Book Review: The Last Death of the Year (New Hercule Poirot Mysteries, #6) by Sophie Hannah

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The Last Death of the Year (New Hercule Poirot Mysteries, #6)  by Sophie Hannah and Agatha Christie  opens with Hercule Poirot and Inspector Edward Catchpool arriving on the island of Lamperos in Greece on New Year's Eve in 1932. Poirot has been requested by the leader of a religious community to investigate the threat against one of its members, but just a short while later, another resident is found dead after a New Year's game threatened this member's life. I'd like to thank NetGalley and William Morrow for approving my request for an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of this mystery. I've been a long time fan of Agatha Christie and her Hercule Poirot series, so learning I'd receive a copy of Sophie Hannah's new book based on this series made me absolutely giddy. A digital copy was provided to me in exchange for my honest review. Sophie Hannah has done a fabulous job of recreating Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot series and keeping a similar style of writin...
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Book Review: The Night House by Jo Nesbo

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NetGalley ARC Book Review of The Night House by Jo Nesbo
The Night House by Jo Nesbo was published on October 3, 2023, is an adult horror novel released by Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor. The story follows Richard Elauved, a young boy sent to live with foster parents in the town of Ballantyne after his biological parents are killed. At his new school, Richard is both an outcast and a target of bullying, which only deepens his isolation.

When a classmate named Tom mysteriously goes missing, Richard quickly becomes the prime suspect. He insists that Tom was somehow sucked into a phone booth at the edge of the woods, a claim no one is willing to believe. As fear and suspicion grow, another student disappears, leaving Richard in even deeper trouble and facing serious consequences with the law.

Not having read any books by Jo Nesbo, I was intrigued by the synopsis and cover art of The Night House.  I requested to receive an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of this book from NetGalley.  I was absolutely ecstatic that I was approved.  I received a digital copy for free in exchange for my honest review.  Please note that my review does contain spoilers.

Part one of The Night House seemed a little young as if it was targeting middle readers between the ages of eight and twelve.  When Tom is sucked through the telephone and another character was turned into an insect, it seemed like it was something that would appear in a Goosebumps book by R.L. Stine.  Then, the main character, Richard Elauved, was searching for a mysterious person that used to live in Ballantyne, which made me think of the book called The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.  Part one concludes with Richard trying to kill a "soul" by setting it on fire, which is reminiscent of the Netflix show Stranger Things.

Book Covers of The Night House by Jo Nesbo
Part two opens up fifteen years later with Richard Elauved attending his high school reunion.  This section seemed much more mature than part one, and it very much felt like It by Stephen King.  There were plenty twists and turns through out this section that kept me guessing, and nothing was as it seemed.  When this section concluded, it had elements like Desperation by Stephen King.  At this point, I was very leery about the book because it felt like the author was sampling ideas from others.

Part three threw me for a loop.  Like the previous section of the book, it was more mature than part one.  It took me a moment to figure what was actually happening, and I was very disappointed because it was very much like the movie Shutter Island, which is based off the book of the same name by Dennis Lehane.  I never read the book but did see the movie because it starred Leonardo DiCaprio.

Overall, I was disappointed in The Night House by Jo Nesbo because it didn't seem very original, and I hated the way the story ended.  It did however keep me interested enough to read the entire novel to see what would happen.  Three out of five stars.

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