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The Chrysalis

by Brendan Deneen
Tor. Sept. 2018. 304p. ISBN 9780765395559. $24.99; ebk. ISBN 9780765395566. HORROR
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No longer able to afford the New York City lifestyle, Jenny and Tom Decker relocate from their cramped apartment to a sprawling old home in the New Jersey suburbs. Adding to the stress of new jobs and home ownership, the couple learn they are pregnant. As the months pass, Tom grows distant and reclusive, retreating to the basement, fixated on a strange anomaly he discovers among the clutter left by the previous tenants. Is the object real, imagined, or otherworldly? Whatever the object's explanation, the threat to the Deckers and their unborn baby is certain.
VERDICT Reading like a Hollywood horror flick, Deneen's (The Ninth Circle) recent release has all the elements of a successful scary story: a spooky old house, a foreboding basement, and an eerie psychological breakdown. Recommended for readers of thrillers, supernatural horror, and sf.
Reviewed by Carolann Curry, Mercer Univ. Lib., Macon, GA , Sep 15, 2018
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