Sara Gran: Come Closer (2003, Soho Press, Incorporated)
168 pages
English language
Published May 1, 2003 by Soho Press, Incorporated.
Astonishly addictive, genuinely frightening
Amanda loves her life, her converted loft apartment and her job as an architect. On the surface she appears to have done everything right. So why does she feel so off-balance? There's a strange tapping noise in the apartment but, as Amanda's husband Ed has pointed out, it can't be a mouse because they only hear it when she's around. Much to her husband's disgust, Amanda has also taken up smoking. Even the friendly dog at the train station shies away from her these days. Could it be something to do with the lustful and violent dreams she's been having recently? We could devote our lives to making sense of the odd, the inexplicable, the coincidental, but most of us don't. Neither did Amanda. After all, what we think is impossible happens all the time…
2.5 ⭐️though under 200 pages, provides a decent read with its intriguing concept and brisk pacing, yet lacks the depth and complexity needed to fully captivate readers.
This is a really fun book to read. It strikes the perfect balance between dread and suspense. Sara Gran is such a good storyteller. Really, this was one of those deceptively easy reads that allows the author, as with the best of Emmanuel Bernheim, to slip a criminal number of ideas through the pages without drawing much attention; only later do you feel a sense of infection. I'm probably going to recommend this book to everyone I meet for the next few weeks.
