The Return

Today’s post is on The Return by Rachel Harrison. It is 304 pages long and is published by Berkley. The cover is hot pink with a chair in the center. The intended reader is someone who likes slow building horror. There is mild foul language, no sex, and no violence in this book. The story is told from first person close of Elise. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- Julie is missing, and no one believes she will ever return- expect Elise. Elise knows Julie better than anyone, and feels it in her bones that her best friend is out there and that one day Julie will come back. She’s right. Two years to the day that Julie went missing, she reappears with no memory of where she’s been or what happened to her.
Along with Molly  and Mae, their two close friends from college, the women decide to reunite at a remote inn. But the second that Elise sees Julie, she knows something is wrong- she’s emaciated, with sallow skin and odd appetites. And as the weekend unfurls, it becomes impossible to deny that the Julie who vanished two years ago is not the same Julie who came back. But then who- or what- is she?

Review- This is a great debut horror novel. Elise has lived with the loss of her friend for two years and she is convinced that Julie will come back, that she is not dead, Julie did not leave Elise alone. And when Julie just shows up back at her home, Elise is not surprised at all. But in the back of her mind, Elise knows that something is wrong. The novel is a very slow burn for a horror novel with just odd things happening but nothing that is by itself horrifying just a growing sense of unease from our characters. When everything is revealed, it is an excellent revelation even if I guessed what kind of monster Julie has become. I recommend this novel if you like slow burn horror.

I give this novel a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this novel from my local library.