Thirty-three-year-old Todd is playing at the beach with his son, Anthony, when he catches sight of an approaching figure. Instantly, he recognises Jack, his high school tormentor. Radiant, repentant, and overjoyed to have 'run into' Todd, Jack suggests a meal to catch up. And can he spend the night? What follows is a fast-paced story of obsession and suspense, as Jack gaslights his way back into Todd's life, pushing his old "friend" to the brink. Conner Habib's disturbing and emotionally riveting debut is a horror novel about partners and friends, fathers and sons, bullies and scapegoats.
Publication Year: 2022
For me I missed the part in the e beginning where it says this, so I was rarely thinking “this narrator is overstepping.” To my surprise… At thevery end of the audiobook Well I love it just like Secret History
None of the spoilery reviews understand this book, I could have told you it's a litfic without looking at google's horror cat. I will try to be so vague but this isn't a review so just make sure to read until there's one hour left! So, I don't think the end of part 1 or 2 was as bad as many reviewers in fact I think it's very stylish and classy and I think it would be cruel to say you only liked Todd as a kid when the bistander affect is strong in this book. I think Todd is unlikeable, it works for me because stupidity is a good but difficult to pull off trait, at least I would like to think that I would have thought to not start part 5 off with a bang but like I was just saying I understand the romantic sentiment of not using any other order, and Todd had screwed up twice before. I like Sahir but he's not cartoon enough right? I like him explaining "stochastic" to this guy who lost his temper when his son barked at him. It's like the opposite of Todd and Elain talking about war. It's all-in-all kind of hard to read but I'm hooked. I still think it's funny that I searched for "mountain" and so far I've gotten Mountain Story (just read it sideways) and Hawk Mountain, what's next for me, is it my hand picking the books or is it the Dealer? Sorry for vaguing reviewers so hard what's the point of reviews so much spoilers, this is now my only lens sorry.
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Part one of this book had me hooked. Habib was able to create intense tension and an impending sense of foreboding. I wasn't sure who to trust. But the following 200 pages or so didn't work for me. We follow Todd's descent into gory madness, but the taut unease is lost, and the plot continually disappoints from there.