Langan's lackluster third horror novel follows emotionally stunted, mentally ill Audrey Lucas as she moves into the Breviary, which seems the perfect Manhattan home for an up-and-coming architect. Rent is cheap; the building's Chaotic Naturalism architecture is rare and intriguing; and it lets Audrey get away from her troubled first romance. After learning that the apartment's last occupant drowned her four children before committing suicide, Audrey still opts to stay, but as apparitions and the building's other residents urge her to build a door, her sanity begins to slip. What follows is a slow, uninteresting story full of dead-end digressions, with nothing to keep a reader engaged. Langan (
The Missing) knows how to write strong prose, but the story lacks punch and likely won't even appeal to fans of haunted houses.
(Oct.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
“Sarah Langan is one of the bright new hopes of horror — and intelligent, literary, ambitious author capable of scaring the ever-loving crap out of her readers.” (Romantic Times BOOKclub )
“Langan’s idiosyncratic blending of supernatural horror and character-driven, psychological insight proves captivating and pleasurably bone-chilling.” (Booklist )
“Believable characters, deft writing, and an intriguing take on the haunted–house tale.” (Romantic Times BOOKclub )
“A genuine creepfest that recalls, in the best way possible, the early work of Stephen King….Langan has the control of a pro….this solid sophomore effort proves that the uncanny ability of The Keeper to burrow into readers’ heads and stay there was no fluke.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review) )
“...[I]nnovative, sharp, and absolutely chilling...” (Brian Keene, Bram Stoker Award winning author of Ghoul and Dead Sea )
“[THE MISSING is] as engrossing as a dagger poised at one’s throat.” (J.C. Patterson )
“[THE KEEPER] will scare the heck out of you.” (4 stars! --Lindsay Hunter, OK! MAGAZINE )
“[A] distinct and juicy flavor all its own. THE KEEPER begins what should be a very fruitful career.” (Peter Straub, New York Times bestselling author of IN THE NIGHT ROOM )
“...The new author on the block is definitely a keeper...” (-Edward Bryant, Locus )
“A beautiful, suspenseful novel... that sets out to do exactly what it should: scare the reader with a combination of well-crafted prose and page-turning velocity.” (Baltimore Sun )
“A dark and bracingly bleak tale of supernatural terror. Its brooding atmosphere comes as much from the social and psychological as from the ghostly, and best of all, from the quality of the prose.” (Ramsey Campbell, author of SECRET STORY )
“Akin to the more ambitious work of Stephen King...this effective debut promises great things to come.” (Publishers Weekly )
“A subtle, bleak tone and well-drawn characters elevate this one above the pack.” (--Rue Morgue )
“Deft and disturbing, THE KEEPER twists expectations into surreal surprises. Sarah Langan’s tale of haunted lives and landscapes is hypnotic reading - an assured and impressive debut.” (Douglas E. Winter )
“Assured...Langan’s characters come brilliantly to life...this is horror on a big scale, akin to the more ambitious work of Stephen King...this effective debut promises great things to come.” (Publishers Weekly )
“Echoes of Stephen King resound throughout Ms Langan’s rich depiction of a mill town...the first fruits of a most promising career.” (Washington Times )
“It’s the only horror story I’ve read recently that finds adequate metaphors for the self-destructive properties of anger.” (New York Times Book Review )
“THE KEEPER is a brilliant debut, heralding the arrival of a major talent. This disturbing, spooky novel is written by someone who knows about dread, and imagery, and fear, and who knows that a good ghoststory needs soul.” (Tim Lebbon, author of DUSK and BERSERK )
“Sarah Langan’s debut novel THE KEEPER kept me up, late into the night. Do I bear her a grudge? Of course not! I’m hoping for a whole shelf of novels by Langan, and many other sleepless nights.” (Kelly Link, author of MAGIC FOR BEGINNERS )
...Combines a witches brew of toxic styles, mixing in bits of Stephen King, Lovecraft, Poe, and Peter Straub, then pours out a thoroughly nasty concoction all her own. (Madison County Herald )
