Editorial Content for The Madness
Book
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Since its publication in 1897, DRACULA has endured as a literary and horror classic. Much read and admired in its own right, Bram Stoker’s inventive vampire tale is the foundation for many chilling stories from page to stage to screen. Retellings are common but, in capable hands, always welcome. THE MADNESS by Dawn Kurtagich puts the action in Wales, adds underground clubs, folklore, and small town and familial drama but keeps many of the character names the same as she reimagines vampires, castles, swooning women and romantic men.
"[Kurtagich] does a nice job assembling engaging female lead characters and occasionally switching perspectives for increased intrigue and tension.... Fans of gothic horror will find much to enjoy here."
Mina Murray has built a life for herself in London, far from her small hometown of Tylluan. When she departed many years ago with little explanation, she left behind her eccentric folk healer mother; her best friend, Lucy; and her boyfriend, Jonathan. Life in London is ordered, mostly by dint of her trauma-induced OCD, but not emotionally full. Still, Mina’s work as a psychiatrist is fulfilling --- not in the least her latest patient, a Jane Doe exhibiting strange symptoms and behaviors. The woman, who finally names herself Renée, enigmatically refers to her “master,” eats bugs and is covered in a mysterious rash.
Before Mina can make much progress with this patient, she gets an email calling her home to Tylluan. Lucy, it seems, is not well. Though Mina is reluctant to return to the place she felt forced to leave as a teenager, she still feels loyal to the best friend she ever had. So she finds herself back in the house in which she grew up, surrounded by her mother’s potions, plants and old-fashioned ideas.
When Mina finally reunites with Lucy, they pick up their childhood friendship right where they left off. But much has changed over the years. Lucy has married a very wealthy man and now lives with him in his estate in Tylluan. And, of course, she is ill. Her ailment is unclear, but the rash that is spreading across her skin looks eerily similar to Renée’s. Mina is with her when Lucy has a few terrifying seizures, and during them, she seems to mutter something about her “master.” Could Lucy and the patient back in London be suffering from the same affliction? If so, what could it possibly be? Mina, along with a few unlikely companions, begins to investigate, which takes her from Welsh castles to big city clubs, and face to face with both powerful men and monsters.
Less horror and more thriller, THE MADNESS also has elements of domestic drama and investigative procedural. Kurtagich adds contemporary issues like human trafficking to the bones of the classic, as well as Welsh folklore, for something quite unexpected. She does a nice job assembling engaging female lead characters and occasionally switching perspectives for increased intrigue and tension. There is a lot going on, and some elements work better than others. Fans of gothic horror will find much to enjoy here.
Overall, THE MADNESS is a page-turner and an interesting update of the original, even when not every plot point is neatly explained.
Teaser
With one unexpected email from her estranged best friend, Lucy, Mina Murray’s carefully curated life is turned upside down. Leaving behind her psychiatric practice in London, she returns home to the windswept shores of Wales. Faced with everything she’s left behind, she soon discovers that Lucy’s symptoms mirror those of her mysterious amnesiac patient hundreds of miles away. With nothing but an untreatable sickness connecting the two women, and with Lucy’s life on the line, Mina finds herself asking questions and being drawn ever-deeper into a web of secrets, missing girls, and the powerful, nameless force at its center --- one that has been haunting her for years. As terrible, ancient truths begin to reveal themselves, Mina prepares to confront her own darkest secrets and, with them, an evil beyond comprehension.
Promo
With one unexpected email from her estranged best friend, Lucy, Mina Murray’s carefully curated life is turned upside down. Leaving behind her psychiatric practice in London, she returns home to the windswept shores of Wales. Faced with everything she’s left behind, she soon discovers that Lucy’s symptoms mirror those of her mysterious amnesiac patient hundreds of miles away. With nothing but an untreatable sickness connecting the two women, and with Lucy’s life on the line, Mina finds herself asking questions and being drawn ever-deeper into a web of secrets, missing girls, and the powerful, nameless force at its center --- one that has been haunting her for years. As terrible, ancient truths begin to reveal themselves, Mina prepares to confront her own darkest secrets and, with them, an evil beyond comprehension.
About the Book
Award-winning author Dawn Kurtagich masterfully weaves a captivating tale of suspense and horror, in which Dr. Mina Murray returns to the windswept shores of Wales to help her childhood friend fight the mysterious illness that plagues her. When the lines between reality and delusion begin to blur, Mina must face off against a monstrous legacy --- or be consumed herself.
Beware what waits in the shadows...
With one unexpected email from her estranged best friend, Lucy, Mina Murray’s carefully curated life is turned upside down. Leaving behind her psychiatric practice in London, she returns home to the windswept shores of Wales. Faced with everything she’s left behind, she soon discovers that Lucy’s symptoms mirror those of her mysterious amnesiac patient hundreds of miles away.
With nothing but an untreatable sickness connecting the two women, and with Lucy’s life on the line, Mina finds herself asking questions and being drawn ever-deeper into a web of secrets, missing girls and the powerful, nameless force at its center --- one that has been haunting her for years.
As terrible, ancient truths begin to reveal themselves, Mina prepares to confront her own darkest secrets and, with them, an evil beyond comprehension. Together with a group of smart, savvy women, Mina seizes one last, desperate chance to stop the cycle that began so long ago. But there are dangers to inviting the attentions of what might not be a man, but a monster.
Audiobook available, read by Imogen Church
