This book is carried by the narrative style. The plot is whatever, and the characters are annoying. The narrator of the book (author’s brother, I think?) also mispronounces a bunch of words which is just a bad look lol. The quality of the fiction is hindered by its rote commercialism – it doesn’t strive to transcend its time and is very much a product of its time which relies a little too heavily on things which will quickly become artifacts of the sands of time.

Part I: 5.5

Off rip the narrating character (Thiago) already seems annoying and stupid, worrying about the carbon footprint of cremation vs. other means of interment, as if constructing a coffin isn’t worse for the environment, further – that either of those mundane things makes a dent in anything else this guy does on a day-to-day basis (quick fact check, 1 coffin = 4 cremations). I zoned out for about 5 minutes after this little expository-personality quip thinking about how if you believe such things, then there is no such thing as ethical consumption, and yet this guy is a Sahara (Amazon) shill simultaneously. Author seems dumb as a result: either poor character writing, or projection of his own token opinions. Regardless, not off to a great start.

As the story progresses as Thiago addresses his deceased wife Vera (which is a fun ++ narrative style), more sketch opinions sneak their way into the story – like Thiago’s disgust that Vera’s death at the hands of an immigrant gang member will result in backlash against … immigrant gang members? Weird time for this guy to white knight on border policy, while simultaneously being uber pretentious about the believably superficial sympathy coming from Vera’s friends. This is relatable, but also insufferable (I’m looking at a mirror reading the parts about “no one understands this grief” – in hindsight, this is a very egotistical and self-isolating train of thought, as if the bereaved individual has a monopoly on the sorrow of loss). I don’t subtract points for this on the whole, but it clashes harshly with Thiago’s non-sequitur empathy of the violent criminal who killed his wife.

Thiago seems dumb some more – even before the weird seance shit starts to happen with his clearly haunted Alexa, there were obvious signs to ditch it, but he blunders forward.

Part II: 6

Thiago escapes the publicity of his wife’s death to a cabin in Estes Park – living off her life insurance. Annoyingly, he/the author keeps projecting his own sentiment about Thiago’s memories onto the perspectives of people who are not Thiago – like giving 3rd person status to individuals in the story.

I’m glad that the plot thickens enough for this story to broaden its scope past just “haunted alexa” as Thiago continues to be haunted by a mysterious slab in the woods.

Part III: 7

Shades of Pet Sematary, but moving much faster. Thiago finds a dog, it dies a gruesome death, and is resurrected by the slab to attack him. The slab takes on the personification of the evil, which is much spookier than the Alexa.

Part IV: 6

Vera’s mother in law comes to check-in on Thiago in CO and witnesses much of the horrors he’s enduring (won’t spoil em bc they’re the main good parts of the book). The dog comes back to life, and then the vet that looked into the dogs resurrection and subsequent execution comes to haunt them. Thiago stupidly wonders aloud about the pentagram, animal sacrifice, and blood painting of a large slab left in his & Vera’s apartment had anything to do with the slab he keeps seeing in his yard (Darwin award).

The MIL dies and Thiago gets caught up in more funerals and life insurance disputes with Vera’s step father-in-law who is convinced Thiago has gone crazy. The book ends without much explanation of the supernatural occurrences, or the manifestation of God/the devil in the form of the diner cook. Not enough symbolism used in his descriptions to make him a memorable antagonist or projection of conventional spiritual beings. The refrain (taken straight from The Exorcist that ~ possession is an instrument of evil to make us feel despair at our own animal savagery) is used as Thiago learns that he has been present at all the gruesome moments of the people’s lives he’s ruined, and succumbs to the haunting voice of his father explaining that he’s a fuck up bearing the weight of all the families since in his own unique and supernaturally evil way. Cry me a river, I don’t feel super bad for the guy. Book is existentially scary only because he didn’t do anything to deserve this, but it doesn’t flesh out whether it’s supposed to be a hereditary curse or a wrong-place-wrong-time thing or what. Lacking mythos.

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