The Night Diver

One of the most enjoyable types of stories is one that keeps you guessing, this is doubly so when it comes to the genre of Horror. It’s truly a trip when the words and pages lull you into a sense of security or familiarity only for it to shake your assumptions to the core.

Catriona Ward in this story has created a premise and a set of characters that exude a truly unnerving atmosphere, which continues to twist and turn in unexpected ways even until the end. Just to begin, the book deals with Ted Bannerman, an eccentric and isolated man with a murky past and an equally mysterious present. It also deals with a cat that can read and interpret the Bible, as well as a young woman on the hunt for her missing sister. All of these points of view are distinct, and provide a rich set of textures that build out the world in this book.

Ward is a master of balancing pacing with deep, visceral writing that transports the reader into a broken, unnerving world that keeps them guessing. The atmosphere is tense and the story rolls at a steady place before transitioning into a white knuckle ride to the shattering end. I will say that Catriona Ward has a talent in setting up fully layered scenes that seem full of detail, but have deftly hidden morsels of information that may only become apparent once the truth is revealed.

The assumption of truth is challenged a lot in this book, and the twists and turns pack a gut punch without relying on contrivances. Without giving too much away, I will say that Ward is a great example of how to utilize subversion without making it ham fisted. Maybe some of the reveals or explanations may come down to personal preferences, but I certainly enjoyed the novel until the very last word. If anyone is looking for an unusual and highly suspenseful story, ‘The Last House on Needless Street’ has those characteristics in spades. The book will certainly keep you guessing and your brain great turning until the very end, and even beyond it.

My final rating will be 3.5/5 stars