Review: The Visitors by Catherine Burns

Title: The Visitors
Author: Catherine Burns
Pages: 288
Genre: Fiction, Horror
Source: Free ARC from Gallery/Scout Press

Rating: 3 stars

Note: As stated under the Source (above), I received this book for free from Gallery/Scout Press via NetGalley. I pride myself on writing fair and honest reviews.

Summary: An aged brother and sister live in their large, but squalid, family home. Neither of them have ever married or had children, their parents have passed, and they have no one but each other. Both of them are strange, having experienced a very cold and isolated childhood. But really, strange doesn’t even begin to cover it. John spends most of his time in the basement and Marion ignores the terrible things he does down there. Until the day John has a heart attack and she is forced to deal with it.

Review: This book had so much promise. The concept sounded intriguing. I was expecting a bit of a gothic horror maybe, something intense and shocking at least. But no. It was slow paced and often a bit boring. I knew from the onset what was going on in the basement, and Marion’s solution to the issue was no surprise either. Oddly, I actually did find myself hoping she’d manage her “escape” in the end despite feeling strongly she didn’t really deserve it and not liking her in the least. The ending didn’t go off as I would have liked either.

Ultimately, I was disappointed (partially because I had been rather psyched to read this). No gothic, no horror, no shocking reveals, no tension, and no real mystery. I didn’t hate it, but I can hardly recommend it.

7 Replies to “Review: The Visitors by Catherine Burns”

    • Hopefully you’ll enjoy it more. I always wonder if I just wasn’t in the right mood when I don’t like something I was excited about. And several people said it was chilling, but it felt more like a character study of people who commit heinous acts with all the creep factor removed. I’ll be interested to see what you think about it.

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