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A review by ericbuscemi
The Supernatural Enhancements by Edgar Cantero
4.0
It would be impossible to write a review about this novel without mentioning the non-traditional format in which it is written, so I'll just get that out of the way first; The author uses diaries, letters, audio and video recording transcripts, and snippets of books and newspaper articles to piece together the narrative. While this may sound gimmicky -- it is gimmicky -- it faded to the background very quickly to me. This surprised me as I thought it would be tough to read something in this format, especially because the novel literally starts in the middle of a sentence. But it genuinely works for this story, so let's move on.
The story that is told is a new-weird/horror/mystery amalgam that hooked me very early and delivered through the end. Despite being set in 1995 Virginia, a gothic mood palpable, and as is often the case, the spooky Axton House almost becomes a character itself. There are very few actual characters other than protagonists A. and his "companion" Niamh, and very little is learned about these characters either, other than the fact they like The X-Files, so anyone seeking a character study can look elsewhere. But the mystery is compelling, as is the cryptography mentioned that A. and Niamh employ to discover what exactly is going on in the recently inherited estate. I won't say more about the plot, but will say that anyone that liked [b:Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore|13538873|Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore|Robin Sloan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1345089845s/13538873.jpg|6736543] will almost definitely also like this book, as they share similarities on multiple levels.
The story that is told is a new-weird/horror/mystery amalgam that hooked me very early and delivered through the end. Despite being set in 1995 Virginia, a gothic mood palpable, and as is often the case, the spooky Axton House almost becomes a character itself. There are very few actual characters other than protagonists A. and his "companion" Niamh, and very little is learned about these characters either, other than the fact they like The X-Files, so anyone seeking a character study can look elsewhere. But the mystery is compelling, as is the cryptography mentioned that A. and Niamh employ to discover what exactly is going on in the recently inherited estate. I won't say more about the plot, but will say that anyone that liked [b:Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore|13538873|Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore|Robin Sloan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1345089845s/13538873.jpg|6736543] will almost definitely also like this book, as they share similarities on multiple levels.