not the first nor the last person to tell me that. Got your luggage?” She nodded, he untied the boat from the dock, getting in the water pushing the boat with him to the deeper end, before crawling inside.

“Are you here alone? Or someone else is joining you?”

Luna didn’t think much into his line of questioning. She just figured he was attempting to make small talk. “Uh, yeah. And my grandmother.” She pointed to the ashes that resided in the urn. Like he thought, she was unlike any of his victims. For one, she was of different ethnicity. All the women he’s murdered were white. But then again, he hated all women because of one. “Ah, I’m sorry for your lost.”

“Thank you.” Luna thanked.

He nods his head slowly as he rowed his paddles in the water, looking out at the cabins along the way. “It’s so beautiful here.” She smiled at the sight, the beautiful lake houses were by far the best sight she’s every seen. The water was as clear and blue as the ocean. The mountains were blue, white and of a green color and just gorgeous. She might just like it here. “It is. I love it here. I grew up around here.”

“You did?”

Cyrus nods his head. “Yes. Four generations. I once lived here with my father but he passed on a couple years back leaving me the shack and the family business, I know pretty much everything there is to know about everyone here, including their dirty little secrets.” He chuckled, she laughed softly dropping her head as she held the urn close and firm. “For instance, that lakehouse over there belongs to the North’s. Jacob and Elaine North, they’ve been married for thirty years. But, I have been in an open marriage for quite some time. Elaine is having relations with Mr.Erwin that lives in the lake house across from your cabin.”

“Ew, the oldies getting down like that?”

Cyrus laughed. No one woman had made him laugh. She laughs too. “I mean, my father always told me those the one should be having sex. Always said us young folk shouldn’t be having the time of our lives.” She smiled. “My granny told me the same.” He chuckled, nodding his head, “Wise woman I see.” Luna smiled, Cyrus returns the gesture. He was deliberately taking his time to her cabin. He wanted to find out all he could. “Are you the only one here?” Luna asks him.

“No. There’s others. We do a bonfire every Saturday night, you should join. You’d love the people here.”

Luna smiled. “I don’t know.. I’m not big on crowds.” She chuckled nervously, rubbing her arm. “Suit yourself but, if you ever change your mind. My house is just through the back of yours.” She raised an eyebrow. “It is?” Cyrus nods. “It is. I am barely there though. I’m always at the shack during the week or doing some work around the lake. This is a small community, you’ll soon learn that and I needed a place that was close to everyone for maintenance purposes.”

“Oh.” Luna nodded. “Well, good to know that I won’t be in the woods alone.”

Cyrus chuckled. “You’re safe here. We haven’t had any problems with safety around these parts. I will make sure of that. I’m big on protecting my people.” Luna didn’t know why Cyrus made her feel warmth but he did, and Cyrus didn’t know why she was making him second-guess killing her but she was. He chose to drop his victims miles away, to keep suspicions off of him and his community. She stared at his tribal tattoos. “Your tattoos..”

“Samoan.” He answered. “My father was Samoan and Native Hawaiian.”

Luna nods. “They're beautiful.” He glanced down at his chest that was full of art. He thanked her before they rowed to her cabin, he got out and pulled the boat on land. She looked over at the beautiful cottage that she saw from the smaller trees covering it and the long pathway. “Wow. This place is beautiful.” He smiled. “Thank you. I did the renovations myself. It still needs some work but it should be finished soon. If you don’t mind me continuing the preparations while you’re here?” He held out his hand for her. “I don’t mind. Long as it’s not too early or too late.” Cyrus led her down the pathway and to the front door, opening the creeking door that slightly stuck. Flipping on the lights. “I’ll be fixing that door and it’s handle before I leave.”

“Okay. Does it lock? I noticed it was hard for you to open.”

Cyrus nods. “Nothing I can’t fix. Welcome to your new place.” Luna dropped her grandmother’s urn on the fireplace gently, taking in the view of the beautiful yet chilly cabin. “It’s chilly in here.” She rubbed her hand up and down her arms as she shivered, Cyrus looks at her placing her other luggage by the door. “I’ll chop up some wood. It gets pretty chilly here during the night. I’ll make sure you have enough chopped for the night. There’s no central heat in this cabin yet. I’m still working on getting something of the sort for this place. But the fireplace gets this place warmed pretty well. Do you need anything before I go?”

“Yes, is there a grocery store near? I wasn’t thinking. I should’ve gotten something.”

Cyrus smiled. “It’s alright. I’m going into town later. I can pick you up a few things. Uh, let me gather some paper and a pen from my place and you can write down everything you’d need or want?” Luna thanked him. “You’re incredibly nice. Not like the people from where I come from.” Cyrus was nice but he was also dark. Luna would soon come into knowledge of that. He placed the keys on the island in the kitchen area. She yawned. She was tired. The flight took a huge toll on her. “Why don’t you shower, get settled? I’ll go chop up some wood for now and warm up the place, and you can rest? I’m sure your flight was draining.”

“It was. Thank you, kindly.”

Cyrus nods, he walked out her cabin and gathered some wood, he picked up the axe from the side of the house, placing it on the lodge. He began chopping up the wood, not realizing that Luna was watching through the bathroom window. She bit down on her lip watching him chop wood, it was temptation. She shook herself, letting the shower start, she dipped out of her clothes. Cyrus stopped. His attention turned to the bathroom window, seeing her strip from her clothing. He smirked to himself. “I’ll be having fun with you.”

Tags:

@hinatasfleshlight @bbygirlchristina @skyesthebomb @lovesanimals0000 @briana-mishell24 @piccasoe @wandasbitxh @littlebvbie @90sisthenew80s @tribalqueen20 @panicsinvirgo @wh0reforbucknasty @star017 @zenxn20 @rosegoldcoco @xsweetdellzx @rainedabrat16 @laylasbunbunny

#black writer #black fanfiction #black writers #imagines #black reader #ingeniousmindoftune #blackwomen #black reader x jason momoa #jason mamoa #jason momoa #jason momoa x reader #thriller fiction #dark fic #dark romance #killerinthewaterff #ocs #tumblr writing community #writers on tumblr #fanfic writers #fanfiction writer #short fiction #fic rec #fic update #fiction writing

[mamirhodessxox]

How do we feel about a possible story based off of supernatural elements in the Appalachian mountains? Like Witches, Vampires, Spirits & other scary shit??

🏷️ list: @alyyaanna @ginswife @coolpastelartshoe @greatkoalawizard @cokolin044 @kotoriarlert @alicerosejensen @bunnybot55 @agent-dessis-posts @adollonyourshelf @mini-rhodes @southerngirl41 @harmshake @femdisa @kabloswrld

#appalachian mountains #gothic fiction #paranormal #cody rhodes #cody rhodes imagine #cody rhodes fic #cody rhodes x you #cody rhodes smut #wwe imagine #wwe smackdown #wweedit #wwe #horror writing #thriller fiction #folklore #appalachian gothic

[katnewman96-blog]

Encounter in the Arctic

I hear a low growl. I slowly rise to peek over the car, towards the sound. To my horror, I see before me a great big polar bear. Curious and calm, but I know that is what makes polar bears so dangerous. If I want to live, I must make it back into my car.

#creative writing #writing #writing advice #writing exercise #wildernessencounter #suspense fiction #thriller fiction #survival fiction #adventure fiction

[bookwormchocaholic]

I just finished "A Long Fatal Love Chase," by Louisa May Alcott...

::spoilers under the cut::

I know fatal is in the title, but I wasn't expecting that kind of ending! Of course Philip died...But Rosamund?!?!?! She and Ignatius were supposed to end up together.

Louisa May Alcott, how could you do this to me?!?!?!

#a long fatal love chase #louisa may alcott #gothic fiction #thriller fiction

[vf-thompson]

Book Review: Lolita is Not Her Name

Her name is Dolores Haze. Let's start with that.

Nabokov's Lolita is a difficult book to categorize, criticize, discuss and dissect. In the popular imagination it persists, for whatever reason, as a tale of taboo romance, a red flag analysis that should probably spur an investigation of your hard drive. If there is any lingering doubt that we're living the Bad Place left, it should be erased the fact that this book's legacy is one of lascivious titillation and not as one of the tautest, tightest crime thrillers ever written. How that happened is a convoluted tale, one laid out for any interested listeners in Jamie Loftus's unabashedly excellent Lolita Podcast—my in to the novel, after over a decade of a desire and reluctance to engage with the text.

Like Loftus, my first acquaintance with the work was Daniel Handler, better known as the real fellow behind the Lemony Snicket persona, dropping the book in interviews as one of his favorites and listing it among the influences of A Series of Unfortunate Events. i was a preteen at the time, and was busy myself being sexually abused by predatory adults in online spaces, and when i looked into what Mr. Snicket was talking about, i was repulsed and intrigued, and the story stuck in my brain. Later, when i went through a bit of a Kubrick phase in high school, it was one of the ones i skipped. For years Dolores Haze and Humbert Humbert were ghosts at the edge of my life, mirroring my own tortured upbringing and occasionally checking in via their sublimating effect on pop culture.

While one may debate the ethics of a popular children's author recommending a book like Lolita, having finally tackled the novel, i can absolutely see the thread of connection. Indeed, The Bad Beginning in particular feels almost like Handler's attempt to deliver the justice Dolores never received, Violet Baudelaire able to gain the upper hand over her own predatory guardian. Like Handler's saga, Lolita is, far from the eroticized romance it is often recalled as, a story of childhood resilience in the face of a monstrous existential threat. Though the story is Humbert's and as such Lo herself is often little more than a prop, the sparkles we get of her character throughout the novel are of a survivor, not a victim—even if the prologue tells us that survival will not be a permanent affair.

The prologue tells us that Humbert is a vile and villainous liar, and the next few hundred pages act as something of an acid test for one's resistance to be taken in by a charismatic abuser. To call Humbert a monster is to distance him from his all-too-present humanity, his manners and mannerisms, his erudite European sensibilities and the necrophilic pathology he masks as a polite interest in pubescent girls. He is doubtlessly a compelling narrator, a poetic hero—but a classical hero in that he's an absolute scumball garbo heap. i'm not saying that everyone who treats Lolita as a romance novel harbors paraphilic sympathies for children, but i am saying that everyone who has ever characterized the book as such is a useful idiot for those who do.

Listening to Loftus's Podcast was the thing that finally allowed me to admit that my own childhood abuse had not been self-chosen, that i had been used by adults who had a responsibility not to exploit a child for sexual labor, and so on her recommendation, and the recommendation of my best friend who is never wrong, i decided to finally delve into the story. What i found was a ripping crime novel dressed up in indelibly crafted language, a tense psychosexual game between a predator and prey. Though Lo is often reduced to a victim by the nature of the novel's framing, her fire and resistance to Humbert's machinations are vibrant enough to shine through his narration. In her story, i found a certain absolution for my own girlhood self, my own inner child who once upon a time lost herself in the labyrinthine rooms of the Enchanted Hunters Hotel, whose curiosity once branded her the toy of those who saw her body as a disposable mode of dispensing pleasure.

It is perhaps unfair to remove a star solely because of the book's pop cultural influence, but it is undeniable that the text has been misappropriated and misused by actual predators, and while it is arguable how much of that fault lies with Nabokov himself, his (admittedly limited) choice of publisher for the book and its questionable history of sanitized adaptations certainly didn't help matters. As a reading experience, Lolita itself is a five star affair, but unfortunately the metatext around the book is a murkier affair, and i tend to evaluate the discussion around classics as part of the text itself. i can not fault those survivors who view the book as part of the problem, even as many feminist critics would argue it is much more complicated than that. Certainly, if you do decide to join in on this road trip from hell, consider yourself suitably trigger warned for graphic depictions of child rape with heft amounts of victim blaming.

For the better part of a decade, i was afraid to read this book, afraid of what i might find out about my own abuse through vicariously witnessing and playing party to that of the Haze girl—but the last few years have been a tornado of confrontations with my own past, and in finally confronting this text, the hurt child inside of me was able to find a certain solidarity with the little kid who has been so slandered by the aesthetic she inspired. i can not recommend enough pairing the book with Ms. Loftus's excellent analysis of its legacy, and i am grateful that i was at last able to meet the ghost of the girl who has haunted me for so long, telling me i was not alone. In the end, as persuasive a writer as Humbert is, it is her testimony i will remember.

#lolita #books #book review #reviews #writing #bookblr #thriller fiction #crime fiction #nympette #vladimir nabokov #lolita podcast

[desdasiwrites]

– Jodi Picoult, Mad Honey

#book quote of the day #jodi picoult #mad honey #fiction #mystery fiction #thriller fiction #suspense #book quotes #quotes #books and libraries

[first--lines]

The second cataclysm began in my eleventh life, in 1996. I was dying my usual death, slipping away in a warm morphine haze, which she interrupted like an ice cube down my spine.

  —  The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August (Claire North)

#book quotes #science fiction #thriller fiction #claire north #the first fifteen lives of harry august

[fiction-quotes]

Babyhood is not a time of bliss; it’s one of terror. As babies we are trapped in a strange, alien world, unable to see properly, constantly surprised at our bodies, alarmed by hunger and wind and bowel movements, overwhelmed by our feelings. We are quite literally under attack.

  —  The Silent Patient (Alex Michaelides)

#book quotes #psychological fiction #thriller fiction #mystery fiction #alex michaelides #the silent patient #psychology #child development #babies #fear #terror #confusion #biology #human biology

[booksandbrunchcast]

#podcast #book club #book discussion #thriller fiction #popular fiction #new fiction #the house in the pines #ana reyes

[liber---monstrorum]

A Review of Briardark by S.A. Harian.

SUMMARY

For Dr. Siena Dupont and her ambitious team, the Alpenglow glacier expedition is a career-defining opportunity. But thirty miles into the desolate Deadswitch Wilderness, they discover a missing hiker dangling from a tree, and their satellite phone fails to call out. Then the body vanishes without a trace. The disappearance isn’t the only chilling anomaly. Siena’s map no longer aligns with the trail. The glacier they were supposed to study has inexplicably melted. Strange foliage overruns the mountainside, and a tunnel within a tree hollow lures Siena to a hidden cabin, and a stranger with a sinister message… Holden Sharpe’s IT job offers little distraction from his wasted potential until he stumbles upon a decommissioned hard drive and an old audio file. Trapped on a mountain, Dr. Siena Dupont recounts an expedition in chaos and the bloody death of a colleague. Entranced by the mystery, Holden searches for answers to Siena’s fate. But he is unprepared for the truth that will draw him to the outskirts of Deadswitch Wilderness—a place teeming with unfathomable nightmares and impossibilities. (source)

Official content warnings: Gore, character death, terror, language, existential dread, mental illness, emotional abuse; more content warnings listed on Storygraph

REVIEW (disclaimer: I recieved a digital review copy of Briardark through Netgalley in exchange for a review.) Whatever I expected from Briardark, it wasn't this.

To tell the truth, I went in not knowing what to expect; the publishers introduce it as "perfect for fans of LOST and House of Leaves," two properties which I haven't yet touched (I know, I know, HoL is on my TBR this year). Based on my scant knowledge of these properties I assumed that meant people would be lost in a weird place.

In Briardark, people sure are lost in a weird place, but it gets so much wilder and bizarre than I could have ever dreamed of. Typically when a book is shilled as a horror thriller, it's just a horror book with a bit of thriller or a thriller book lumped into the horror category because it's a thriller. This, however, is a true horror thriller; the twists in this book are insane, and this is from someone who usually sees "twists" coming from a million miles away. Every single one not only ramps up the tension but also does something clever to tweak an aspect of reality we thought we could trust. Harian is also very patient when it comes to the reveal. Nothing's ever rushed, and the payoff for elements introduced or revealed can take chapters, if not hundreds of pages.

It's a quick read, too, despite its length (350+ pages, 10+ hour audiobook!). The pacing is excellent, knowing when to slow and take in the view and when to hurtle forward over the edge. Several times while reading, I would go to update my reading progress and realize that I'd only read five pages, but with all that had happened I'd expected 20+. In Briardark, stuff just keeps happening and doesn't stop.

THE PEOPLE While the blurb implies that there will only be two POVs, Briardark actually gives every character in Seina's team a POV. Siena and Holden are the main characters, yes, and most of the narrative is told from their perspective, but the narrative also isn't afraid to shift over to another character when necessary--usually when folks split up (or get split up). The reader isn't being shuffled around character's heads willy-nilly.

Normally I'm not a fan of multiple POVs; for me, more than two POV characters is pushing it. Briardark, however, does a really excellent job of handling multiple POVs. It establishes the characters firmly from Siena's POV first, allowing readers to become familiar with who they are before swapping. Also (and this important), every character is both unique and enjoyable.

Out of all the cast, Cam is my favorite. She's a well written lesbian character, something I always appreciate and rarely see. She's allowed to have a close, meaningful relationship with Siena, a straight woman, without ever being attracted to her. Siena never even considers the possibility. Cam's capable, respected in her field and her colleagues, and the trauma she has from her involvement with Briardark in the past is handled really well. I know these things can seem low bar to hurdle, but I'm starved for good lesbian rep, especially in horror/thriller books. I really hope to see more from her in the second book--her plotline was, to me, one of the ones I'm most invested in.

THE PLACE The establishment of place is beautifully done. The book is set in an absolutely awe-inspiring wilderness. Despite the fact I would definitely die immediately (and not even due to anything eldritch, just from the hiking), I'd love to visit.

One of the best pieces of advice I got from my writing classes was to treat place as another character. It's just as important as the human characters in a story, if not more so; the Deadswitch Wild, Briardark, even individual rooms all have their own character. This, of course, goes double for when the wild starts to get weird and eldritch (in more ways than one).

Honestly, I'm usually not one to be pro-map in books. I think they're fine, but I usually don't use them. I think that Briardark would benefit greatly from having a map included; maybe not necessarily in the beginning, but several maps are mentioned over the course of the book, and I was just dying for them to be included as an illustration or in the back. I read an advanced digital reader's copy through Netgalley, so they may be included in the final product. If not, I really hope the second book comes with a map or gets map illustrations. The textual description of them was well-done, of course, making them not strictly necessary, but they'd be cool.

That said, a lot of what is set up in this first book lore-wise recieves no payoff. It's the first book in a series (thank God), so having to wait for reveals is to be expected, but it's going to be hard to wait. Luckily, the second book, Waywarden, comes out in 2024. I can't wait to return to the Briardark in a year.

FINAL THOUGHTS I can't say if the comparison to LOST or House of Leaves is accurate. What I can say is that if you enjoyed titles like The Dark Between the Trees or short stories like "A Tale of the Ragged Mountains" and "A Psychological Shipwreck" you'll love Briardark even more. It's weird, tense, and has some fantastic characters I can't wait to read more about.

Briardark released 16 January 2023. If you're interested in the book, check out the official website (https://briardark.com/), request the book from your local library, or buy yourself a copy!

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