Black Mouth

April 18, 2022
It takes a village, or at least a neighborhood, of misfits to deal with the malignant monsters at the core of this accomplished psychological horror story from Malfi (Come with Me). Jamie Warren, a not-quite-recovered alcoholic, returns to his hometown to bury his mother and care for his developmentally challenged brother, Dennis, even as his childhood friends Mia and Clay tangle with hauntings involving a homeless drifter all four knew as the Magician when they were young. As children under the Magician’s spell, the friends attempted to reach the source of magic, delving into the vast collapsed coal pit called the Black Mouth. Escaping his control caused tragic deaths—and they worry history will repeat when they discover that the Magician is stalking new apprentices. Malfi pulls in familiar horror elements—a weird carnival, an eerie backcountry filled with ghosts, a serial killer with a face fixation, a disabled person with supernatural sensitivity—but rings new changes on them, keeping readers tensely off-balance and unsure of what’s real. The well-done cosmic horror and mix of mundane and magical scares make this a standout. Agent: Cameron McClure, Donald Maass Literary.

December 1, 2022

Malfi (Bone White; Come with Me), a respected novelist among horror and suspense fans, returns with a compelling new title for readers to add to their list. Jamie Warren, freshly recovering from alcohol- use disorder, returns to his hometown after his mother's suicide. There, he and his childhood friends Mia and Clay confront a monstrous man from their past. Malfi's characters (in both their young and older incarnations) are well written, sympathetic, and endearing. Jamie has both realistic and potentially supernatural struggles, and they both feel equally believable. Narrator Joe Hempel's voicing of Jamie and portrayal of the adult male characters in the book both pass muster, but his female and child voices are not very distinctive. His pacing is quite slow--slow enough that listeners may prefer to listen to a digital copy so that they can increase the listening speed. VERDICT This horrific tale will appeal to readers who appreciate coming-of-age stories, found families, sibling relationships, and childhood friends reuniting as adults to defeat a villain from their youth. Share with fans of Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, and Peter Straub.--Ammi Bui

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