Newly minted child psychologist Mina has little experience. In a field where the first people called are experts, she’s been unable to get her feet wet. Instead she aimlessly spends her days stuck in the stifling heat wave sweeping across Britain, and anxiously contemplating her upcoming marriage to careful, precise researcher Oscar. The only reprieve from her small, close world is attending the local bereavement group to mourn her brother’s death from years ago. That is, until she meets journalist Sam Hunter at the grief group one day. And he has a proposition for her.

Alice Webber is a thirteen-year-old girl who claims a witch is haunting her. Living with her family in their crowded home in the remote village of Banathel, Alice’s symptoms are increasingly disturbing, and money is tight. Taking this job will give Mina some experience; Sam will get the scoop of a lifetime; and Alice will get better, Mina is sure of it.

But instead of improving, Alice’s behavior becomes increasingly inexplicable and intense. The town of Banathel has a deep history of superstition and witchcraft. They believe there is evil in the world. They believe there are ways of…dealing with it. And they don’t expect outsiders to understand.

I received an advance galley of this book courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – I love a good haunted house/possession story, so naturally, when I got a “read now” alert from NetGalley that the publisher had made this available, I had to jump at the chance. While it left me scratching my head a bit toward the end, the first 3/4 of the book was a crazy, creepy ride that I thoroughly enjoyed! It begins like a ghost/possession story in the vein of The Conjuring 2 but evolves into something much darker and more unsettling, reminiscent of the cultish unease of Midsommar.

The story introduces us to Mina, a young woman who recently became a child psychologist. The problem is that she struggles to be assigned interesting cases due to her lack of experience. She is also still dealing with the grief of losing her brother when she was a child. Grappling with professional insecurity, unresolved grief for her brother’s death, and an impending marriage to Oscar, a meticulous and emotionally distant researcher – Mina has a lot on her mental plate.

Things begin to look up when Sam Hunter, a journalist and man Mina knows from her grief support group, asks her to travel with him to the remote town of Banathel to look into an intriguing and troubling case: Alice Webber, a 13-year-old girl, claims to be haunted by a witch who lives in her bedroom walls. Desperate for professional experience and drawn by the mystery, Mina agrees to work with Alice.

Mina is certain that it’s all in Alice’s head, and her behavior and the weird things that the family claims are happening are just a result of the heat and mental health struggles. But the town seems to have a strange fascination with witchcraft, and what are the scuffling sounds and shadows that seem to be just outside of Mina’s door at night? Is there some truth to Alice’s claims, or is this all being staged by the family for financial gain and notoriety?

If there’s one thing the author does an amazing job of it’s creating an atmosphere thick with unease. The suffocating heatwave in Britain mirrors Mina’s internal turmoil and sets the stage for her journey into the remote and creepy village of Banathel. The strange townfolk and weird traditions and beliefs helped make the village feel like a character in its own right. Pearce also does a great job of balancing the supernatural elements with Mina’s psychological perspective, keeping the reader guessing about whether Alice’s symptoms are paranormal or rooted in trauma.

For the first 80% of the novel, Pearce maintains a taut and compelling narrative. Mina’s investigations into Alice’s condition and Banathel’s secrets are engrossing, and the eerie occurrences in the Webber household are genuinely unsettling. Pearce’s ability to evoke dread is exceptional; every creak of the house and shadow in the corner felt real. I teetered on the edge of being totally freaked out and skeptical of what was really happening.

However, the novel takes an abrupt turn when it reveals the truth behind Alice’s condition and the nature of Banathel’s dark secrets. Without delving into spoilers, this twist was unexpected and seemed to take a sharp right turn away from where I thought it was going. Pearce shifts from a ghost story to something more primal, a move that feels a little disorienting and raises a few questions that I didn’t feel were fully addressed. The supernatural ambiguity that Pearce so masterfully built up gave way to an explanation that, while imaginative, felt slightly at odds with the novel’s earlier tone.

Despite this, I still enjoyed the book. Pearce’s ability to create a creepy, tense atmosphere is unparalleled, and her characters are richly drawn. I think this is one that will resonate differently depending on the reader. If you’re someone who appreciates bold storytelling choices and doesn’t mind an abrupt shift in tone, the ending will likely satisfy you. For others, like myself, the last act might feel less satisfying than the gripping, suspenseful buildup that preceded it. While the ending may not land perfectly for everyone, the journey through the creepiness to get there is still a fun ride.