Customer Reviews

The Gentling Box

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Lisa Mannetti's first outing - winner of the Bram Stoker Award for "Best First Novel" - is a significant work of substance, a weighty tale that's dark, disturbing and enthralling. It's not merely horror "du jour" full of sex and bloodshed, (though there's plenty here), it's a tragic tale rich with pathos, an expression of human suffering and bittersweet triumph.

Imre and Mimi are gypsy horse traders in nineteenth century Budapest, and while life has never been easy and they are often poor - nearly starving, at times - they've survived on each others' love and that of their only daughter, Lenore. Everything changes, however, when news reaches them that Mimi's mother Anyeta is dying. She requests her daughter presence so she can impart to her "secrets...things inside me that belong to her, and to her daughter, if she has one." Imre is dead-set against this, for Anyeta has been nothing but a source of pain and treachery. He sees this as Anyeta's last chance to hurt them both.

There's a reason for the saying, "blood is thicker than water", however. They eventually return to Anyeta's "gypsy troupe", Mimi's old home. What they find is shocking: not only is Anyeta already dead, but she's been murdered. Even worse, Anyeta was possessed of a curse offering immense powers but an awful fate: that of eternal banishment within her own corpse after death, unless a transfer of blood is made to another living being...

Anyeta's been murdered, her blood spilled. Could her essence now lurk hidden amongst others? What follows is a tale of deception and seduction, as both Imre and Mimi are forced to accept mantles they never wanted. An ages-old evil has eclipsed their lives, and it's ultimate goal soon becomes very clear: Imre and Mimi's daughter Lenore, the perfect, youthful vessel for its whims.

Mannetti's first novel shows impressive depth. Flashbacks to Imre and Mimi's early romance are handled well. In lesser hands they would've been cumbersome and tiring. Here they are focused and emotional. Even the "gentling box" itself - and the terror it invokes in Imre - is cleverly crafted. This is indeed a very literary work; however, what makes it so? "Literary" is thrown around often these days, with perhaps little understanding of the term. When something is literary, it makes a statement on the human experience. That's what "The Gentling Box" does; that's what makes it so powerful.

THE GENTLING BOX by Lisa Mannetti
Lisa Mannetti's first novel is a stunner, a swirling dark cauldron of hexwork and treachery, ancient curses and terrifying loss. An overarching web of dread envelops the family of Imre, a 19th century Romany horse trader who suffers a disfiguring disease as the result of a curse cast upon him by a powerful sorceress. As his disease progresses, his wife and young daughter are also drawn into the terror by the ghost of the witch Anyeta, whose grip on their lives has only increased since her death. Haunted and bedeviled by the dead witch's ghost, Imre and his family, with the help of Imre's friend, Constantine, struggle to break the grip of evil. As a child, Imre was witness to his father's cruel and bloody practice of permanently calming maddened horses: the horrific gentling box. With his wife, Mimi, so entwined in the clutches of Anyeta that she hacks off her own hand to fashion a talisman, and his daughter, Lenore, falling under the witch's thrall, Imre has no recourse other than to consider the most dreadful method of all--the same method his father used to gentle horses. Brilliantly researched and structured, THE GENTLING BOX accurately recreates a world long lost where Gypsies roamed a shadowy landscape filled with superstition and danger. Already recommended for a Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel, Ms. Mannetti has conjured a heart-stopping tale of magick most black, a terrifying, heartfelt, disarming story that is beautifully wrought and historically correct. I came away from this novel breathless and hungry for more. This is dazzling, shuddersome historical horror of the first order. For more about the author, please visit her online resting place at [...] . Brava, Ms. Mannetti!
--J.L. Comeau--Count Gore's Creature Feature Weekly web program.

This was such a great book of love and sacrifice. I did not want it to end. The witch scared the hell out of me. I was so involved with Imre and Mimi that the shocking ending made me cry. I can't wait to read her other book on my Kindle.

The Gentling Box. What a title, huh? Grabs you from the get-go. Not all book titles do that. Couple that with a beautiful cover, and you have something that really stands out on the shelves. But it's not until you read the book that you understand how wonderful this novel really is.
The Gentling Box follows Imre, a half-gypsy horse trader, who must battle a powerful sorceress to save his family, all the while his health deteriorates. He is a man who faces some of life's most devastating challenges: the loss of his wife and daughter. To save them, he must sacrifice much of himself before he even understands. This novel is not only chilling in its details of the gypsy culture and of the supernatural, but it speaks to anyone who has ever deeply loved another human being.
Lisa Mannetti is successful in not only drawing the reader in with her beautiful prose, but with her distinctive characters, well-drawn and believable, and her obvious knowledge of the lives these people led. Far too few books these days invite the reader in the way Ms. Mannetti has. Her characters are three-dimensional, and the reader can't help but sympathize with them, to follow their trials, to want for more and to root for them as the climax unfolds.
The supernatural elements of the story are integral and woven in with such deftness that you won't even realize it is fiction you're reading. For the horror enthusiast, The Gentling Box can't be beat. I can't emphasize enough how much I enjoyed this book. The characters came alive for me as if I were watching them on a stage, or on screen, or from across the street in my own neighborhood. The Gentling Box is the freshman effort from Ms. Mannetti, but surely there is more to come. Her debut novel scores far and above books by many long-standing writers, both within the horror genre and without.
Lisa Mannetti is a writer to watch. Her future offerings can only get better. I believe Ms. Mannetti can offer something we all love in a book: fresh, well-researched fiction with a twist and an edge, that intrigues and engages the reader in a way most commercial fiction cannot.

Author Lisa Mannetti leaps onto the horror scene with this very powerful debut novel, The Gentling Box. At first, I didn't know what to expect since the cover art appears to be some sort of strange equestrian romance. However, the description on the back was more true to the nature and tone of the story and I was very interested in reading not only a horror novel, but one that dealt with subject matter I had little prior experience with; gypsy horse trading and black magic in 19th Century Europe.

The details here are quite lavish and at times, it feels so authentic that you almost wonder if author Mannetti uncovered a secret family journal that she has based these events on. This is fiction, of course, which makes the world and mythology she has created all the more impressive. This is one of the darkest, most sinister novels I've read in a long time, with very little, if any, hope for any character starting from page one. It's brutal and painful and I quite loved it.

While the main character, Imre, is sometimes frustratingly timid in some of his actions, there is enough continuity here that although I didn't agree with his choices, it never pulled me out of the story. There were, however, a few times I needed to go back and re-read sections that seemed confusing due to certain word choices being unclear. Regardless, Mannetti peppers the novel with some deliciously wicked descriptions along with some great plot twists that I never saw coming. I have to admit that I actually experienced a very bad nightmare halfway through reading this - which almost never happens. So that says a lot. Anyway, if you are interested in reading a different type of horror novel, this is one that delivers.

I picked up Lisa Mannetti's book not sure what to expect. After all, I haven't read horror in a long while (other than some Stephen King) and sometimes genre writing can tend towards the formulaic -- not a bad thing if you like the formulaic, but I was looking for something more.

Something more is what I received! Mannetti's use of language, the lush and beautiful writing was such a contrast to what is sometimes a brutal and horrific story (and for horror/thriller readers - you will love that-the bloody parts, the eeeek parts, the "oh no!" parts).

Mannetti obviously writes with passion, and for me, passion will win out every time. There is a sense of sincerity in her writing to go along with that passion. There is a unique voice that compelled me to read, even when I had one eye closed and winced at the "dark parts...."

I do believe Mannetti is one to watch. Good writing, passion, sincerity, a LOVE of LANGUAGE will always win out. How can you not be charmed?, even when you are feeling very afraid to turn that next page...

Mannetti lost me at the end of part two. Just didn't hold my interest. She writes well though with her creepy, dark atmosphere and scenes well developed, as are the characters. Can't believe how naive her protagonist Imre was though, he just didn't seem believable. The plot kept coming back to the question, "to use the Gentling Box or not to use the Gentling Box, that is the question."

The Gentling Box won the Stoker Award for Best First Novel and i can see why. I felt like i was reading a veteran novelist. It really was hard to believe this was a first novel. The story is something different from regular, run of the mill horror. It's captivating, scary, gross, and endearing. I didn't want to stop reading. Plenty of twists and turns in this. I had to read on and on, wanting to finish it to make sure i knew what i knew. If you like horror, well-written horror, then pick up this tale and be ready to get lost in it.

I first read about The Gentling Box when someone happened to post the book trailer to twitter. I watched it and fell madly in love, then I discovered it had won the Bram Stoker Award, but money was short. So I put it on a back burner as a `really, really want' item. Several weeks later when I spotted a review on Paperbookhorror I finally broke down and bought book for my Kindle. Do not wait like I did; go and get this now.

Once I finally had my hands on a copy of The Gentling Box I was entirely devoured by the world that Mannetti created. I hid my Kindle under my keyboard at work and read when no one was looking because I could not put it down. I read through lunch, my food untouched, because I was so captivated.

Mannetti takes this entire world of gypsies, magic, and curses and brings it to such a private, personal place that I couldn't help but squirm at times, at things that were happening, at things I knew would happen to these characters. It's a good dark work that can make you uncomfortable. Many people can paint their world red with gore and guts but to make the reader truly uncomfortable is a gift, a delicious gift.

The Gentling Box focuses on the trials of a half-gypsy horse-trader's family. Imre is flawed and not a perfect hero by any means, which makes his story all the more painful and poignant as he struggles against the horrible evil of the sorceress, Anyeta, and with his own mistakes and weaknesses. If he fails his wife and daughter will face a fate far worse than death, but to save them he will have to utilize an evil that has haunted him since childhood, the gentling box.

Mannetti's prose is fluid and elegant, describing lush scenery, sordid affairs, and brutal murders with a grace and elegance that is ethereal and haunting. Each of the characters from the major players to the ones that only appear for a page or two are beautifully constructed and develop more and more as the novel progresses.

It is a breathtaking read because every word creates an entire new, dark world that slowly consumes you. Mannetti is truly an artist and this novel showcases her talents as a blossoming leader in horror writing.

WOW!! This Bram Stoker award winner is an incredibly engaging book. I literally could not stop turning pages. (OK.. OK.. You got me! I was on a Kindle so I was not literally turning pages but you get the idea)

The story of Imre, his family, and an old gypsy curse is engaging right from the start. I finished this book in about 2 days and have the bags under my eyes from staying up to late to prove it! I just found that Mannetti has recently released a new title called Deathwatch. I am going to download it now. If it is anywhere near as good as GB then I expect no sleep again tonight.

Ms. Mannetti if you are reading this then I would like to say a great big THANK YOU! Keep up the good work you have made a fan out of me.