Pros: creepy premise, well written
Cons: uncomfortable and potentially triggering subject matter
Anne LeSage is getting married, and while she often has trouble distinguishing between the feelings of fear and love, she's sure this is love. But when things start to go wrong around her new husband, she's afraid the poltergeist that has haunted her all her life, and which she finally trapped as a teen after a terrible accident, has broken loose. It doesn't want to go back in its box however. And her husband's acquaintances don't want it to either, because they've got their own plans for her 'insect'.
This is a difficult book to review. As a horror novel it definitely succeeds. I found parts of the book, particularly Anne's early revelation that she can't distinguish between fear and love, terrifying. Especially given how things turn out.
So what's the problem? The plot revolves around a group of men trying to use poltergeists for... sexual purposes. There are no real descriptions of abuse, but you know that abuse is happening, and that makes for an uncomfortable read.
The ending left me feeling somewhat ambiguous. It fit the story, but I'm still not sure I liked it.
In several ways this felt like a Stephen King novel, with great characterization and some chilling scares, without many details. The fear is often in what you're not told. Or not told explicitly. And Nickle's good at leaving things to the reader's immagination.
David Nickle recently appeared on John Scalzi's Whatever talking about the book if you'd like more information about the book.
This was quite an enjoyable book. Not scary, though it was quite creepy in parts. And it was the characters who were creepy, more than the supernatural goings-on, which is how I like it.
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