Release Date: Expected 30th March 2023
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Rachel is happy living her life in peaceful solitude, away from the noise and chaos of humanity. She spends her days creating art deep in nature, with just the occasional call to her sister and a driver to collect her crafts.
Until the unfamiliar sound of pounding on the door changes everything. Hannah and her baby have fled the city, running away from the mysterious waves of death that are sweeping through the world, washing away people and leaving nothing behind. She's been running from it - from the feeling that something is watching her, waiting to take her too.
Rachel always thought her isolation was her salvation, her fear making her stay away from everyone and everything - but now, she'll have to fight to make sure she isn't alone for the rest of her days ... however many there may be.
"It was a simple choice, on the face of it. To stay where she was, as long as she could, alone. Or go back out into the world - help these people. But how much hep would she be? And what dangers would they face?"
A dark, disturbing and reflective story about the horrors that wait in the shadows - forcing us to look inwards and stare directly at the most desperate and despicable parts of humanity. There have been a lot of books that have tried to capture the profound and understated horror of the "unseen monster" since Bird Box became a sensation, but Simpson has nailed it with this timely, futuristic thriller that seeps with silent tension and nuanced themes.
Simpson painstakingly crafts an atmosphere that is suffocating, making us feel claustrophobic and trapped, but isolated and alone. The nervous energy is there from the get go, making us feel caged, stuck - just like our narrator. But this energy is balanced with a reverential and vivid viewpoint of nature, of Mother Earth herself. It's beautiful, but terrifying - good and evil, death and life in a natural balance.
Through the first couple of chapters, we're left alone with Rachel and her thoughts - in quiet contemplation, content with her isolation, her craft, the sounds of nature. She's by herself but not alone - until she feels very alone. Opening the story this way naturally and authentically allows us to understand the scene and get to know the voice of our narrator on a personal level without the need for exposition before the peace is shattered. Rachel is nervous, and although we don't know exactly what caused her reclusive nature, we know it's something deeply troubling for her and the bond is almost instant. She's cold, short, abrasive - but under the surface is a big heart that is clear as her relationship with Hannah and Isiah sneak up on her and us to create something truly moving.
The pace moves quickly but quietly - with short chapters that flow seamlessly into one another. We only know as much as Rachel, disconnected from the wider world and wait to see what this nameless horror is; a virus? a monster? divine retribution? societal collapse? The constant unknown was more fear-inducing than any horror scene. Everything was subtle, delicate - Rachel and Hannahs realisations and theories coming naturally as we move through devastated landscapes and otherworldly, eerie scenes of death and decay.
This isn't a story where everything is clear and neat, but a journey into fear and desperation, into the true fragility of human existence - this is a triumphant exploration into the essence of what makes us human and it was a joy to read.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
I was gifted an advanced readers copy of this title in return for an honest review.
cw: death, illness, injury, corpses, suicide, mental illness, loss.
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