The last one I managed to finish before the end of the day on Halloween 🎃
Thanks to Gallery Books for the gifted copy in exchange for my honest review
The Queen by Nick Cutter (Released October 29th, 2024)
Book Description:
The national bestselling author of #HorrorBookTok sensation The Troop returns with a heart-pounding novel of terror about a young woman searching for her missing friend and uncovering a shocking truth.
On a sunny morning in June, Margaret Carpenter wakes up to find a new iPhone on her doorstep. She switches it on to find a text from her best friend, Charity Atwater. The problem is, Charity’s been missing for over a month. Most people in town—even the police—think she’s dead.
Margaret and Charity have been lifelong friends. They share everything, know the most intimate details about one another…but Charity carries a secret that even she is unaware of. A secret engraved into her DNA helix. For Charity is also known Subject Six, the crown jewel of Project Athena—a clandestine and unorthodox gene manipulation experiment, the brainchild of tech titan Rudyard Crate. And when Charity’s gene sequencing actualizes during a traumatic event at a high school party, it sets in motion a chain of events that will end in tragedy, bloodshed, and death.
And now Charity wants Margaret to know her story—the real story. In a narrative that takes place over one feverish day, Margaret follows a series of increasingly dreadful breadcrumbs as she forges deeper into the mystery of her best friend—a person she never truly knew at all…
My Thoughts: 5/5 stars
Are you already afraid of insects or at least have a healthy distrust in them? If not, you might after reading this or have nightmares of flying bugs chasing you. Thank you for that, Nick Cutter. Now, I’ve always believed that anything with more than 4 legs can’t be trusted (spiders, wasps, etc), and this reinforces it.
The insectile body horror is incredible. One thing that I’ll always love about horror is how descriptive the authors can be. Visceral is a word that comes to mind, and it goes without saying, but this is not for the squeamish. Taking place over the course of a day, the pacing doesn’t let up, and I couldn’t finish it fast enough.
I’ve only had a few 5 star reads this month, and this was a no-brainer. You know it’s good when an almost 400-page book is a two sit read. I don’t want to spoil major plot points, so I think the synopsis is the perfect amount of info you need. If you haven’t read The Troop yet, definitely pick it up!
Jessicamap Reviews 