Book Review: Old Soul by Susan Barker

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“Evil . . . has its ways and means.”

📚

When Jake and Mariko have a chance meeting at an Osaka airport, they realize they have more in common than a missed flight: they live under grief’s shadow, having lost loved ones under similarly strange and horrific circumstances. So begins the winding epic of a strange and enigmatic woman. Seemingly immortal, she’s a bringer of death who has many names. And as Jake embarks on a quest for truth, he must follow sinister breadcrumbs across the world and through time to solve the enigma. Who is this mysterious woman, what has she done, and why? And if Jake finally exposes her secrets, will he be able to stop her?

Unfolding via a series of interconnected stories, Old Soul is an eerie and captivating tale of life, death, and those left behind. Immersive from the first, it exudes tension and dread, pulling the reader into a slow-burning, onion-like narrative gradually unveiling terrifying layers, while the interconnected stories are compelling, forming a frightening, visceral, and twisty puzzle. The Historian (one of this reader’s all-time favorites) is an excellent comp, as Old Soul imparts the same depth and scale of story, history, mystery, evil, and darkness.

It’s a sumptuous and atmospheric tale of choice, manipulation, and lies; perception, morality, and predation; freedom, humanity, and something else entirely — something old, dark, inexplicable, and entirely insidious. A fantastic literary horror work where the truth is terrifying and no one is safe.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Publishing Group/G.P. Putnam's Sons for sending this forthcoming release (which is scheduled for publication in January 2025) for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

🖤Amanda

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