Sundial

This is a book told from the point of view of Mother Rob and her daughter Callie.

It deals with topics of child psychopathy and innate evil and is beautifully written. I’m a huge fan of Catriona Ward’s and was torn between this book or The Last House On Needless Street but I really enjoyed the exploration of motherhood and childhood here and found myself rooting for the characters long after I turned the last page.

Like all of Ward’s books, Sundial has strong horror vibes and the world we are drawn into is full of lush descriptions but it… show more.

This book follows a family as a mother suspects something is wrong with her daughter. I really liked the dynamics and story in this book. There was a little too much animal abuse and murder for me, but I could see how it was important to the story.

The story itself, what would you do if you were afraid that your child was going to grow up to become a potential serial killer?

If a child were a serial killer, what would happen if they were alive during the zombie apocalypse?

I love a little horror in my thrillers and this look at a deeply layered dysfunctional family is one of the creepiest I’ve read. Catriona’s writing is disturbing (in the best possible way), her use of metaphors evokes exactly the right image and I’m incredibly jealous of her talent. This book takes you places. Dark places. But it’s worth it. Even Stephen King himself said - “DO NOT MISS THIS BOOK. Authentically terrifying.”

The Plot: Rob is worried about her eldest daughter Callie. She collects bones and oddities and talks to imaginary friends. She decides to take her on a… show more.

Sister relationships are tense and intimate and lifelong, and the one at the heart of Sundial is no exception. Rob tells the story of her childhood to her daughter Callie in the middle of the desert where she grew up, surrounded by buried bodies and a legacy of torture. Callie, accompanied by the ghost of a puppy and a transparent girl she calls Pale Callie, is struggling to understand herself, and the truth of her strangeness lies in her mother’s past. The life Rob shared with her twin sister Jack–raised in the wild by scientists who surgically alter dogs–unfolds in… show more.