THE NIGHT GUEST - Hildur Knútsdóttir

Iðunn is trying to find out why she's struggling so much and is constantly feeling fatigued. She rotates through doctors, feeling hopeful when she finds a younger, female doctor who doesn't relate her problem with 'female' troubles. But no matter what she tries, from changing her diet, to getting more exercise, to vitamins and sleeping pills. Nothing seems to be helping her and no one is able to make a diagnosis that makes sense.

One night Iðunn wakes up after having fallen asleep with her smart watch on and discovers that somehow she put on 40,000 steps. She keeps this to herself but tries setting different traps and notes to see if she's actually doing something at night. Nothing she does reveals what's happening at night, but increasingly she wakes up to discover some unsettling things about her - bloodied face, black eyes, her body covered in dirt.

It gets to the point where she fears going to sleep and won't allow herself a social life, until she meet one special guy. After their first night together she quickly heads home, not daring to fall asleep at his place. But to stay in a relationship she can't avoid sleeping over and her worst fears are realized when, after falling asleep in his bed, she wakes up in her own bed, covered in blood.  

What happens to Iðunn at night? What happens to those around her?

I listened to the audio version of this book, read by author/translator Mary Robinette Kowal and I found it highly engaging.

The slowly emerging sense of wonder and horror builds very well. Kowal as narrator definitely has an advantage of really understanding the story as she was the translator and her narration is subtle and helps the listener grow into the fear surrounding Iðunn.

There are a lot of questions around what's happening and not all of them are answered.  I don't have any problem with that (but others may). This isn't a traditional story in any genre, really, though most likely it will be appreciated by fans of dark fantasy and horror.  It's certainly not as 'in-your-face' as Christina Henry or Grady Hendrix and maybe not as dark as Ramsey Campbell.  Though maybe it is.  The darkest parts of this horror are what's left to the reader/listeners imagination - though we're certainly guided to go to a dark place.

This is a short book - a novella at best - but I suspect we'll be hearing and reading a lot more from Hildur Knútsdóttir in the years to come.

Looking for a good book? The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir is a slowly building, dark story that engages and thrills the reader by keeping them on edge and guessing throughout.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

* * * * * *

The Night Guest

author: Hildur Knútsdóttir

translator: Mary Robinette Kowal

publisher: Tor Nightfire

ISBN: 9781250322043

hardcover, 208 pages


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