“Fracassi’s novel hits me like a cross between McCammon and ’80s King. Might be one of them summer blockbusters readers love.” —Laird Barron, author of Worse Angels
“A Child Alone with Strangers starts out as a slow burn procedural with supernatural elements and inexorably cranks itself into a pulse-pounding symphony of eldritch horrors and all-too-human violence. Philip Fracassi is the best sort of horror writer–one who is unafraid to hunt for light in even the darkest places.” —Shaun Hamill, author of A Cosmology of Monsters
When young Henry Thorne is kidnapped and held prisoner in a remote farmhouse surrounded by miles of forest, he finds himself connecting with a strange force living in the woods—using that bond to wreak havoc against his captors. Unknown to the boy, however, is that this ancient being has its own reasons for wanting the interlopers gone—there is something hidden beneath the house, tucked away in the dark, damp root cellar . . . waiting for its return.
Gotta say, when I started this, I wasn’t really sure whether I was going to enjoy it. And I was concerned, as I’ve really loved virtually everything Fracassi had put out over the years, but his last release, GOTHIC, left me cold.
I shouldn’t have worried. ACAWS pretty much starts with a bang, then changes gears, and then moves into a whole other story.
And then it does that again. And I was hooked.
If I’m being honest, there’s far more going on in this novel than there really should be…and yet, Fracassi’s skill shines through, because man, he makes it all WORK. The only other author I’ve seen pull this type of police procedural/horror thing was the great Carsten Stroud with his NICEVILLE trilogy—and if you haven’t read NICEVILLE, THE HOMECOMING, and THE RECKONING, you really should. If you like this book, you’ll like Stroud’s trilogy. I guarantee it.
The book might feel a touch long, but honestly, there’s so many moving parts…the damage and mental change Henry has to go through, his subsequent school experience, the switch-off of parental figures, the introduction of a group of criminals, and, of course, the other monsters…it’s gonna take a bit of set-up to get the reader for the inevitable mind-blowing conclusion.
If I have one complaint about this novel, it’s the inclusion of a wholly unnecessary incestuous subplot that didn’t really add anything to the plot. I mean, it didn’t really detract from it, but I’m just not quite sure why it was included.
Regardless, I read this novel in four big gulps, and those last 150 pages? Yeah, couldn’t put it down.
Absolutely fantastic.
