Ratings4
Average rating4.3
The Historian meets Under the Skin in this searingly provocative literary horror novel about one woman’s determination to stay alive at any terrifying cost.
In Osaka, two strangers, Jake and Mariko, miss a flight, and over dinner, discover they’ve both brutally lost loved ones whose paths crossed with the same beguiling woman no one has seen since.
Following traces this mysterious person left behind, Jake travels from country to country gathering chilling testimonies from others who encountered her across the decades—a trail of shattered souls that eventually leads him to Theo, a dying sculptor in rural New Mexico, who knows the woman better than anyone—and might just hold the key to who, or what, she is.
Part horror, part western, part thriller, Old Soul is a fearlessly bold and genre-defying tale about predation, morality and free will, and one man’s quest to bring a centuries-long chain of human devastation to an end.
Reviews with the most likes.
I said in a recent review that horror's back, and this is more evidence that the genre is enjoying an upswing. It's a well written, multi-voiced account of a centuries old evil. There's shades of Lovecraftian cosmic horror, a radically fresh take on vampire mythology, gore in the right places and tenderness in others, and a compulsive storyline that kept me reading and reading. Hands down the best horror novel I've read in ages, and one of my books of the year.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I've been struggling finding books with vamps, that aren't...cheezy. This was eerie dashed with some horror, and rather satisfying. The ending did not let me down. Keep your mind open in regards to who the villain of the story is - I found my feelings shifting the deeper I got into the story.
I received an advance review copy of Old Soul from the publisher through NetGalley.
Thank you NetGalley and Putnam Books for this ARC.
This truly was a unique book, I've never quite read anything like it. I also don't know how to review it without giving anything away.
It's almost like a collection of short stories with an overarching story. Every switch of the story I groaned unsure if I would like the next one and every time I was sucked in.
This book was haunting, it was beautifully written, and I really enjoyed it. It takes you through time and across the world.
I only went with a 4/5 because I wanted to know the why a little more. However I'm not sure that would have been satisfying either.
If you are looking for something unique that will stick with you, this is it.