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A review by joshgauthier
Closing Costs by Bracken MacLeod
4.0
*ARC received from NetGalley*
Out homes are supposed to be safe spaces, refuges from the world outside. What happens if that is no longer the case? What happens if the world and its violence come walking through the front door?
Nelle and Evan are a young couple looking to start a new chapter of life with a rural home and some distance from past decisions that still hang over them. What they don't realize is that their new house has a history and pursuing your dream life has a cost. In one terrible morning--with a stranger's appearance and an outbreak of sudden violence--Nelle and Evan's lives are turned upside down. Now, threatened by an unpredictable home invader with uncertain motives, the couple's dream home becomes a battleground of will and wits that not everyone will survive.
Taking the familiar framing of a home invasion story, MacLeod's handling of the interlinked lives of these characters soon grows Closing Costs into something greater. As blood is drawn and secrets are revealed, the tapestry of choices and motivations forming one violent day as it first appears. This is a character story brimming with complexity. Both contemporary and primal, the narrative finds power in examining guilt and fear--the cost of secrets and the fight for survival. It also paints an all-too-relevant picture of white male violence within modern society. Its themes are many, but they are seamlessly built into the fabric of the story, born of character and left for the reader to sift through as the consequences of the narrative unfold.
The characters and themes give the story a great deal of weight, but it is ultimately a thriller--and there is no forgetting that fact from the opening chapter to the last page. A tense and exceedingly stressful reading experience, MacLeod brings the reader into the moment to taste the terror and rage of the characters--and does not let go until the very end. Woven through with flashbacks and revelations, the momentum never lets up as the stakes go from bad to worse until reaching a climax that will linger with me for quite some time.
Closing Costs is a visceral reading experience. Claustrophobic and threatening, it is thriller/horror literature not holding back. MacLeod wields each moment to maximum effect, balancing the elements of the narrative and crafting a survival story that holds surprises in store from start to finish. Deeply uncomfortable and truly remarkable, Closing Costs is a gripping and powerful novel for anyone who wants to face the darkness while still looking for the light.
CWs:
Out homes are supposed to be safe spaces, refuges from the world outside. What happens if that is no longer the case? What happens if the world and its violence come walking through the front door?
Nelle and Evan are a young couple looking to start a new chapter of life with a rural home and some distance from past decisions that still hang over them. What they don't realize is that their new house has a history and pursuing your dream life has a cost. In one terrible morning--with a stranger's appearance and an outbreak of sudden violence--Nelle and Evan's lives are turned upside down. Now, threatened by an unpredictable home invader with uncertain motives, the couple's dream home becomes a battleground of will and wits that not everyone will survive.
Taking the familiar framing of a home invasion story, MacLeod's handling of the interlinked lives of these characters soon grows Closing Costs into something greater. As blood is drawn and secrets are revealed, the tapestry of choices and motivations forming one violent day as it first appears. This is a character story brimming with complexity. Both contemporary and primal, the narrative finds power in examining guilt and fear--the cost of secrets and the fight for survival. It also paints an all-too-relevant picture of white male violence within modern society. Its themes are many, but they are seamlessly built into the fabric of the story, born of character and left for the reader to sift through as the consequences of the narrative unfold.
The characters and themes give the story a great deal of weight, but it is ultimately a thriller--and there is no forgetting that fact from the opening chapter to the last page. A tense and exceedingly stressful reading experience, MacLeod brings the reader into the moment to taste the terror and rage of the characters--and does not let go until the very end. Woven through with flashbacks and revelations, the momentum never lets up as the stakes go from bad to worse until reaching a climax that will linger with me for quite some time.
Closing Costs is a visceral reading experience. Claustrophobic and threatening, it is thriller/horror literature not holding back. MacLeod wields each moment to maximum effect, balancing the elements of the narrative and crafting a survival story that holds surprises in store from start to finish. Deeply uncomfortable and truly remarkable, Closing Costs is a gripping and powerful novel for anyone who wants to face the darkness while still looking for the light.
CWs: