For Dixie Wheeler, the theme music for her story was chosen by another long ago, on the day her father butchered her mother and brothers and then slashed a knife across his own throat. Only one-year-old Dixie was spared, becoming infamously known as Baby Blue for the song left playing in the aftermath of the slaughter. Twenty-five years later, Dixie is still desperate for a connection to the family she can’t remember. So when her childhood home goes up for sale, Dixie sets aside all reason and moves in.
Vandelly shows a deft touch at creating characters and spinning plots, leading to an almost unbearably terrifying and bloody climax in this gripping debut.
There's a character in this engaging but somewhat repetitive debut who talks about a 'blood bucket,' the amount of violence one can take before it tips over. For fans of A.J. Finn's The Woman in the Window with sufficiently large buckets, this twist-filled story will be mostly eagerly welcomed.
... chilling, enthralling ... Driven by a believable plot and populated with realistic characters, this delicious mix of horror, ghost story, and mystery marks Vandelly as a writer to watch.
