A young woman visits her late fiancé's estranged family and discovers their terrible plans for her in Hannah Whitten's chilly eldritch venture, Reliquary. Cosmic and body horror combine with classic gothic atmosphere in a truly unsettling read that establishes Whitten (For the Wolf) as an author to watch in this genre--and ensures readers will never look at the ocean the same way again.
Rocked by Elias's unexpected death, adult orphan Claire feels compelled to agree when his family invites her to visit their isolated and private island home, which is funded by their successful corporation that deals in submarines and marine research. Claire's need to please makes it easy for the undeniably creepy Ashburys to assume control of her life: they control where she sleeps, what she eats, and the extendable bridge to the mainland. Claire's unease builds as Elias's parents and extended family handwave away upsetting events and seem to speak in code. The only person not playing along is Elias's older half-brother, Ash, an angry man Elias called irresponsible. Claire must decide if the hope of familial love and the stability of wealth is worth ignoring the signs of rot on Harrow Point. Waiting too long will cost her in ways she can't imagine.
Mixing themes of repulsive family legacies that maintain extreme wealth like those in Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Mexican Gothic with the unspeakable, immense terrors of H.P. Lovecraft's Deep Ones, Reliquary is well suited for longtime fans of the genre and those visiting from the darkest side of fantasy. --Suzanne Krohn, librarian