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Reprieve
On 27 April 1997, four contestants make it to the final cell of the Quigley House, a full-contact haunted escape room made famous for its monstrosities. If the group can endure its horrors without shouting the safe word, 'reprieve', they'll win a substantial cash prize – a startling feat accomplished only by one other group in the house's long history. But before they can complete the challenge, a man breaks into the cell and kills one of the contestants.
Those who were present on that fateful night lend their points of view: Kendra Brown, a teenager uprooted from her childhood home after the loss of her father; Leonard Grandton, a hotel manager caught in a series of toxic entanglements; and Jaidee Charoensuk, a gay international student who came to the US in search of his former English teacher. As each character's journey unfurls, deceits and misunderstandings fuelled by obsession and prejudice are revealed – forcing all to reckon with the ways in which their beliefs and actions contributed to a horrifying catastrophe.
A startlingly soulful exploration of complicity and masquerade, Reprieve combines the psychological tension of classic horror with searing social criticism, and seamlessly threads together trial transcripts, evidence descriptions, and deeply layered individual narratives to present a chilling portrait of American life.
Those who were present on that fateful night lend their points of view: Kendra Brown, a teenager uprooted from her childhood home after the loss of her father; Leonard Grandton, a hotel manager caught in a series of toxic entanglements; and Jaidee Charoensuk, a gay international student who came to the US in search of his former English teacher. As each character's journey unfurls, deceits and misunderstandings fuelled by obsession and prejudice are revealed – forcing all to reckon with the ways in which their beliefs and actions contributed to a horrifying catastrophe.
A startlingly soulful exploration of complicity and masquerade, Reprieve combines the psychological tension of classic horror with searing social criticism, and seamlessly threads together trial transcripts, evidence descriptions, and deeply layered individual narratives to present a chilling portrait of American life.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published October 5, 2021
406 people are currently reading
18732 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,484 reviews
July 31, 2021
Well, this wasn’t what I was expecting…
Quigley House is a full-contact haunted escape room...meaning the actors can touch you and do what they want to you. It’s famous for offering $60,000 to pairs of four people who complete each cell (room) without using the safe word. Only one group has ever won.
In 1997, four contestants from different walks of life make it to the final cell. Before completing their task, a man breaks into the house and brutally murders one of the contestants.
Reprieve is told via court transcripts after the murder, via the cells as the contestants progress, and through a few POVs leading up to the murder. It’s a social commentary on the world we live in, touching on racism, identity, sexism, etc. While I appreciate that, I can’t say I enjoyed reading it, nor did I walk away thinking it was profound.
It’s bleak and often annoying due to the mostly severely unlikable characters. I understand that’s intentional. However, the dialogue repeats itself quite often, as if drilling in a point that we, the readers, are already aware of. I felt uncomfortable, disgusted, and frustrated by the majority of the characters.
I wouldn’t call this a horror novel at all. While the scenes that flashback to the cells and the murder are indeed horrific, this book never surprises or throws out anything unexpected. Some of the POVs also read like YA, to the point where I literally had to browse the web and see if I accidentally picked up a YA novel. While it’s ultimately not YA, I don’t really know what it is.
And yet, I hit a point where I just had to see how everything played out. In a way, I became invested...and the last few chapters leading up to the murder were well done as things came together.
Ultimately, while I appreciated what the novel was trying to show, it didn’t astound or amaze me.
2.5 stars
Thank you to William Morrow and Scene of the Crime for an ARC provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Expected Publication Date: 10/5/21.
Review also posted at: https://bonkersforthebooks.wordpress.com
Quigley House is a full-contact haunted escape room...meaning the actors can touch you and do what they want to you. It’s famous for offering $60,000 to pairs of four people who complete each cell (room) without using the safe word. Only one group has ever won.
In 1997, four contestants from different walks of life make it to the final cell. Before completing their task, a man breaks into the house and brutally murders one of the contestants.
Reprieve is told via court transcripts after the murder, via the cells as the contestants progress, and through a few POVs leading up to the murder. It’s a social commentary on the world we live in, touching on racism, identity, sexism, etc. While I appreciate that, I can’t say I enjoyed reading it, nor did I walk away thinking it was profound.
It’s bleak and often annoying due to the mostly severely unlikable characters. I understand that’s intentional. However, the dialogue repeats itself quite often, as if drilling in a point that we, the readers, are already aware of. I felt uncomfortable, disgusted, and frustrated by the majority of the characters.
I wouldn’t call this a horror novel at all. While the scenes that flashback to the cells and the murder are indeed horrific, this book never surprises or throws out anything unexpected. Some of the POVs also read like YA, to the point where I literally had to browse the web and see if I accidentally picked up a YA novel. While it’s ultimately not YA, I don’t really know what it is.
And yet, I hit a point where I just had to see how everything played out. In a way, I became invested...and the last few chapters leading up to the murder were well done as things came together.
Ultimately, while I appreciated what the novel was trying to show, it didn’t astound or amaze me.
2.5 stars
Thank you to William Morrow and Scene of the Crime for an ARC provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Expected Publication Date: 10/5/21.
Review also posted at: https://bonkersforthebooks.wordpress.com
September 2, 2021
I intended to write a story about an English bookstore owner whose dull but stable existence is upended after he falls in love with a dazzling American actress but someone told me that was the plot of Notting Hill so I wrote this instead. Cheers!
February 16, 2022
I can see why people wouldn’t enjoy this if they went in thinking it would be a super scary horror or thriller. This is a quiet, thoughtful book that has some very powerful discussion in it. I personally really enjoyed it, I loved the characters and I appreciated the honesty in the writing and the dialogue. I especially loved Kendra and Bryan as characters!
I made an entire reading vlog dedicated to this book for my Patreon, you can watch it here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/62536564
I made an entire reading vlog dedicated to this book for my Patreon, you can watch it here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/62536564
November 1, 2021
Going into this “literary novel of social horror,” I had two expectations: 1) I wouldn’t like it given the mostly-unfavorable early reviews, and 2) I’d get to snarkily say in my own review how I threw up my hands and yelled “Reprieve!” when I didn’t finish it.
Reprieve (noun) = “The cancellation or postponement of a punishment.”
To my surprise, I ended up needing no reprieve from the book at all, though I’m well aware others may view reading it as a punishment. It really does come down to expectations. If you pick it up for the HORROR, you’ll be bored by the backstory. If you snag a copy for the SOCIAL critique, you’ll have a better outcome.
The basic concept is that contestants have entered a full-contact escape room / haunted house in 1997, and if they make it all the way through without yelling the titular safe word they’ll win $60,000. But something has gone wrong. Readers bounce from gory scenes in the house to interrogation-type interludes to (lengthy) backstories of the characters. Said characters are diverse, which I loved, though their diversity serves the book’s effort to examine race issues, gender politics, and financial disparity.
This is James Han Mattson’s sophomore novel, and I applaud his attempt to feed his audience a horrific meal with a little meat on its bones. It just definitely won’t be to everyone’s tastes.
3.5 stars
My thanks to the author and William Morrow / Scene of the Crime for the gifted copy to review via NetGalley. Reprieve is now available.
Blog: https://www.confettibookshelf.com/
Reprieve (noun) = “The cancellation or postponement of a punishment.”
To my surprise, I ended up needing no reprieve from the book at all, though I’m well aware others may view reading it as a punishment. It really does come down to expectations. If you pick it up for the HORROR, you’ll be bored by the backstory. If you snag a copy for the SOCIAL critique, you’ll have a better outcome.
The basic concept is that contestants have entered a full-contact escape room / haunted house in 1997, and if they make it all the way through without yelling the titular safe word they’ll win $60,000. But something has gone wrong. Readers bounce from gory scenes in the house to interrogation-type interludes to (lengthy) backstories of the characters. Said characters are diverse, which I loved, though their diversity serves the book’s effort to examine race issues, gender politics, and financial disparity.
This is James Han Mattson’s sophomore novel, and I applaud his attempt to feed his audience a horrific meal with a little meat on its bones. It just definitely won’t be to everyone’s tastes.
3.5 stars
My thanks to the author and William Morrow / Scene of the Crime for the gifted copy to review via NetGalley. Reprieve is now available.
Blog: https://www.confettibookshelf.com/
February 19, 2025
I really enjoyed this. I don't read a lot of stories that feature this sort of Literary Fiction mixed with strong Social Horror.
I felt like this author did a great job constructing this one. I feel like with the people it's going to hit with, it will really hit. Reprieve has the power to stay on your mind.
I listened to the audiobook and found it immersive. The tone of J.D. Jackson's narration was, despite the content, soothing and very easy to get swept up in.
This story is set in 1997 and is constructed via a few different style elements. The idea is that there has been a murder at a full-contact, horror-inspired escape room called Quigley House, and we learn about the individuals involved, as well as the aftermath of the crime.
You get a few different character perspectives leading up to their involvement with the fateful night at Quigley House. You also follow along with the group of four contestants making their way through the different levels of the escape room process. Finally, you get court transcripts from the trial following the murder.
An aspect I think some Readers may dislike are the fairly large sections from the different perspectives in the before portions, that are pure character development. They provide context for the various characters ending up at the escape room, but they're not particularly exciting, or thrilling, if I'm being honest.
With this being said though, I actually really enjoyed the author's choices in constructing it that way. There were little hints provided throughout these sections that gave you insight into how they were all ultimately going to be connected. I liked watching it all come together.
Additionally, I enjoyed that sort of slow build-up of the eventual relationships and connections. I felt James Han Mattson gave real care to the creation of these characters and it gave it a certain level of authenticity that I appreciated.
The Social Horror was strong, particularly involving race and social status. Those themes branched throughout all of the different sections of the story and I feel like the author did a great job with it, bringing a slightly different perspective than I have read before. Jaidee's experience as a foreign student coming to the U.S. was eye-opening.
Even though I had a great experience with this one, I do understand why some Readers aren't connecting with this like they wanted. I think if you go into it expecting a fast-paced and exciting Horror-Thriller set in a escape room, you may be let down by the slow-build and focus on non-escape room content, of which there's a lot.
I think if you enter this one with the right mindset though, and allow yourself to just settle into the character's personal journeys, you could end up enjoying this as much as I did. Hopefully, this review will help you decide whether it will be for you or not.
I will definitely be picking up whatever James Han Mattson chooses to write next!
I felt like this author did a great job constructing this one. I feel like with the people it's going to hit with, it will really hit. Reprieve has the power to stay on your mind.
I listened to the audiobook and found it immersive. The tone of J.D. Jackson's narration was, despite the content, soothing and very easy to get swept up in.
This story is set in 1997 and is constructed via a few different style elements. The idea is that there has been a murder at a full-contact, horror-inspired escape room called Quigley House, and we learn about the individuals involved, as well as the aftermath of the crime.
You get a few different character perspectives leading up to their involvement with the fateful night at Quigley House. You also follow along with the group of four contestants making their way through the different levels of the escape room process. Finally, you get court transcripts from the trial following the murder.
An aspect I think some Readers may dislike are the fairly large sections from the different perspectives in the before portions, that are pure character development. They provide context for the various characters ending up at the escape room, but they're not particularly exciting, or thrilling, if I'm being honest.
With this being said though, I actually really enjoyed the author's choices in constructing it that way. There were little hints provided throughout these sections that gave you insight into how they were all ultimately going to be connected. I liked watching it all come together.
Additionally, I enjoyed that sort of slow build-up of the eventual relationships and connections. I felt James Han Mattson gave real care to the creation of these characters and it gave it a certain level of authenticity that I appreciated.
The Social Horror was strong, particularly involving race and social status. Those themes branched throughout all of the different sections of the story and I feel like the author did a great job with it, bringing a slightly different perspective than I have read before. Jaidee's experience as a foreign student coming to the U.S. was eye-opening.
Even though I had a great experience with this one, I do understand why some Readers aren't connecting with this like they wanted. I think if you go into it expecting a fast-paced and exciting Horror-Thriller set in a escape room, you may be let down by the slow-build and focus on non-escape room content, of which there's a lot.
I think if you enter this one with the right mindset though, and allow yourself to just settle into the character's personal journeys, you could end up enjoying this as much as I did. Hopefully, this review will help you decide whether it will be for you or not.
I will definitely be picking up whatever James Han Mattson chooses to write next!
October 5, 2021
ONLY ONE THING CAN TRIUMPH OVER FEAR, at least temporarily, GREED. And, the owner and proprietor, of Quigley House, John Quigley, is counting on that.
The rules are simple-if your 4 person team can make it through the six cells of his “full contact” haunted escape room, without using the safe word “Reprieve” (which means you want to quit) AND two of the envelopes you have found match those held by the ghost of Martha Quigley, who waits with two envelopes of her own, in cell 6, the group will win 60,000.
Oh, and a t-shirt!
Only one group has succeeded so far, and our group-Victor, Jane, Jaidee and Bryan hope to be the second.
A scoreboard is on the wall and the instructions for Cell One say:
* #envelopes total 8
* # envelopes you need to find to move on to the next cell- 5
* Contestants who attack will be disqualified
* First Aid kit behind the clock
Sounds, like a nail biting thriller, doesn’t it?
It isn’t. Though it could have been, and is what I was HOPING it would be.
The rooms (cells) in the house are known for having ghoulishly costumed actors, who CAN touch you, elaborate props, and LOTS and LOTS of fake blood.
Sounds like a horror story, right?
Well, those chapters are definitely GROSS and qualify-but most of the book takes place outside of the house, as we get to know the back stories of our players, and the staff members of Quigley House, before and after each cell. So, the majority of the book is not.
Two of our protagonists, contestant Jaidee and staff member, Kendra are young, and their respective chapters read like YA. But, the book isn’t labeled as such.
So, what is this book exactly ?
A guess it’s a crossover of genres, as the back stories touch on the things that can make our characters vulnerable, such as race, prejudice, deceit and sexuality, as you might find in literary fiction.
I feel like the book would’ve been stronger if the author had decided on one genre to concentrate on. As written, it is a little bit of each but doesn’t quite reach the full potential of any of them, and as I finished I felt quite apathetic about it-I didn’t hate it-but it won’t leave a lasting impression on me, either.
Thank You to William Morrow and Scene of the Crime for my gifted copy provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!
AVAILABLE NOW!
The rules are simple-if your 4 person team can make it through the six cells of his “full contact” haunted escape room, without using the safe word “Reprieve” (which means you want to quit) AND two of the envelopes you have found match those held by the ghost of Martha Quigley, who waits with two envelopes of her own, in cell 6, the group will win 60,000.
Oh, and a t-shirt!
Only one group has succeeded so far, and our group-Victor, Jane, Jaidee and Bryan hope to be the second.
A scoreboard is on the wall and the instructions for Cell One say:
* #envelopes total 8
* # envelopes you need to find to move on to the next cell- 5
* Contestants who attack will be disqualified
* First Aid kit behind the clock
Sounds, like a nail biting thriller, doesn’t it?
It isn’t. Though it could have been, and is what I was HOPING it would be.
The rooms (cells) in the house are known for having ghoulishly costumed actors, who CAN touch you, elaborate props, and LOTS and LOTS of fake blood.
Sounds like a horror story, right?
Well, those chapters are definitely GROSS and qualify-but most of the book takes place outside of the house, as we get to know the back stories of our players, and the staff members of Quigley House, before and after each cell. So, the majority of the book is not.
Two of our protagonists, contestant Jaidee and staff member, Kendra are young, and their respective chapters read like YA. But, the book isn’t labeled as such.
So, what is this book exactly ?
A guess it’s a crossover of genres, as the back stories touch on the things that can make our characters vulnerable, such as race, prejudice, deceit and sexuality, as you might find in literary fiction.
I feel like the book would’ve been stronger if the author had decided on one genre to concentrate on. As written, it is a little bit of each but doesn’t quite reach the full potential of any of them, and as I finished I felt quite apathetic about it-I didn’t hate it-but it won’t leave a lasting impression on me, either.
Thank You to William Morrow and Scene of the Crime for my gifted copy provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!
AVAILABLE NOW!
April 6, 2023
If you are an escape room enthusiast, this is the novel for you….maybe…well, you most likely won’t go to one in the future….or, maybe you will. So, “Reprieve” is a novel about a “full contact” escape room full of macabre and horror. The deal is, if you can get through the game at the Quigley House in Lincoln Nebraska(of all places), your team will win $60,000. Teams are made of 4, so each person goes home with $15,000! What a deal! All you must do, as you go through the 5 different cells, is realize it’s all make-believe. Oh, and you need to collect all your envelops to win. But how does one get these envelops?? Well, it’s gross. Plus, contestants are touched, prodded, shocked, hit, slapped with slime…need I go on? This is not one of those cozy mystery sorts of stories.
The backstories of the four contestants take up most of the novel. From the start, we know that there was a murder on that night in the escape room. The four contestants are being interviewed by authorities to ascertain what really happened. Weaving into that event are the contestants’ reasons for being at the game.
If I have a complaint, it’s that the backstories were a bit too much. In fact, getting involved in the character stories makes it a bit confusing as to what the relevance is to the main story. It started slow, with all these back stories. It took a while to weave it all together.
Once the retelling of the night started, with the reader learning what happened in each cell, the story picked up. There is some cross-examination pieces that tie everything more together.
It left me wondering, would I put myself through all that to get $15,000? Sounds easy, right? Well, read the book….PTSD is on the menu if you win or not. Of course, Halloween is not my favorite time of year, so, take my opinion with a large lick of salt.
I listened to the audio production narrated by JD Jackson and produced by Harper Audio. Jackson did a fine job!
The backstories of the four contestants take up most of the novel. From the start, we know that there was a murder on that night in the escape room. The four contestants are being interviewed by authorities to ascertain what really happened. Weaving into that event are the contestants’ reasons for being at the game.
If I have a complaint, it’s that the backstories were a bit too much. In fact, getting involved in the character stories makes it a bit confusing as to what the relevance is to the main story. It started slow, with all these back stories. It took a while to weave it all together.
Once the retelling of the night started, with the reader learning what happened in each cell, the story picked up. There is some cross-examination pieces that tie everything more together.
It left me wondering, would I put myself through all that to get $15,000? Sounds easy, right? Well, read the book….PTSD is on the menu if you win or not. Of course, Halloween is not my favorite time of year, so, take my opinion with a large lick of salt.
I listened to the audio production narrated by JD Jackson and produced by Harper Audio. Jackson did a fine job!
May 30, 2022
not me yelling, 'REPRIEVE, PLS' throughout this book 😭....
liveshow here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppcBA...
just 2.
Twitter | Bookstagram | Youtube |
liveshow here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppcBA...
just 2.
Twitter | Bookstagram | Youtube |
October 7, 2021
When I read the synopsis for this book and saw that fantastic cover the horror girl in me was squealing in delight. This became one of my most anticipated books of 2021.
This book is about a full contact haunted house, Quigley House, in which teams of 4 must navigate themselves through a series of cells. This won't be easy as the actors dressed as various ghouls and goblins can physically assault you. Most people yell the safe word "Reprieve" long before getting to the end.
The team of four that we follow are Bryan, Jaidee, Vincent, and Jane. We know from the start of the novel that something has gone wrong. Someone has been threatened with a knife to the throat. Is this part of the game or is something more sinister happening?
This book is being marketed as a horror novel and the time we spend inside the Quigley House is horrific and gory and everything you'd expect it to be. They were without a doubt my favorite parts of the novel. However, they are only a small part. The rest of the novel gives us the background on our characters and I thought Mattson did an excellent job in character development. Rather than a horror novel this book is much more a commentary on racism, sexuality, and politics. It questions how judgmental we are as people even if we don't think we are and don't mean to be. It was thought provoking and could make for some really great discussions.
All in all I dug this. I thought Mattson had a genius idea and while a part of me was wishing for a little more horror, in the end, I came to appreciate the novel for flexing it's intellectual muscle rather than splattering us with non-stop gore. 4 stars!
**NOTE**
I just went to post my review to Amazon and received this message:
Amazon has noticed unusual reviewing activity on this product. Due to this activity, we have limited this product to verified purchase reviews.
What's up with that? 🤔
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway! Thanks Goodreads!
This book is about a full contact haunted house, Quigley House, in which teams of 4 must navigate themselves through a series of cells. This won't be easy as the actors dressed as various ghouls and goblins can physically assault you. Most people yell the safe word "Reprieve" long before getting to the end.
The team of four that we follow are Bryan, Jaidee, Vincent, and Jane. We know from the start of the novel that something has gone wrong. Someone has been threatened with a knife to the throat. Is this part of the game or is something more sinister happening?
This book is being marketed as a horror novel and the time we spend inside the Quigley House is horrific and gory and everything you'd expect it to be. They were without a doubt my favorite parts of the novel. However, they are only a small part. The rest of the novel gives us the background on our characters and I thought Mattson did an excellent job in character development. Rather than a horror novel this book is much more a commentary on racism, sexuality, and politics. It questions how judgmental we are as people even if we don't think we are and don't mean to be. It was thought provoking and could make for some really great discussions.
All in all I dug this. I thought Mattson had a genius idea and while a part of me was wishing for a little more horror, in the end, I came to appreciate the novel for flexing it's intellectual muscle rather than splattering us with non-stop gore. 4 stars!
**NOTE**
I just went to post my review to Amazon and received this message:
Amazon has noticed unusual reviewing activity on this product. Due to this activity, we have limited this product to verified purchase reviews.
What's up with that? 🤔
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway! Thanks Goodreads!
August 18, 2021
3.5 rounded down.
‘Reprieve’ yell contestants who can take no more of Quigley House, Lincoln, Nebraska, a house of smoke and mirrors, where teams of four compete in a game that can only be described as ghoulish. There are six ‘cells’ they have to pass through where they encounter repulsive creatures aiming to prevent them from grabbing the requisite number of envelopes to proceed to the next cell. If and it’s a big if, they complete the game they win £60,000 and a t-shirt, yes, don’t forget the t-shirt as you’ve certainly earned it! However, in 1997 when Jaidee, Jane, Victor and Bryan compete something goes catastrophically wrong. The story is told through the eyes of Kendra, Bryan’s cousin who works at Quigley House, Leonard Grandton a hotel manager with links to Quigley House and by Jaidee Charoensuk, a competitor and international student from Thailand. Their narratives are interspersed with court transcripts and via the contestants progress in the game.
First of all, it’s fair to say the premise is quite an original one and the sections I like most are in the game itself as these are described vividly. The characterisation is good, they’re all flawed, some have traits that make you extremely uncomfortable such as Leonard who is a misogynist and owner John Forrester is a manipulative sleazeball and distinctly creepy. It’s hard to know what to make of Jaidee who struggles to fit in, is culturally misunderstood and he misunderstands too. We learn more about each character through the process of the game and this is done well. It’s also good on social commentary especially racism, sexual identity, sexism and politics which is clever and thought provoking. It’s a slow burner, it does have some suspense, in places it’s entertaining and the finale is good as is the epilogue with no reprieve for some characters.
However, it’s described as horror and I don’t find it particularly horrifying principally because it seems to be targeted mostly at a YA audience rather than adult. Some of the chapters just seem yukky rather than making the hairs on the back of your neck stand out. Some dialogue makes me wince, it’s juvenile and I hark back to my YA point. Some parts are unnecessarily overlong and lead nowhere. It’s bleak, repetitive, too long with over detailing and way too much going on in the plot that it becomes dizzying and head spinning. In places it’s tedious and takes effort to keep going which makes for an uneven novel. It jumps about from one narrator and time frame to another which gets confusing.
Overall, even with the flaws the premise is good as are some sections.
With thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
‘Reprieve’ yell contestants who can take no more of Quigley House, Lincoln, Nebraska, a house of smoke and mirrors, where teams of four compete in a game that can only be described as ghoulish. There are six ‘cells’ they have to pass through where they encounter repulsive creatures aiming to prevent them from grabbing the requisite number of envelopes to proceed to the next cell. If and it’s a big if, they complete the game they win £60,000 and a t-shirt, yes, don’t forget the t-shirt as you’ve certainly earned it! However, in 1997 when Jaidee, Jane, Victor and Bryan compete something goes catastrophically wrong. The story is told through the eyes of Kendra, Bryan’s cousin who works at Quigley House, Leonard Grandton a hotel manager with links to Quigley House and by Jaidee Charoensuk, a competitor and international student from Thailand. Their narratives are interspersed with court transcripts and via the contestants progress in the game.
First of all, it’s fair to say the premise is quite an original one and the sections I like most are in the game itself as these are described vividly. The characterisation is good, they’re all flawed, some have traits that make you extremely uncomfortable such as Leonard who is a misogynist and owner John Forrester is a manipulative sleazeball and distinctly creepy. It’s hard to know what to make of Jaidee who struggles to fit in, is culturally misunderstood and he misunderstands too. We learn more about each character through the process of the game and this is done well. It’s also good on social commentary especially racism, sexual identity, sexism and politics which is clever and thought provoking. It’s a slow burner, it does have some suspense, in places it’s entertaining and the finale is good as is the epilogue with no reprieve for some characters.
However, it’s described as horror and I don’t find it particularly horrifying principally because it seems to be targeted mostly at a YA audience rather than adult. Some of the chapters just seem yukky rather than making the hairs on the back of your neck stand out. Some dialogue makes me wince, it’s juvenile and I hark back to my YA point. Some parts are unnecessarily overlong and lead nowhere. It’s bleak, repetitive, too long with over detailing and way too much going on in the plot that it becomes dizzying and head spinning. In places it’s tedious and takes effort to keep going which makes for an uneven novel. It jumps about from one narrator and time frame to another which gets confusing.
Overall, even with the flaws the premise is good as are some sections.
With thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
May 29, 2021
I'm in awe. I would say more, but I'm so devastated that I can't. And yet, the story somehow left me hopeful. That is its power, along with the masterful way Mattson combines a horror-murder mystery with brilliant social commentary on fetishization, racism, and heteronormativity. I'm just completely in awe. (I'm going to try to get some sleep now and hope that when I wake up, I will be less devastated so that I can articulate why I'm in awe.)
January 21, 2022
4.5/5stars
Like most people are saying, this is NOT a horror book - this is a SOCIAL horror (think Parasite, Get Out, or maybe Shawshank Redemption). I feel like this book did 100 things and succeeded in most of them. I disliked most of the characters yet I was SO deeply invested in their stories. This definitely won't be for everyone, but I really enjoyed it.
Like most people are saying, this is NOT a horror book - this is a SOCIAL horror (think Parasite, Get Out, or maybe Shawshank Redemption). I feel like this book did 100 things and succeeded in most of them. I disliked most of the characters yet I was SO deeply invested in their stories. This definitely won't be for everyone, but I really enjoyed it.
May 16, 2022
I can understand how many people were disappointed with this book seeing as they were not given much of what they were expecting in the summary: set in the 90's, contestants in a famous, full-contact, haunted house escape room are witnesses to a shocking murder. We are given detailed perspectives and backstories from three of those witnesses, a young Black girl who’s lost her father and has been uprooted from her home, a queer international student from Thailand who is using his studies as an excuse to hunt down his former English teacher, and a lonely hotel manager who is mislead by a toxic relationship.
In spite of wishing with all my heart that this book centered more blood and scares–as I’m sure many readers were also wishing– this book still worked for me. Reading several negative reviews gave me an idea of what not to expect and I went into this book prepared to be underwhelmed. Instead, I found myself fully invested and loved how cleverly the story was woven together to reveal how the characters’ lives intertwined. This felt much more like a leisurely-paced mystery thriller than a horror novel. In fact, I’d like to think of it more as literary fiction with nods to horror pop-culture references.
This is not a book of scares. It is heavy with social commentary on fear and race and fetishism. Many of the characters in this book are fallible, unlikeable, but very real. By the final page, I ended up loving this book.
So I'm here to try to set you up for a more successful reading journey than some of your peers who probably gave up on this book.
If you go into REPRIEVE expecting loads of horror, fast pacing, gore, and major plot twists, you will be disappointed. If you go into this book expecting the horrors of a haunted house/escape room attraction to be front and center in this story, you will also be disappointed.
But if you are a lover of mystery and/or literary fiction with horror themes, fantastic character development, intricate story plot, and multiple perspectives, you might love this book as much as I did.
In spite of wishing with all my heart that this book centered more blood and scares–as I’m sure many readers were also wishing– this book still worked for me. Reading several negative reviews gave me an idea of what not to expect and I went into this book prepared to be underwhelmed. Instead, I found myself fully invested and loved how cleverly the story was woven together to reveal how the characters’ lives intertwined. This felt much more like a leisurely-paced mystery thriller than a horror novel. In fact, I’d like to think of it more as literary fiction with nods to horror pop-culture references.
This is not a book of scares. It is heavy with social commentary on fear and race and fetishism. Many of the characters in this book are fallible, unlikeable, but very real. By the final page, I ended up loving this book.
So I'm here to try to set you up for a more successful reading journey than some of your peers who probably gave up on this book.
If you go into REPRIEVE expecting loads of horror, fast pacing, gore, and major plot twists, you will be disappointed. If you go into this book expecting the horrors of a haunted house/escape room attraction to be front and center in this story, you will also be disappointed.
But if you are a lover of mystery and/or literary fiction with horror themes, fantastic character development, intricate story plot, and multiple perspectives, you might love this book as much as I did.
October 5, 2021
The first thing I’m going to say about Reprieve is that it isn’t a horror novel. I’m mentioning this because everything I’d heard about it, plus the cover, screamed horror to me, so I went in with very specific expectations. It’s actually better described as a sensitive study of three characters and the events that bring them together. It’s a deeper story, and less plot-driven, than I anticipated.
Everything revolves around the Quigley House – which is referred to as an escape room in the blurbs of both the UK and US editions, though that phrase never appears in the book, where it’s an extreme haunted-house attraction or simply a haunt. The characters are Kendra, a horror-obsessed teenage girl who ends up working there; Jaidee, a student from Thailand who moves to the US in pursuit of the American dream and, more pertinently, a teacher he has a crush on; and Leonard, a sad-sack hotel manager who is tangentially, albeit crucially, connected to the owner of the Quigley House.
Because the book opens with an extract from a courtroom cross-examination, we know a crime is committed at the Quigley House; that someone’s life is threatened at the very least. But this comes second to the backstories of our three main players. Kendra’s desperation to impress (and thus keep) her long-distance boyfriend; Jaidee’s struggles to assimilate, which lead him to develop harmful biases of his own in an attempt to claw back some sort of identity; Leonard’s destruction of a happy relationship through misplaced jealousy and paranoia – it’s a cocktail of insecurities and prejudices that ends up tying these people together. Kendra is a loveable heroine; Jaidee and Leonard are characters I both disliked and felt enormous sympathy for.
I’ve ended up shelving Reprieve as horror anyway, because I enjoyed all its allusions and references to horror tropes, and after all, what is Kendra if not an atypical Final Girl? But I’m already forgetting the details of the plot, and the atmosphere didn’t make much of an impression either. The people are what will stay with me. I could have happily read much, much more about each of them.
I received an advance review copy of Reprieve from the publisher through NetGalley.
TinyLetter | Linktree
Everything revolves around the Quigley House – which is referred to as an escape room in the blurbs of both the UK and US editions, though that phrase never appears in the book, where it’s an extreme haunted-house attraction or simply a haunt. The characters are Kendra, a horror-obsessed teenage girl who ends up working there; Jaidee, a student from Thailand who moves to the US in pursuit of the American dream and, more pertinently, a teacher he has a crush on; and Leonard, a sad-sack hotel manager who is tangentially, albeit crucially, connected to the owner of the Quigley House.
Because the book opens with an extract from a courtroom cross-examination, we know a crime is committed at the Quigley House; that someone’s life is threatened at the very least. But this comes second to the backstories of our three main players. Kendra’s desperation to impress (and thus keep) her long-distance boyfriend; Jaidee’s struggles to assimilate, which lead him to develop harmful biases of his own in an attempt to claw back some sort of identity; Leonard’s destruction of a happy relationship through misplaced jealousy and paranoia – it’s a cocktail of insecurities and prejudices that ends up tying these people together. Kendra is a loveable heroine; Jaidee and Leonard are characters I both disliked and felt enormous sympathy for.
I’ve ended up shelving Reprieve as horror anyway, because I enjoyed all its allusions and references to horror tropes, and after all, what is Kendra if not an atypical Final Girl? But I’m already forgetting the details of the plot, and the atmosphere didn’t make much of an impression either. The people are what will stay with me. I could have happily read much, much more about each of them.
I received an advance review copy of Reprieve from the publisher through NetGalley.
TinyLetter | Linktree
August 29, 2021
“In my observation, there’s only one thing that can triumph over fear, at least temporarily.”
“What’s that?” Bryan asked
“Well”, John said, “greed of course”.
Four contestants, six cells, countless litres of fake blood… And one real murder.
That is the basic set up of Reprieve, James Han Mattson’s sophomore novel, and first foray into the literary horror genre.
The Quigley House is an escape room like you’ve never experienced before. A full-haunt comprised of 6 consecutive cells, where a team of 4 contestants must find envelopes amid scares both inanimate and alive, in order to continue to the next cell. In cell 6, a large prize sum will away the team, given that they all reach the end without yelling out the safe word “reprieve”.
In 1997, four contestants make it to the final cell of the Quigley House, before a man barges in with a knife and brutally murders one of them. Told through a combination of flashbacks and courtroom transcripts, we unravel the truth of what transpired in the house that faithful day, and whether or not this game was rigged from the start.
Reprieve is a difficult book to review. It has received early praise calling it a new American classic, and although it hits home on many levels, it also drops the ball too often on others. Overall I wanted to love it more than I did.
Let’s start off with the good:
Based off the description alone, you may be fooled into thinking this is a simple slasher story, but by cleverly bending and combining elements from different genres Reprieve elevates itself far above that. Woven throughout the blood and gore is a lot of powerful social commentary on racism, greed, prejudice and our societal fascination and fetishization of fear. Additionally, elements of misdirection and gaslighting amp up the tension to a nail-biting level in about the final 100 pages. Which characters are actors? Who is in on the scheme? Who is really playing games with whom? Had the whole novel been at the level of these final 100 pages, it’d been a 5-star candidate. Unfortunately it’s not.
The first 300-or-so pages were quite frankly a bit boring to me. We get descriptions of the event within the first 4 cells of the haunt (loads of actors splashing fake blood on the contestants), alternated with background of the characters and a few court-transcripts. It becomes repetitive soon and lost its appeal to me. If the goal was character-building, I don’t think the book succeeded. Too many indistinct characters were introduced in a short amount of time, having me confused as to who was who. In the end, most of them felt very much like “token minority” characters, without much depth. Maybe this was part of the commentary, but I’m just not here for it at all.
In addition to being flat, the characters dialogue is written very juvenile, which creates a bit of a tonal mismatch with the themes of the book. While the story is definitely meant for an adult audience, the characters and dialogue (and the level of scares in the first 4 cells) are so immature that it feels more suited to a YA-audience.
Overall a decent thriller, laced with social commentary, that unfortunately didn’t quite live up to its full potential.
Reprieve will be available in print and in e-book format from the 5th of October 2021. Many thanks to the publisher William Morrow & Bloomsbury for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
“What’s that?” Bryan asked
“Well”, John said, “greed of course”.
Four contestants, six cells, countless litres of fake blood… And one real murder.
That is the basic set up of Reprieve, James Han Mattson’s sophomore novel, and first foray into the literary horror genre.
The Quigley House is an escape room like you’ve never experienced before. A full-haunt comprised of 6 consecutive cells, where a team of 4 contestants must find envelopes amid scares both inanimate and alive, in order to continue to the next cell. In cell 6, a large prize sum will away the team, given that they all reach the end without yelling out the safe word “reprieve”.
In 1997, four contestants make it to the final cell of the Quigley House, before a man barges in with a knife and brutally murders one of them. Told through a combination of flashbacks and courtroom transcripts, we unravel the truth of what transpired in the house that faithful day, and whether or not this game was rigged from the start.
Reprieve is a difficult book to review. It has received early praise calling it a new American classic, and although it hits home on many levels, it also drops the ball too often on others. Overall I wanted to love it more than I did.
Let’s start off with the good:
Based off the description alone, you may be fooled into thinking this is a simple slasher story, but by cleverly bending and combining elements from different genres Reprieve elevates itself far above that. Woven throughout the blood and gore is a lot of powerful social commentary on racism, greed, prejudice and our societal fascination and fetishization of fear. Additionally, elements of misdirection and gaslighting amp up the tension to a nail-biting level in about the final 100 pages. Which characters are actors? Who is in on the scheme? Who is really playing games with whom? Had the whole novel been at the level of these final 100 pages, it’d been a 5-star candidate. Unfortunately it’s not.
The first 300-or-so pages were quite frankly a bit boring to me. We get descriptions of the event within the first 4 cells of the haunt (loads of actors splashing fake blood on the contestants), alternated with background of the characters and a few court-transcripts. It becomes repetitive soon and lost its appeal to me. If the goal was character-building, I don’t think the book succeeded. Too many indistinct characters were introduced in a short amount of time, having me confused as to who was who. In the end, most of them felt very much like “token minority” characters, without much depth. Maybe this was part of the commentary, but I’m just not here for it at all.
In addition to being flat, the characters dialogue is written very juvenile, which creates a bit of a tonal mismatch with the themes of the book. While the story is definitely meant for an adult audience, the characters and dialogue (and the level of scares in the first 4 cells) are so immature that it feels more suited to a YA-audience.
Overall a decent thriller, laced with social commentary, that unfortunately didn’t quite live up to its full potential.
Reprieve will be available in print and in e-book format from the 5th of October 2021. Many thanks to the publisher William Morrow & Bloomsbury for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
September 17, 2021
A full contact haunted house story that tackles social horror, politics, race. (Not so much scary as it is gory.)
August 3, 2021
I won "Reprieve" in the Goodreads Giveaway. All I can say is that I am glad that I didn't buy it as I didn't like the characters or care for the story. I will therefore pass it on and hope somebody else enjoys it. Two stars for effort is all I can give it.
October 26, 2021
I totally get what the author was trying to do here but feel it fell a bit flat. This focuses on several people from different backgrounds who decide to participate in a full contact haunted house(not my idea of fun…).
We dive into the background of all the main characters and the struggles they face, whether it be racially, culturally or sexually. That is the meat of the book, the haunted house is a very minor part of the storyline. With that said, I liked reading about the characters-specifically Kendra. What I would have liked to see is how each character had some growth thru the story but besides Kendra no one seemed to. I would have thought the escape room/haunted house would bring them together more but the scenes were just too short. Let’s not even talk about Leonard….I get his involvement is to push some pieces along but that whole Thailand trip just bothered me.
I still don’t understand some of the motives and felt the end needed a bit more explanation of why but maybe I just missed it.
If your looking for a haunted house Halloween type book this isn’t it. I did however feel for some of the characters and was immersed in their back stories
We dive into the background of all the main characters and the struggles they face, whether it be racially, culturally or sexually. That is the meat of the book, the haunted house is a very minor part of the storyline. With that said, I liked reading about the characters-specifically Kendra. What I would have liked to see is how each character had some growth thru the story but besides Kendra no one seemed to. I would have thought the escape room/haunted house would bring them together more but the scenes were just too short. Let’s not even talk about Leonard….I get his involvement is to push some pieces along but that whole Thailand trip just bothered me.
I still don’t understand some of the motives and felt the end needed a bit more explanation of why but maybe I just missed it.
If your looking for a haunted house Halloween type book this isn’t it. I did however feel for some of the characters and was immersed in their back stories
July 1, 2022
Reading vlog: Can We Trust Books and Lala? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItBfp...
Expectations with this one are going to be everything! It is a LITERARY book that is SOCIAL HORROR - more character study and social commentary than slasher. If you go in looking for a horror novel, you're probably going to be disappointed. It's a slow burn, which isn't going to be to everyone's taste. That said, I knew what I was getting and absolutely loved it! Reprieve brilliantly unpacks various nuances of racism, homophobia, white supremacy, and the fetishization of the other.
The linking thread in the book is this extreme, full-contact haunted house/escape room where we know someone has died. We slowly get to see vignettes leading up to that death, interspersed with chapters about the involved characters. The majority of the book is really about the characters and their relationships to race, gender, and sexuality, not about the haunted house specifically. The book is set in rural 90's Nebraska and the main characters include a Black teen girl, her college-aged cousin, and that cousin's roommate who is a gay guy from Thailand.
Through the book we see paternalistic and fetishizing versions of white supremacy, as well as violently dehumanizing versions, and the harm that comes from both. We see the intersection of racism and homophobia and how queer people who aren't white may experience racism from queer white people. We see how anti-Blackness can exist among people of color. You might assume they would support and identify with other marginalized groups, but that isn't necessarily the case. We see misogyny displayed across various intersections. There is a LOT going on in this book.
The ending underscores the themes as all of these various pieces collide in tragic and violent ways. I think this is a particularly important book as something written by a gay Asian (Korean) man who is engaging with this issue of anti-Blackness in Asian communities and recognizing that experiencing certain forms of oppression doesn't mean you can't also enact oppression on others.
I loved this book and it's one I want to reread.
Expectations with this one are going to be everything! It is a LITERARY book that is SOCIAL HORROR - more character study and social commentary than slasher. If you go in looking for a horror novel, you're probably going to be disappointed. It's a slow burn, which isn't going to be to everyone's taste. That said, I knew what I was getting and absolutely loved it! Reprieve brilliantly unpacks various nuances of racism, homophobia, white supremacy, and the fetishization of the other.
The linking thread in the book is this extreme, full-contact haunted house/escape room where we know someone has died. We slowly get to see vignettes leading up to that death, interspersed with chapters about the involved characters. The majority of the book is really about the characters and their relationships to race, gender, and sexuality, not about the haunted house specifically. The book is set in rural 90's Nebraska and the main characters include a Black teen girl, her college-aged cousin, and that cousin's roommate who is a gay guy from Thailand.
Through the book we see paternalistic and fetishizing versions of white supremacy, as well as violently dehumanizing versions, and the harm that comes from both. We see the intersection of racism and homophobia and how queer people who aren't white may experience racism from queer white people. We see how anti-Blackness can exist among people of color. You might assume they would support and identify with other marginalized groups, but that isn't necessarily the case. We see misogyny displayed across various intersections. There is a LOT going on in this book.
The ending underscores the themes as all of these various pieces collide in tragic and violent ways. I think this is a particularly important book as something written by a gay Asian (Korean) man who is engaging with this issue of anti-Blackness in Asian communities and recognizing that experiencing certain forms of oppression doesn't mean you can't also enact oppression on others.
I loved this book and it's one I want to reread.
October 27, 2025
There's a lot going on in this book even though it's by no means action packed, from its social commentary, which was at times very nuanced and at times ready to punch you in the nose, to its tortuous récit d'une mort annoncée.
The character study aspect of this book is where it truly shines. The author builds the characters background slowly, layer by layer as he slow drips feed the reader elements of the over arching story. The characters are a diverse cast and they all felt fully realized. There was a bleak sense of cold realism to their affects which at times felt like it was almost hostile to my presence as a reader, and I was absolutely here for it.
The character study aspect of this book is where it truly shines. The author builds the characters background slowly, layer by layer as he slow drips feed the reader elements of the over arching story. The characters are a diverse cast and they all felt fully realized. There was a bleak sense of cold realism to their affects which at times felt like it was almost hostile to my presence as a reader, and I was absolutely here for it.
dnf
February 3, 2023dnf @16% because i'm not enjoying it
January 17, 2022
This was definitely not what I expected. I thought it was long and the only intriguing parts were when they actually spoke about the events in the house and the cells.
Four contestants all from different walks of life, enter the Quigley house hoping to win the cash prize. The Quigley house is a horror escape room in Lincoln, Nebraska. The house is equipped with secret doors, booby-traps and the actors are allowed to touch you. If the contestants can survive making it through the house of horrors without using the safe word “reprieve”, they will win a hefty amount of money. In its many years of operation, only one group has managed to get to the last cell.
The four contestants are on their way to winning the cash prize until someone breaks into the cell and kills one of them. Those who witnessed the events that night are interviewed and give their various perceptions of what happened.
I understand that for context and character building the background chapters on the characters were necessary, but I found the most enjoyable chapters to be where the focus was on the action in the cells. The character PPV chapters dragged a bit and I almost ditched the book because of it.
Four contestants all from different walks of life, enter the Quigley house hoping to win the cash prize. The Quigley house is a horror escape room in Lincoln, Nebraska. The house is equipped with secret doors, booby-traps and the actors are allowed to touch you. If the contestants can survive making it through the house of horrors without using the safe word “reprieve”, they will win a hefty amount of money. In its many years of operation, only one group has managed to get to the last cell.
The four contestants are on their way to winning the cash prize until someone breaks into the cell and kills one of them. Those who witnessed the events that night are interviewed and give their various perceptions of what happened.
I understand that for context and character building the background chapters on the characters were necessary, but I found the most enjoyable chapters to be where the focus was on the action in the cells. The character PPV chapters dragged a bit and I almost ditched the book because of it.
September 13, 2021
Reprieve has writing with a ton of potential, but there was just too much going on. Some courtroom drama esque things, a horror escape room plot, and also tackling many social issues in the process? I’m interested in the author but Reprieve took turns that I was definitely not expecting!
May 8, 2022
Quigley House! A full-contact haunted escape room... Four contestants fighting their way out chamber by bloody chamber... And one brutal murder...
What sounds like a mindless, violent read is in fact a book that holds great weight! Written alternately in court transcripts and each character's back story, it explores in a backwards mosaic structure huge issues such as racism in USA, fractured identity, homophobia, social injustice and the fragility of the system in all their complexities and facets.
Honestly, I had some problems getting into the story initially, but once I got in it was a breathless read and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough until the touching end. I loved reading this and would recommend it to everyone who's looking for a good adult thriller heavy on the social commentary.
What sounds like a mindless, violent read is in fact a book that holds great weight! Written alternately in court transcripts and each character's back story, it explores in a backwards mosaic structure huge issues such as racism in USA, fractured identity, homophobia, social injustice and the fragility of the system in all their complexities and facets.
Honestly, I had some problems getting into the story initially, but once I got in it was a breathless read and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough until the touching end. I loved reading this and would recommend it to everyone who's looking for a good adult thriller heavy on the social commentary.
July 7, 2021
This book is incredible on so many levels its actually quite hard to know where to begin.
With the basics I guess. If you are a fan of horror you'll love this. A creepy house, a dangerously addictive game to play where money can be won -if you can face down the scares and don't shout Reprieve. I mean how brilliant is that,especially given that the author has a keen eye for excellent characterisation and will make you love or detest the contestants before their challenge even begins. You also know this is a game that pulls no punches and not everyone will make it out alive..
But Reprieve serves another purpose. Without giving too much away, this is also a blistering social commentary on the world we live in, on race and identity and the real bias of human interaction whether it is purposeful or not.
I adored it. Reprieve is wildly entertaining and also hugely intelligent, written in a literary style that engages throughout and with an immersive, descriptive sense that gets inside your head. Hugely thought provoking whilst covering you in blood. I mean what else could you ask for from your horror novel.
Highly Recommended.
With the basics I guess. If you are a fan of horror you'll love this. A creepy house, a dangerously addictive game to play where money can be won -if you can face down the scares and don't shout Reprieve. I mean how brilliant is that,especially given that the author has a keen eye for excellent characterisation and will make you love or detest the contestants before their challenge even begins. You also know this is a game that pulls no punches and not everyone will make it out alive..
But Reprieve serves another purpose. Without giving too much away, this is also a blistering social commentary on the world we live in, on race and identity and the real bias of human interaction whether it is purposeful or not.
I adored it. Reprieve is wildly entertaining and also hugely intelligent, written in a literary style that engages throughout and with an immersive, descriptive sense that gets inside your head. Hugely thought provoking whilst covering you in blood. I mean what else could you ask for from your horror novel.
Highly Recommended.
August 10, 2024
this could possibly be 5 star I will have to revisit it next year. this book is great and its low score really just shows you the sign of the times. this book is thought provoking and bizarrely foreshadows a lot of current culture we live in 2024 (Asian model minority, passport bros, inches etc)
August 9, 2021
Great concept, interesting characters, but didn't quite come together the way I'd hoped.
This is one of those books where we learn at the beginning that something terrible has happened and then we backtrack to figure out how we got to this point. The "something terrible" is a murder inside of an extreme haunted house. That said, it takes a long time to start to see how these threads will come together. We focus mostly on just 3 characters, and it's a little clunky for a while, since two of them are in drastically different circumstances at the beginning of the book so there is a lot of backstory to fill in. But by the time we were halfway through I was invested in them, had a better idea of where we were headed, and was excited to see what was next.
Once you get your feet under you the jumping from court transcripts to character backstory to the night of the terrible crime in the haunted house is done really well. The scenes in the haunt were certainly extreme enough to take the reader by surprise, to immerse you in the moment, and to understand the fear and desperation of the characters. They're tense and well-written and they made me want to read a whole book like this from Mattson. (They also stretch credulity because it sure seems like this haunted house is *too* extreme to exist in the real world, but I was willing to give it a pass because like I said it was awfully fun.) Loved the Nebraska setting, a real strength of the story. The Thailand sections also are quite vivid.
But this is a tough structure, it falls flat quite often in thrillers where it's one of the most common structures we get. If you don't have some good reveals or a good sense of a slow-burn pace, it can lead to the reader feeling like it wasn't really worth it to get here once they've reached the final destination. This one suffers from too many unanswered questions and too many questions with unsatisfying answers. The explanation for the crime, which is limited, did not work for me at all. The details we do get weren't believable and weren't really shocking. It didn't make chaos into sense, only kept it in chaos. And only seeing 3 characters made me wonder about the others who are involved, I wanted to know what their stories were, too.
At the end of the day I just wasn't sure what Mattson was trying to do, why it came together in this particular way. And it didn't help that the explorations of race, sexuality, and other questions of identity were delivered with a heavy hand, often in long monlogues that I can't imagine people saying, particularly in 1999. It's frustrating because Jaidee's story in particular, the regret we get to see from him at the end, is poignant but there wasn't quite enough emotional groundwork laid for it to really ring true the way it could have. And if these issues of the way identity impacted his characters was the big story all along, it doesn't tie in enough with the haunted house elements to make it really work. It felt like two books sewn together where the themes just didn't mesh.
I will acknowledge that as a big horror reader and a big crime reader I am also extremely picky about both so I suspect most people won't have nearly as many nits to pick as I did. I know I am suffering somewhat from the fact that I wanted this book to be my perfect horror read and that was an awfully tall order.
This is one of those books where we learn at the beginning that something terrible has happened and then we backtrack to figure out how we got to this point. The "something terrible" is a murder inside of an extreme haunted house. That said, it takes a long time to start to see how these threads will come together. We focus mostly on just 3 characters, and it's a little clunky for a while, since two of them are in drastically different circumstances at the beginning of the book so there is a lot of backstory to fill in. But by the time we were halfway through I was invested in them, had a better idea of where we were headed, and was excited to see what was next.
Once you get your feet under you the jumping from court transcripts to character backstory to the night of the terrible crime in the haunted house is done really well. The scenes in the haunt were certainly extreme enough to take the reader by surprise, to immerse you in the moment, and to understand the fear and desperation of the characters. They're tense and well-written and they made me want to read a whole book like this from Mattson. (They also stretch credulity because it sure seems like this haunted house is *too* extreme to exist in the real world, but I was willing to give it a pass because like I said it was awfully fun.) Loved the Nebraska setting, a real strength of the story. The Thailand sections also are quite vivid.
But this is a tough structure, it falls flat quite often in thrillers where it's one of the most common structures we get. If you don't have some good reveals or a good sense of a slow-burn pace, it can lead to the reader feeling like it wasn't really worth it to get here once they've reached the final destination. This one suffers from too many unanswered questions and too many questions with unsatisfying answers. The explanation for the crime, which is limited, did not work for me at all. The details we do get weren't believable and weren't really shocking. It didn't make chaos into sense, only kept it in chaos. And only seeing 3 characters made me wonder about the others who are involved, I wanted to know what their stories were, too.
At the end of the day I just wasn't sure what Mattson was trying to do, why it came together in this particular way. And it didn't help that the explorations of race, sexuality, and other questions of identity were delivered with a heavy hand, often in long monlogues that I can't imagine people saying, particularly in 1999. It's frustrating because Jaidee's story in particular, the regret we get to see from him at the end, is poignant but there wasn't quite enough emotional groundwork laid for it to really ring true the way it could have. And if these issues of the way identity impacted his characters was the big story all along, it doesn't tie in enough with the haunted house elements to make it really work. It felt like two books sewn together where the themes just didn't mesh.
I will acknowledge that as a big horror reader and a big crime reader I am also extremely picky about both so I suspect most people won't have nearly as many nits to pick as I did. I know I am suffering somewhat from the fact that I wanted this book to be my perfect horror read and that was an awfully tall order.
November 3, 2022
I read this because I'd heard it referred to as Social Horror. It is. But it's subtle and nuanced, so don't go into it expecting it to slap you in the face, it tends toward the literary side.
I also read this because I'd heard there was a locked room situation. There was. And though the escape room is integral to the story, most of the novel is not spent inside of it, so know that as well going in.
I'm not quite sure how to talk about this. I felt such a roller coaster of emotions throughout. At first it read a bit slow. I can see a lot of people DNFing this and not getting far enough in to connect to it. I might have DNFed it myself if I hadn't been reading it specifically to review it, but I'm glad I didn't. Its one of those stories where I thought to myself, 'I'm not completely into it, but the writing feels polished and I'm sure he is going somewhere with this, so I suppose I'll hang in to see where it goes.' There was a lot of talk about horror books, as one of the protagonists is a horror addict, like many of us, and I found that incredibly relatable. Also, (FYI) this does spoil at least 3 King books, but they are well known ones.
There were so many small things throughout that were so cleverly crafted. We focus on 4 or 5 characters who were all involved in a tragic event at a haunted house-esque escape room. But their narratives go back far enough to give the reader a real sense of who they are, their motives, and life goals. There were times when I rooted for them all and times when I hated them all, and I think that is the point of this.
There is an underpinning discussion about what it means to be "other," (or more specifically non-white) but there is also gray area in the determination of the villain that feels very true to life. It's about blame, and humanity, and grace, and it forces the reader to look deeper into their own behavior. I would argue there is also some pathology involved that blurs the lines even further as well.
A quote on the jacket by Rumaan Alam says, "The brilliance of James Hans Mattson's novel is in deploying the haunted house as a metaphor for our nation, where the true scare is a cultural reckoning with whiteness itself." Well said and apt.
I have a lot of respect for this novel. I would recommend reading it, but create accurate expectations. This is not an Alice Feeney thriller, or a King Horror. It is something in and of itself.
I also read this because I'd heard there was a locked room situation. There was. And though the escape room is integral to the story, most of the novel is not spent inside of it, so know that as well going in.
I'm not quite sure how to talk about this. I felt such a roller coaster of emotions throughout. At first it read a bit slow. I can see a lot of people DNFing this and not getting far enough in to connect to it. I might have DNFed it myself if I hadn't been reading it specifically to review it, but I'm glad I didn't. Its one of those stories where I thought to myself, 'I'm not completely into it, but the writing feels polished and I'm sure he is going somewhere with this, so I suppose I'll hang in to see where it goes.' There was a lot of talk about horror books, as one of the protagonists is a horror addict, like many of us, and I found that incredibly relatable. Also, (FYI) this does spoil at least 3 King books, but they are well known ones.
There were so many small things throughout that were so cleverly crafted. We focus on 4 or 5 characters who were all involved in a tragic event at a haunted house-esque escape room. But their narratives go back far enough to give the reader a real sense of who they are, their motives, and life goals. There were times when I rooted for them all and times when I hated them all, and I think that is the point of this.
There is an underpinning discussion about what it means to be "other," (or more specifically non-white) but there is also gray area in the determination of the villain that feels very true to life. It's about blame, and humanity, and grace, and it forces the reader to look deeper into their own behavior. I would argue there is also some pathology involved that blurs the lines even further as well.
A quote on the jacket by Rumaan Alam says, "The brilliance of James Hans Mattson's novel is in deploying the haunted house as a metaphor for our nation, where the true scare is a cultural reckoning with whiteness itself." Well said and apt.
I have a lot of respect for this novel. I would recommend reading it, but create accurate expectations. This is not an Alice Feeney thriller, or a King Horror. It is something in and of itself.
August 28, 2021
I was beside myself with giddiness when the NetGalley Approval email came through from the publisher. I had become a little obsessed with this book after seeing word of it on Twitter.
This was a truly original premise, and escape room game with a murder to try and decipher.
The execution was a little challenging for me. Each contestant has a transcript of a courtroom where the reader sees a glimpse of the escape room, and then the reader sees how the contestant came to be in there in the first place.
It was difficult to keep track of the escape room events, and who was who. I think a cast list would have really helped cement the characters in my head, as I do tend to struggle with a lot of characters.
It was a fascinating look into society, and the judgements we have of others, but it wasn't the show-stopper I was expecting.
This was a truly original premise, and escape room game with a murder to try and decipher.
The execution was a little challenging for me. Each contestant has a transcript of a courtroom where the reader sees a glimpse of the escape room, and then the reader sees how the contestant came to be in there in the first place.
It was difficult to keep track of the escape room events, and who was who. I think a cast list would have really helped cement the characters in my head, as I do tend to struggle with a lot of characters.
It was a fascinating look into society, and the judgements we have of others, but it wasn't the show-stopper I was expecting.
July 22, 2024
What a sucker punch!
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