With a 100-year storm threatening the southern California coast, Jane Larkin is approached by a strange, audacious woman who wants to invest much-needed money in Jane’s Old Orange Co-op. Meanwhile Jane’s husband Jerry discovers an ancient excavation beneath the Larkin home. On that ominous morning in autumn, shadows descend over the deceptively quiet neighborhoods of Old Orange, ushering in a flood of chaos, terror, and murder.
Dark bleatings, my lovelies! Right, first of all, I have to tell you that this is NOT a horror novel. I know I pretty much exclusively review horror but every now and then I step aside for something different to just sort of sneak through the Hellish Gates, and this is one of those times.
Now, you should note that before you read on, horror is the only genre that I actually know anything about. That’s not to say my opinion is invalid because this genre is out of my wheelhouse (what is the genre, actually?! Mystery? It’s one of Blaylock’s ‘California Gothic’ books but this is my first book by this author so I’m not exactly sure what that means!). The only thing, as far as my opinion goes, that I will say is that if it’s not horror, it’s generally a harder sell for me because I tend to just not be interested.
So, with that said, I have to tell you that I really enjoyed this book! For the first half, I found it quite more-ish. Jane and Jerry move to a new town and following an earthquake, Jerry finds some weird relics that have been dislodged in the earth in the basement. From there, he starts keeping secrets from his wife, and forms a fake, contentious relationship with the local antiques expert, Lettie Phibbs.
Due to never ever reading this genre, I had no idea what sort of markers to look out for and so I was just along for the delightful ride, wondering what would happen and where things could even go. I really enjoyed the author’s writing style and found his story telling extremely enjoyable. Easy to read and keep reading, and I never wanted to put it down.
The characters are tremendous, truly some top notch character work. Lettie Phibbs was one of those people I love to hate and I was addicted to her every time she appeared – I knew there was something off about her but couldn’t tell what, so I never knew what she might do or say. Jerry’s back and forth with her was hilarious to me because Jerry intentionally allowed her to think him more stupid and ignorant than he was, and there was an underlying sassiness to him whenever he dealt with her.
At one point I worried that nothing “big” enough would happen at the end – again because I’m unfamiliar with the genre – but I needn’t have worried about that because it got way bigger than I even hoped.
Overall, I just found this a really cosy (despite the non-cosy aspects), enjoyable read, with some surprisingly spooky elements. I really had a great time with it!
I’m not sure specifically who to recommend it to because I don’t know the normal audience for a book like this, but if you’re someone who enjoys great characters and dynamics, like me, then you might enjoy this. If you’d like to check out the book or the author, I’ve popped some links below for you:
Bleeeeat!
Happy Goat Horror 
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